Macy Gray has released a statement labeling her recent comments on Piers Morgan’s TV show to be “grossly misunderstood.”
The singer was a guest on broadcaster Piers’ TalkTV show “Uncensored” earlier this week, and the pair discussed issues surrounding the trans community, including trans women participating in sports.
Macy’s stance that changing “your (body) parts doesn’t make you a woman” caused an instant backlash, and she has now addressed the controversy in a statement to Rolling Stone.
“I have nothing but love for the LGBTQ+ and transgender community and have been a supporter since Day One,” she said. “My statement on Piers Morgan was grossly misunderstood. I don’t hate anyone. I respect everyone’s right to feel comfortable in their bodies and live their own truth.”
During the chat on Monday, the 54-year-old prefaced her comments by telling Piers, “everybody’s gonna hate me”, but she also insisted that she supports trans rights to fairness and equality.
Responding to some of the backlash on Twitter, Macy said in one reply: “I wasn’t defining trans women. Just women. Because I know what it means to be one. I don’t know what it means to be a trans woman and I never said I did. But that goes both ways.”
J. K. Rowling, who has been called a trans-exclusionary radical feminist (TERF), publicly supported Macy in the fallout.