Macy Gray Says Changing ‘Parts Doesn’t Make You a Woman’ in Trans Debate
Macy Gray #MacyGray
Macy Gray has shared her views on transgender women, saying that “just because you go change your parts doesn’t make you a woman.”
The singer, 54, on Monday made an appearance on British TV show Piers Morgan Uncensored, where she discussed her desire to revise the U.S. flag, before she and Morgan spoke about racism.
Changing the subject to transgender identity, Morgan said: “We’re in an era now, basically, where most public figures are too terrified to even say what they think a woman is… I mean, if I asked you what a woman is, what would you say?”
“I would say a human being with boobs. You have to start there. And a vagina,” Gray said in response.
“It’s a bit like this whole issue of transgenders in sport,” Morgan went on. “I support all trans rights to fairness and equality, but not where you have people born to obvious physical superior bodies transitioning and then thrashing the women at their sport.”
“I totally agree,” said Gray. “And I will say this, and everybody’s gonna hate me, but as a woman, just because you go change your parts doesn’t make you a woman. Sorry.”
“You feel that?” Morgan asked.
“I know that for a fact,” Gray replied. “But if you want me to call you a her, I will, because that’s what you want. But that doesn’t make you a woman, just because I call you a her and just because you got surgery.”
Macy Gray recently shared her view on transgender women in a recent interview with Piers Morgan. Gray is pictured on March 28, 2022, in Universal City, California. Jerod Harris/Getty Images
“People do feel that there’s biological sex and then there’s gender identity,” Morgan continued. “You can identify as whatever you like… That’s the freedom we live in. But actually, you can’t the mechanics of biological sex. They are what they are.”
“Women go through just a completely unique experience, and surgery or finding yourself doesn’t change that,” Gray said. “Being a little girl is a whole epic book, you know. And you can’t have that just because you want to be a woman.”
Morgan then went on to bring up Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, who in recent years has been accused of transphobia due to sharing a viewpoint similar to Gray’s.
After Morgan warned Gray that she might get “attacked” and “abused” and face a “cancel culture mob,” she doubled down: “But it’s the truth, and I don’t think you should be called transphobic just because you don’t agree… There’s a lot of judgment and throwing stones at people for just saying what it is.”
British broadcaster India Willoughby, who is transgender, commented on a clip of the interview that was shared by Morgan on Twitter, writing that it was an exercise for the singer in “how to kill what’s left of your career.”
Responding to Willoughby, Gray quipped, “truth hurts.”
On Tuesday, Rowling shared a screenshot of the brief exchange between the two on her own Twitter account, writing in support of Gray: “Today feels like a good day to ensure I’ve bought @MacyGraysLife’s entire back catalogue.”
Gray’s comments on Morgan’s show were met with strong reactions from supporters and detractors.
The I Try singer defended her stance as she responded to a person whose tweets since appear to have been made private.
Gray wrote that “there is no bigger admirer of lgbt community than [yours] truly. it takes real balls to be honest about who you are. ‘woman’ is a title that you earn and become. just like ‘man.’ there are plenty of females who aren’t women yet and every girl gets that.”
Doubling down in the same conversation thread, Gray insisted that she “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 never said i did. but that goes both ways.”