Celebrity
Lady Gaga Slams Transphobic Comments Toward Dylan Mulvaney
The influencer posted a photo with the singer for International Women’s Day.
Lady Gaga isn’t standing for transphobia in any form. On March 10, the singer responded to hatred that transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney received for posting a photo of her and Gaga on Instagram. While the picture was taken at a Feb. 29 event, she shared it for International Women’s Day, which incited transphobic comments on the post.
Standing in solidarity with Mulvaney, Gaga shared the photo on her own Instagram on March 10, and began her response by calling out outlets who described the “appalling” comments as “backlash.”
“This kind of hatred is violence,” she wrote. “‘Backlash’ would imply that people who love or respect Dylan and me didn’t like something we did. This is not backlash. This is hatred.”
However, Gaga acknowledged that the hatred wasn’t “surprising,” given how much work needs to be done to protect transgender lives. “I feel very protective in this moment, not only of Dylan, but of the trans community who continues to lead the way with their endless grace and inspiration in the face of constant degradation, intolerance, and physical, verbal, and mental violence,” she said.
While Gaga acknowledged that she can’t speak for the trans community as a whole, she expressed hopes that “all women will come together” to honor all of each other on International Women’s Day.
“People of all gender identities and races deserve peace and dignity,” she said. “May we all come together and be loving, accepting, warm, welcoming. May we all stand and honor the complexity and challenge of trans life—that we do not know, but can seek to understand and have compassion for. I love people too much to allow hatred to be referred to as ‘backlash.’ People deserve better.”
Mulvaney first rose to fame in 2022 after documenting her transition on TikTok in her “Days of Girlhood” video series. The next year, her social media partnership with Bud Light became a national talking point, and she has been a target for hatred and harassment from conservative figureheads ever since.
It’s no surprise Gaga is defending Mulvaney, given how she’s supported LGBTQ+ communities throughout her career. In 2011, her hit “Born This Way” became the first number-one song to use “transgender” in its lyrics, and seven years later, she was the first person to sing the word at the Super Bowl Halftime Show.
