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Singer Róisín Murphy Apologizes to Fans For Transphobic Facebook Comment
"Little mixed-up kids are vulnerable and need to be protected, that's just true," Murphy wrote.
Irish singer Róisín Murphy has come out with an apology after coming under fire for anti-trans comments she made on Facebook when talking about gender-affirming care.
She took to X (formerly Twitter) to post the long apology, saying that she has been “thrown into a very public discourse in an arena I’m uncomfortable in and deeply unsuited for.”
"I cannot apologize enough for being the reason for this eruption of damaging and potentially dangerous social-media fire and brimstone," Murphy wrote. "To witness the ramifications of my actions and the divisions it has caused is heartbreaking."
The singer-songwriter has been in hot water after a Facebook post where she spouted transphobic talking points surfaced.
"Please don't call me a TERF [trans-exclusionary radical feminist], please don't keep using that word against women. I beg you! But puberty blockers are f---ed, absolutely desolate, big pharma laughing all the way to the bank," Murphy commented on someone else’s post. "Little mixed-up kids are vulnerable and need to be protected, that's just true."
Although she wrote with conviction in that comment, her claims are verifiably false. The medical journal Pediatrics found suicidal ideation decreases with access to puberty blockers during adolescence and the Journal of the American Medical Association found “60% lower odds of depression” and “73% lower odds of suicidality” in adolescents who were taking puberty blockers.
Murphy admitted in her lengthy apology that she was “stepping out of line” when she wrote the comment. But much of her apology seemed to be directed to long-time listeners and her LGBTQ+ fanbase that she garnered when she was one half of the Irish-English electronic music duo Moloko.
“I’ve spent my whole life celebrating diversity and different views, but I never patronize or cynically aim my music directly at the pockets of any demographic," she wrote.
This controversy comes shortly before her sixth studio album Hit Parade is set to drop on Sept. 8 and the “Narcissus” singer seems to be aware that she may have driven away some of her fans.
"For those of you that are leaving me, or have already left, I understand, I really do, but please know I have loved every one of you," she wrote. "I have always been so proud of my audience and understood the privilege of performing for you, all through the years."
Finally, Murphy apologized to her fans, writing, "I am so sorry my comments have been directly hurtful to many of you. You must have felt a huge shock, blindsided by this so abruptly. I understand fixed views are not helpful but I really hope people can understand my concern was out of love for all of us."
She ends her apology by saying that she’s going to "bow out of this conversation within the public domain.” It seems she meant it because she hasn’t responded to any comments or released another statement.
Murphy’s comment section quickly became a cesspool of transphobic comments, and those who pointed out that she hadn’t written anything about supporting trans rights in her apology or stepped in to try and silence her hateful fans were met with vitriol.
One user commented, "The complete absence of any acknowledgment or support of trans-people in this is DEAFENING."
And another wrote, “Especially when there are transphobes attacking queer & trans people all over her comments, which she’s done nothing to discourage nor condemn despite having stoked the flames.”
Ariel Messman-Rucker is an Oakland-born journalist who now calls the Pacific Northwest her home. When she’s not writing about politics and queer pop culture, she can be found reading, hiking, or talking about horror movies with the Zombie Grrlz Horror Podcast Network.
Ariel Messman-Rucker is an Oakland-born journalist who now calls the Pacific Northwest her home. When she’s not writing about politics and queer pop culture, she can be found reading, hiking, or talking about horror movies with the Zombie Grrlz Horror Podcast Network.
