A BBC Radio presenter has apologised for “misgendering” Eddie Izzard on air – even though Eddie Izzard doesn’t care about pronouns and gender labels.
Anita Anand said she was “very very sorry” after referring to Izzard as “the man” on Radio 4 the other night, despite it being impossible to misgender Eddie Izzard because (s)he already clarified that (s)he’s gender-fluid, and is happy to be addressed as both Eddie (the male version) and Suzy (the female version). Literally misgender-proof!
Eddie, 63, had told the Political Party podcast:
I prefer to see she/her, I don’t mind he/him… I’m Eddie.
There’s another name I’m going to add in as well, which is Suzy, which I wanted to be since I was 10.
I’m going to be Suzy Eddie Izzard, that’s how I’m going to roll, so people can choose what they want. They can’t make a mistake, they can’t go wrong.
And yet, the BBC’s Anita Amand was quaking in her boots at the thought of having misgendered the comedy legend live on Radio 4. During their interview, Amand had asked Izzard to perform a snippet of his new play for listeners, but he refused. Referencing Eddie and the moment to listeners after the interview, Amand said:
“Just to let you know that Charles Carroll’s belly laugh when I asked the man quite reasonably to do a bit, and he just went ‘no’, will be a thing I’ll never forget.”
In the next segment, Amand apologised for the misgendering:
“Now a little earlier in the programme you might have heard me accidentally misgender Eddie Izzard. I’m very very sorry about that.”
Don’t be, Anita! Eddie literally does not care. Although I guess it’s better to apologise and be on the safe side, in case anyone was offended on Eddie’s behalf.
Not to mention that, earlier this year, the BBC upheld a complaint against Justin Webb, the Today presenter, after he called trans women “males” on the Radio 4. Webb didn’t apologise, and look what happened to him. Oh, he remained an active BBC presenter and it didn’t harm his career in the slightest? That’s alright then.
Earlier this year, David Walliams revealed that he’s ‘probably non-binary’. Who would have thought?
