Eddie Izzard has always yo-yo’d a bit with gender identity, but two years ago it seemed the transgender comedian had settled on she/her pronouns, a decision praised by fans and LGBT groups.
While sitting as a model on Portrait Artist of the Year at the time, Izzard had said:
People just assume, well, know me from before… I’m gender fluid. I just want to be based in girl mode from now on.
This week, 61-year-old Izzard has clarified that she actually doesn’t mind being referred to as a man, and even introduced a new feminine name to the mix so that people have a choice as to what to call him/her. Izzard 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.
So it’s now impossible to misgender Eddie Izzard, which is nice. You can call Eddie/Suzy a he/him or a she/her and you can’t go wrong, even though (s)he prefers the latter. Elsewhere in the interview, Eddie said that everyone is somewhere on the spectrum and ‘we have just got to chill out about’ genders and pronouns.
Discussing the subject in another interview with HuffPost UK, Izzard said:
It’s just a language adjustment. And no one should get het up about it.
I’m still gender fluid and I tell everyone that’s supported me, ‘Relax people, he or she, it doesn’t really matter.’
The pronoun thing isn’t the important thing, the important thing was coming out [as trans] back in 1985, that was the tough time.
Fair play to Eddie/Suzy. I know there’s a whole debate about how transgenderism could impede the rights of women but I think we can highlight this issue while also supporting people’s freedoms to identify and present themselves as they wish, while not necessarily having to participate in it. On the other hand, you might say that refusing to address someone by their preferred pronouns isn’t showing the appropriate amount of respect to claim you support trans rights in the first place. I guess it just depends which side of the debate you fall on, but there must be a nuanced way to look at it that both supports trans people and also ensures we don’t trample on the rights of women.
To meet the transgender model that PSG star Kylian Mbappe is reportedly dating, click HERE.
