Róisín Murphy apologises for “damaging” comments about puberty blockers
Irish singer Róisín Murphy has apologised for creating an “eruption of damaging and potentially dangerous social-media fire and brimstone” after making comments about puberty blockers on her personal Facebook account.
Last week, a screenshot surfaced from an account under her name, which Murphy has now confirmed as being authentic. She wrote: “Please don’t call me a TERF, please don’t keep using that word against women. I beg you but puberty blockers are fucked, absolutely desolate, big pharma laughing all the way to the bank. Little mixed up kids are vulnerable and need to be protected, that’s just tree.” TERF is an acronym for trans-exclusionary radical feminist.
Murphy, who has a strong LGBTQ+ fanbase, has now taken to Twitter to apologise for the upset her comments caused.
“I have been thrown into a very public discourse in an arena I’m uncomfortable in and deeply unsuitable for. I cannot apologise enough for being the reason for this eruption of damaging and potentially dangerous social-media fire and brimstone. To witness the ramifications of my actions and the divisions it has caused is heartbreaking,” she began.
“I’ve had a personal Facebook account for years. The morning I made these comments I was scrolling and I brought up a specific issue that was only broadly related to the original post. It was something that had been on my mind. I knew my friends were informed about the topic. I should’ve known too that I was stepping out of line,” Murphy continued.
The singer added: “I’ve spent my whole life celebrating diversity and different views, but I never patronise or cynically aim my music directly at the pockets of any demographic. The music I make is the core of everything I do and it’s ever-evolving, freewheeling and unpredictable. 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 also said: “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.”
Murphy went on to say she “will now bow out of this conversation within the public domain”, stating that music is her calling rather than activism. The disco star concluded by saying art “will always be one of the greatest tools we can use to create a culture of tolerance.”
See her post below.
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