Lady Gaga has hit back at transphobic comments aimed at Dylan Mulvaney, saying that they represent “hatred”.
The pop icon came to Mulvaney’s defence last night (March 11), following the actress and influencer being at the centre of online abuse in recent days.
On Friday (March 8), Mulvaney shared photos of herself and the singer together as part of a photoshoot for Haus Labs – Gaga’s brand of makeup – and celebrated International Women’s Day in the caption.
Shortly after, the influencer went on to receive a vast number of hateful and offensive comments, both misgendering her and criticising her for celebrating IWD as a transgender woman.
Now, Lady Gaga has taken to social media to hit back at those spreading hate towards the actress, and slammed those posting the comments as spreading “hatred”.
“It’s appalling to me that a post about National Women’s Day by Dylan Mulvaney and me would be met with such vitriol and hatred,” she wrote, sharing an image of them. “But it is not surprising given the immense work that it’s obvious we still have to do as a society to make room for transgender lives to be cherished and upheld by all of us.”
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“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 added. “I feel it is important to clarify that hatred is hatred, and this kind of hatred is violence. This is not backlash. This is hatred.”
“May we all come together and be loving, accepting, warm, welcoming. May we all stand and honour the complexity and challenge of trans life—that we do not know, but can seek to understand and have compassion for.”
Lady Gaga has been an outspoken advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community for many years, and is considered as an icon by many LGBTQ+ people. As highlighted by The Pink News, the post in support of Mulvaney comes after she took part in an interview with Out Magazine in 2017, and shared why she has such a strong bond with the community.
“When I started in the mainstream it was the gays that lifted me up. I committed myself to them and they committed themselves to me, and because of the gay community I’m where I am today,” Gaga said at the time.
“I very much want to inject gay culture into the mainstream. So I always sort of joke the real motivation is to just turn the world gay.”
Aside from her music career, Lady Gaga is set to expand her acting roles this year, having taken on the role of Harley Quinn in the forthcoming sequel to 2019’s Joker.
Titled Joker: Folie à Deux, the film is directed by Todd Phillips and will see Joaquin Phoenix return as the titular villain. It is said to have musical elements and will be released on October 4, 2024 – the same date as the fifth anniversary of Joker.