Macy Gray Draws Attention for Trans Comments, Saying Surgery “Doesn’t Make You a Woman”

It’s probably not a good day to be Macy Gray’s publicist.

The Grammy-winning songwriter and performer is drawing criticism this week for recent comments about the trans community in an interview with Piers Morgan.

In the interview, on Monday, July 4, during Morgan’s Uncensored, the 54-year-old “I Try” singer talked about the “confusing” issue of gender identity, referencing issues she has with “the whole he, she, they” pronouns.

Gray said she supported trans rights for “fairness and equality,” Gray also said that women who are “born to obvious superior physical bodies” should not be allowed to compete against cis women in athletic competitions.

“I totally agree,” Gray said, finding herself in line with Morgan’s stance. “I will say this and everybody’s going to hate me, but, as a woman, just because you go change your part doesn’t make you a woman. Sorry.”

Gray added, “If you want me to call you a her, I will, because that’s what you want, but that doesn’t make you a woman just because I call you a her and just because you got a surgery.”

The singer explained that her position comes from the personal and “completely unique experience” of growing up as a woman. An experience, she says, that must be lived, not created.

Said the singer, “Surgery or finding yourself doesn’t change that. Being a little girl is a whole epic book, you know? And you can’t have that just because you want to be a woman.” Gray added that she “doesn’t think you should be labeled transphobic just because you don’t agree.”

Gray later got more support from Morgan on Twitter, who wrote, “If there’s one thing worse than the vicious trans activist mob coming for women who defend women, it’s virtue-signaling men like this fuelling the pile-on. Repulsive.”

Gray also got support on social media from Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, who herself has come under fire for comments she’s made about the trans community. Rowling wrote, “Today feels like a good day to ensure I’ve bought @MacyGraysLife’s entire back catalogue.”

See a portion of the interview with Gray and Morgan below.

Photo by Lorne Thomson/Redferns