Adele is being accused of transphobia for declaring at a woke gender-neutral awards show that she loves “being a woman.”
The “Rolling in the Deep” singer made the remark at Tuesday’s Brit Awards as she collected the prize for Artist of the Year, a newly created category merging the old Best Male and Best Female Artist awards.
“I understand why the name of this award has changed but I really love being a woman and being a female artist. I do!” she said to huge cheers.
“I’m really proud of us, I really, really am,” she said.
Despite support from the audience in London’s huge O2 Arena, her comments quickly sparked outrage online — making her the latest high-profile figure accused of being a TERF, or trans-exclusionary radical feminist.
“Please, no, ADELE can’t be a TERF,” a “staunch feminist” performer named Jacob told his thousands of Twitter followers.
“Who’d have thought Adele was a transphobe and would use her platform to call for the destruction of the trans community. Especially the confused teenagers,” another long-time Twitter user posted.
Others complained that they had “lost a lot of respect for Adele” and would no longer “spend a cent on her music,” the Times of London noted.
The attacks led many to spring to the 33-year-old star’s defense.
“Thank you @Adele. Just, thank you. For speaking the 2 words being vilified. Woman. Female,” tweeted author and refugee campaigner Onjali Rauf.
Author and media consultant Jane Symons also said she didn’t know “whether to cry or scream” at the latest attacks.
“A decade ago, if someone had said a woman would [be criticized] for the thought-crime of saying she liked being a woman, I would have laughed at such a ludicrous suggestion. Now it is happening,” she wrote.
In an op-ed in the Spectator, teacher Debbie Hayton said that Adele risked joining the group of “talented women” like “Harry Potter” author JK Rowling who “have been pursued and persecuted mercilessly, simply for standing up for their sex.”
“Adele’s message to women and girls was inspirational. Here was a woman — who has sold tens of millions of albums — telling the world she was proud to be a woman. That’s something to celebrate, not condemn,” she wrote.
The teacher said that “girls need role models and last night Adele stepped up to the plate. For that, she deserves applause, even greater than the adulation she received for her music.”
