Following last week's criticism of the BRIT Awards' removal of gendered categories and his lamentation of woke culture, Queen guitarist Brian May has taken to Instagram to elaborate on his commentary.
"It's a decision that has been made without enough thought," May had previously told The Mirror of the BRIT Awards' move towards inclusivity for their 2022 ceremony. "A lot of things work quite well and can be left alone. I get so sick of people trying to change things without thinking of the long-term consequences; some of these things are an improvement, some of them are not."
He then went on to add that he doesn't think Queen would've been diverse enough to succeed by today's cultural standards, saying: "We would be forced to have people of different colours and different sexes and we would have to have a trans [person]."
Now, May's written a statement claiming he was "ambushed" by the journalist who took the quotes. According to the musician, the interviewer "subtly twisted" his words to make it look like he was "unfriendly" to the trans community. "Nothing could be further from the truth," the rocker assured.
In the caption of his post from yesterday (November 28), May wrote:
Yes — I was ambushed and completely stitched up by a journalist at the recent ITV event. And it's led to a whole mess of press stories making it look like I'm unfriendly to trans people. Nothing could be further from the truth. My words were subtly twisted. I should have known better than to talk to those predatory press hacks. Sincere apologies to anyone who has been hurt by the stories. My heart is open as always to humans of all colours, all creeds, all sexes and sexualities, all shapes and sizes — and all creatures. We all deserve respect and an equal place in this world. And my grateful thanks to all of you who stepped up to defend me in the last couple of days. It means so much that you have faith in me. With love - Bri
Predatory press hacks aside, he probably could've just not said anything that could be interpreted as Queen needing some sort of token trans band member.
As aforementioned, the rock icon is not the first to criticize the BRITs' removal of gendered categories from next year's ceremony: detractors have expressed concerns about women now being overlooked the way they were previously at male-dominated awards.
You can see May's post below.
"It's a decision that has been made without enough thought," May had previously told The Mirror of the BRIT Awards' move towards inclusivity for their 2022 ceremony. "A lot of things work quite well and can be left alone. I get so sick of people trying to change things without thinking of the long-term consequences; some of these things are an improvement, some of them are not."
He then went on to add that he doesn't think Queen would've been diverse enough to succeed by today's cultural standards, saying: "We would be forced to have people of different colours and different sexes and we would have to have a trans [person]."
Now, May's written a statement claiming he was "ambushed" by the journalist who took the quotes. According to the musician, the interviewer "subtly twisted" his words to make it look like he was "unfriendly" to the trans community. "Nothing could be further from the truth," the rocker assured.
In the caption of his post from yesterday (November 28), May wrote:
Yes — I was ambushed and completely stitched up by a journalist at the recent ITV event. And it's led to a whole mess of press stories making it look like I'm unfriendly to trans people. Nothing could be further from the truth. My words were subtly twisted. I should have known better than to talk to those predatory press hacks. Sincere apologies to anyone who has been hurt by the stories. My heart is open as always to humans of all colours, all creeds, all sexes and sexualities, all shapes and sizes — and all creatures. We all deserve respect and an equal place in this world. And my grateful thanks to all of you who stepped up to defend me in the last couple of days. It means so much that you have faith in me. With love - Bri
Predatory press hacks aside, he probably could've just not said anything that could be interpreted as Queen needing some sort of token trans band member.
As aforementioned, the rock icon is not the first to criticize the BRITs' removal of gendered categories from next year's ceremony: detractors have expressed concerns about women now being overlooked the way they were previously at male-dominated awards.
You can see May's post below.
Earlier this year, May shared that he thinks anti-vaxxers are "fruitcakes," as well as releasing a badger perfume to benefit his animal welfare organization. If he can go that hard for the rights of animals, we'd like to believe he'd at least be supportive of all human people, including trans people.
