In an effort to build a space for queer people like myself, every Sunday (or the day after when things are hard) I’ll be posting interviews, opinion pieces, listicles, reviews, and more focused on the LGBT community from a Latina perspective. Welcome to Queerly Not Straight! Enjoy and leave a comment below if you have a suggestion for what I should cover next.
P.S. I, Lyra Hale, do not give any site permission to copy or repost my work in any form. If you are reading this on any site besides Fangirlish, it has been stolen.
Jeffree Star is at it again, and this time those who use “they/them” pronouns, are on the receiving end of his “opinion.”
During a recent podcast appearance, because Star is a multi-tasker who can run a yak farm and do this at the same time, he decided to call out those who use “they/them” pronouns. And even though he’s currently trying to backpedal on his words (in a weird way where he’s kind of double down), what he actually said tells a different story. He said, “I’m not into all that other bullshit.” When the host asked him to elaborate, he said, “the they/them and all that extra bullshit we added during the pandemic because everyone was so bored in their fucking houses they started making up more shit.”
And even those Star said more shit, let’s break down this first piece of shit.
Non-binary people, aka the people who use these pronouns, didn’t just pop out of nowhere in 2020. They have been around for years and just because you don’t acknowledge them doesn’t mean that they aren’t real. It isn’t a pandemic invention or something that people made up because they were bored. It’s a real way that people choose to identify themselves that makes them feel seen. And in a world that is tough enough, at least we could do is let people identify the way they want to.
Then there is Jeffree Star’s second piece of shit.
“It’s not they/them. You’re trans. You’re male or female,” Starr said before continuing on to say, “How are you a they? What the fuck does that mean? It’s stupid, it’s what it is.” This comes across as absolute tomfoolery considering that Star has long benefited from breaking gender norms and being whatever he wants to identify as, sometimes even referring to himself as an alien. So it’s okay to refer to yourself as an alien or not be restricted by gender norms or labels, but it’s not okay for non-binary people to do the same?
Make it make sense.
This behavior and his words are giving us he’s the only one that can border the line between male and female. And it’s really saddening that he feels this way overall because it feels like he doesn’t appreciate the non-binary space that he inhabits but he wants to benefit from it. Or maybe he’s just trying to fit into a new and cool category, conservatives, to start drama and be on the minds and lips of a new audience and those who haven’t paid attention to him for a while. Which, if it’s the latter, He got us all because he’s been trending and this piece was born as a result.
Either way, his words come off as elitist and have that kind of old-school mentality that older LGBTQ people like to carry around to excuse their problematic words and behavior. You would think that he would feel pride at the fact that the efforts of the older queer generation (his generation) have enabled this current generation to feel liberated in a way that maybe the older generation never was. Instead, he’s looking on with, what seemingly looks like, derision at a community that has finally found a home or a label that makes them feel seen.
And we’re not alone in this. Here are some of our favorite responses.
Some were straightforward about how he’s benefited from the communities he’s now thrown under the bus.
Others reminded people that this isn’t the only problematic thing about Star.
Then there were those that wondered how he can dislike the way that non-binary people identify, but also be fluid in the way that he identifies.
And just in case you doubt anything that Jeffree Star has said, here you go. Watch.
Queerly Not Straight posts every Sunday with opinion pieces, listicals, reviews, and more focused on the LGBT community (and occasionally about the Latinx community since I am Latinx.)
