Wonder Woman stands up for trans people in wake of Bette Midler’s & Macy Gray’s attacks

Lynda Carter, television’s Wonder Woman, took to Twitter to affirm her support for transgender people in the wake of comments made by singers Bette Midler and Macy Gray earlier this week that suggested that transgender equality is an attack on cisgender women.

“I cannot think of anything that helps women’s rights less than pinning the blame on trans women,” Carter wrote. “They face so much violence and scrutiny as is. Leave them alone and focus on the real war on women. It’s happening in the courts and legislatures around this country.”

Related: Lynda Carter spent June celebrating Pride. She’ll be dancing her way through July.

While Carter didn’t mention Midler or Gray by name, both were getting attention on social media earlier this week for their comments pitting transgender people’s rights and cis women’s rights against each other.

Never Miss a Beat

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights.

Sign Up

Daily

Weekly

Good News

Promotions (occasional)

“WOMEN OF THE WORLD!” Midler tweeted Monday. “We are being stripped of our rights over our bodies, our lives and even of our name! They don’t call us ‘women’ anymore; they call us ‘birthing people’ or ‘menstruators’, and even ‘people with vaginas’! Don’t let them erase you! Every human on earth owes you!”

Facing backlash, Midler denied that her criticism of trans-inclusive language had anything to do with transgender people.

“There was no intention of anything exclusionary or transphobic in what I said; it wasn’t about that,” she wrote. “I’ve fought for marginalized people for as long as I can remember. Still, if you want to dismiss my 60 years of proven love and concern over a tweet that accidentally angered the very people I have always supported and adored, so be it.”

To explain what she meant, she linked a New York Times opinion piece that has been criticized for transphobia. The author accused “academics, uber-progressives, transgender activists, civil liberties organizations and medical organizations” of trying “to deny women their humanity, reducing them to a mix of body parts and gender stereotypes.” The piece claimed that women aren’t allowed to call themselves women anymore, a position that LGBTQ advocates have never taken.

Over the weekend, Gray told conservative British television personality Piers Morgan that a woman is “a human being with boobs” and that “the whole he/she/they” is “getting confusing.”

She said she “totally” agreed that trans women shouldn’t be allowed to participate in sports competitions.

“I will say this and everybody’s gonna hate me but, as a woman, just because you go change your parts doesn’t make you a woman. Sorry,” she said.

On Twitter later, Gray said that “there is no bigger admirer of lgbt community than your truly.”

Author J.K. Rowling – known for her anti-transgender views – praised Gray by saying, “Today feels like a good day to ensure I’ve bought Macy Gray’s entire back catalogue.”

Don't forget to share: