Lorraine Kelly apologises to emotional Eddie Izzard after failing to use female pronouns as transgender comedian tells her: ‘if people have a problem with it, just call me by my name’
Lorraine Kelly apologised to transgender star Eddie Izzard on Good Morning Britain on Thursday after failing to correctly use female pronouns when talking to her.
Comedian Eddie, 58, recently requested to be referred to as ‘she’ and ‘her’ but Lorraine, Ben Shephard and Kate Garraway all used ‘he’ and ‘his’ multiple times.
Lorraine later said sorry ‘if I get it wrong’ and Eddie was gracious, saying her wish to be referred to as ‘she/her is a request and not a demand.’
Call me Eddie! Lorraine Kelly apologised to Eddie Izzard after failing to use female pronouns as the comedian told her on GMB on Thursday: ‘if people have a problem, call me by my name’
Lorraine said: ‘Can I apologise to you if I get that wrong, because we’re still just going along with it?’ – it’s not clear if she was aware that she had got it wrong several times already
Lorraine said: ‘Can I apologise to you if I get it wrong, because we’re still just going along with it?’
Eddie replied: ‘There is a request, but it is never a demand or an insistence. I was asked and I said “I would quite like to be known as she because I’m in girl mode”.’
‘Some people twist that and some people get het up about it.
‘They say, “Are you serious about being trans because we just didn’t know for 35 years?” If people have a problem, just call me Eddie. It is no big deal for me.
‘I am gender fluid, I do all my dramatic roles in boy mode.
Transgender Eddie said of her pronoun request: ‘There is a request, but it is never a demand or an insistence. Some people twist that and some people get het up about it’
She said: ‘They say, “Are you serious about being trans because we just didn’t know for 35 years?” If people have a problem, just call me Eddie. It is no big deal for me’
She added: ‘I am gender fluid, I do all my dramatic roles in boy mode’
‘If people are angry, I am trying to tell the truth at a time when lies are used as a tool of politics… I am trying to tell what is actually going on and we are getting closer and closer to finding out what the genetic thing is in transgender and that is going to help humanity.
‘This century I think is the coming of age of humanity, it is either going to be our first century or our last. We are either going to make it a fair world for everyone or we are not going to make it.’
She added: ‘All girls are foetus’s, the nipples are there because they could have been breasts… stop being so obsessed about this, we are all human beings, we need to make it work.’
Lorraine said: ‘You’re a fantastic woman, a fantastic human being.’
Mistake: Earlier in the show, Ben Shephard, Kate Garraway and Lorraine all accidentally used male pronouns when talking to Eddie
What an achievement: The TV star had appeared on the show to talk about her 31 marathon challenge, in which she is planning on running 31 marathons in 31 days for charity on a treadmill
Eddie replied: ‘Thank you for being so supportive, and [getting emotional] it’s great that you’re there.’
The TV star had appeared on the show wearing a Make Humanity Great Again cap over a blonde ponytail.
She appeared on the show to talk about her 31 marathon challenge, in which she is planning on running 31 marathons in 31 days for charity on a treadmill.
She said: ‘It’s motivation… if I am motivated, I can get going… All I prove is that we can all do more than we think we can do.’
During the appearance, Eddie hit out at Donald Trump and labelled him a ‘fake President’ in the process.
She said: ‘What Donald Trump does seems to destroy humanity.
Eddie told the hosts: ‘It’s motivation… if I am motivated, I can get going… All I prove is that we can all do more than we think we can do’
‘He has lied and lied so many times, you can’t keep up with it. If lying is allowed to be a tool of politics, then humanity dies.
‘That is what was happening yesterday and he is a fake President. That is how he will be [known] in history.’
Before the apology, viewers had expressed their disappointment after hosts had failed to correctly use female pronouns on multiple occasions.
They took to Twitter to implore the show’s presenters, before the apology took place to ‘be careful’ and to ‘please stop misgendering her.’
They wrote: ‘Eddie Izzard has asked to be referred to as female, please stop mis-gendering her.’
‘Please be careful when referring to @eddieizzard as their pronouns are she/her.’
‘They called Eddie Izzard a he #GMB.’
‘Did they just refer to #eddieizzard as he? Thought Eddie was she/her now?’
‘Not Good Morning Britain, getting @eddieizzard pronouns wrong, not by 1, not 2, but 3 separate people on multiple occasions.’
While the error was unlikely to be a malicious one, Eddie has been very clear about her wishes to be addressed with female pronouns.
Later on in the show, Lorraine spoke about Eddie again and used a male pronoun once again before realising and correcting herself.
Lots of people took to Twitter after noticing the hosts’ multiple errors
She said: ‘He is… she is running 31 marathons in 31 days.’
She appeared on Thursday’s Sky Arts programme Portrait Artist Of The Year in which contestants had to create a portrait of the star.
During the show, Eddie directly asked if she could publicly be referred to as ‘she’ and her.’
She said: ‘This is the first programme I’ve asked if I can be she and her, a little transition period.
‘People just assume, well, know me from before… I’m genderfluid, I just want to be based in girl mode from now on.’
Taking to Twitter in the days after the show was aired, fans praised the TV personality and shared positive messages of support.
Praise: Eddie was recently applauded for requesting the use of ‘she’ and her ‘pronouns’ during a recent TV appearance on Thursday’s Sky Arts programme Portrait Artist Of The Year
In July last year, Eddie asked to be called a ‘she’, despite previously refusing to be pinned down on gender, describing an identity that is ‘boyish and girlish’.
While receiving an honorary degree at Swansea University, she made the request.
The ceremony’s press release used female pronouns to celebrate Izzard’s career, saying: ‘In 2009 she completed 43 marathons in 51 days…
‘She has been a Labour party activist for most of her life… She twice attempted to be elected for a seat on Labour’s National Executive.’ A university spokesman said: ‘We were asked by Eddie to use her/she pronouns in the press release.’
Izzard identified as a transvestite on rising to prominence in the 80s, but more recently has preferred to use the term ‘transgender’.
The star told The Mail on Sunday in September: ‘When I’m in girl mode I am happy to be known as “she” and when I’m in boy-mode, I am happy to be known as “he”. But I am equally happy to be referred to as Eddie or “Hey mate”.’
Preference: In July last year, Eddie asked to be called a ‘she’ while receiving an honorary degree at Swansea University, despite previously refusing to be pinned down on gender
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