The Irish artist and former Moloko vocalist has issued a public apology after anti-trans comments she made via her personal Facebook account surfaced online.
Róisín Murphy has taken to her social media to apologise for comments she made on a recent Facebook post, where she condemned puberty blockers – a gender-affirming healthcare treatment for trans and gender-diverse youth. In the comment, which was screenshot and re-circulated via X – formerly known as Twitter – the artist spoke out against puberty blockers, saying that “little mixed up kids are vulnerable and need to be protected”.
The comment was posted under a news story about Graham Linehan, who has previously been suspended from Twitter for “repeated violations” of its rules “against hateful conduct and platform manipulation”, which caused upset particularly amongst the LGBTQ+ community, who make up much of Murphy’s own following. After saying that “puberty blockers are fucked, absolutely desolate” in her original post, Murphy has since issued a lengthy statement admitting that the comments were “hurtful”. She also said that she “cannot apologise enough” and that as a result of the post from her personal Facebook account she has been “thrown into a very public discourse in an arena I’m uncomfortable in and deeply unsuitable for”.
“I’ve spent my whole life celebrating diversity and different views, but I never patronise or cynically aim my music directly at the pockets of any demographic,” she continued in the statement, shared yesterday (29 August). “The music I make is the core of everything I do and it’s ever-evolving, freewheeling and unpredictable. For those of you that are leaving me, or have already left, I understand, I really do, but please know I have loved every one of you. I have always been so proud of my audience and understood the privilege of performing for you, all through the years”.
The singer then went out to say she would now “bow out of this conversation in the public domain” stating that she is “not interested” in any kind of “campaign” but instead stated that music was her true calling which she believes “will always be one of the greatest tools we can use to create a culture of tolerance”. Murphy’s apology statement doesn’t, however, directly mention the trans community.
According to a study by GLAAD – a LGBTQ+ non-profit – access to puberty blockers during adolescence is linked to a significant reduction in suicidal ideation.
Read Murphy’s full statement here.