Entertainment
Alan Cumming supports trans rights in essay: ‘Someone else getting rights doesn’t mean you have less’
Alan Cumming has come out in support of trans rights, saying that ‘rights aren’t like cake; someone else getting some doesn’t mean you have any less’.
The actor called for critics of gender self-ID to analyse their concerns, which he believes are a ‘fear of the unknown’ rather than a phobia.
The 56-year-old originally wrote the essay for the Royal Society Edinburgh magazine, before it was reprinted in The Times.
Cumming wrote: ‘We scoff when we hear politicians from Chechnya or Malaysia say there are no gay people in their countries, yet many of us entertain the notion that being trans is a fad, a fashionable bandwagon too many people are jumping on and possibly altering their bodies in ways they might live to regret.
‘To anyone who thinks this way, I thank you for your concern. But I ask you to consider that maybe trans people seem to be more common these days because, for the first time, the climate makes them feel safe to come out and present in the way they feel is their best selves.
‘They’ve always been there; we just haven’t allowed them to be visible.’
The Good Wife star then addressed people claiming that ‘non-binary people are making it too confusing for us with all their pronoun nonsense’, writing: ‘How much does it cost to make the effort to refer to someone the way they want to be referred to?
‘And also, it’s not a test, we are allowed to get pronouns wrong, and would you think it OK to be annoyed with someone who wanted to be referred to as Black and not coloured or Negro?’
Cumming received some criticism over the letter on Twitter and in the comments section, while he was also praised by others for expressing his support for trans rights.
The stage star has long been a vocal supporter of LGBTQ+ rights, having worked with GLAAD and the Human Rights Campaign, supported Aids charities and taking part in a campaign for same-sex marriage in Scotland.
Cumming is bisexual, and entered a civil partnership with Grant Shaffer in 2007, before getting legally married in New York in 2012.
The couple live together in Manhattan, with Cumming – who was born in Scotland – becoming a dual national in 2008.
The Gender Recognition Act of 2004 allows people to apply to change their legal gender.
Last year, the government dropped plans to allow people to officially change their gender without a medical diagnosis, instead announcing a decrease in the coast of applying for a gender recognition certificate in England and Wales.
It was also announced that three new gender clinics would be opened to combat lengthy NHS waiting lists for transgender people.
MORE : Sam Smith’s gorgeous new tattoo appears to reflect their non-binary identity
