Entertainment
Will Young favours ditching gendered categories at award shows: ‘There is a way that it can be done respectfully’
Will is okay with gendered categories at award shows being ditched (Picture: ITV/Rex)
Will Young is in favour of ditching gendered categories at award shows, and although he says it could be ‘difficult’ to deal with, it ‘can be done respectfully’.
While some music award ceremonies such as the Grammys and the MTV Video Music Awards no longer give out awards pertaining to male and female artists, the vast majority have kept these categories, including the Brit Awards, American Music Awards and the Billboard Music Awards.
Now Will has shared his own thoughts on The Independent’s Millennial Love podcast, and while he isn’t opposed to the idea, he believes that ‘less people would win’ if there was only one category for musicians to share.
The 42-year-old explained: ‘It’s quite difficult that, it really is difficult. At present, I profess to ignorance here, I only know a couple [of artists] who identify as non-binary in the UK who would be up for Brit awards.
‘How much does something move around? How do you reconfigure? I think it would be really difficult to have just one category because I feel like less people would win.
‘I think it’s a tricky one, but you have to respect that. You have to change things around and make it work.’
He went on: ‘There is a way that it can be done respectfully. I wouldn’t want to be on the Brits board.
Sam Smith, who identifies as non-binary, has called on the Brits to scrap their gendered categories (Picture: Getty Images)
‘You’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t. The people to speak would be the people identifying as non-binary, someone like Sam Smith.’
Earlier this year, Sam Smith, who came out as non-binary in 2019 and uses they/them pronouns, called for the Brit Awards to use non-gendered artist categories to be more ‘reflective of the society we live in’, arguing that music is about ‘unification not division’.
More: Brit Awards
In a statement shared on Instagram, they wrote: ‘The Brits have been an important part of my career, one of my earliest achievements was winning Critics Choice in 2014. Music for me has always been about unification not division.
‘I look forward to a time where award shows can be reflective of the society we live in. Let’s celebrate everybody, regardless of gender, race, age, ability, sexuality and class.’
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