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American singer, Ne-Yo has taken back his apology issued on his behalf for remarks he made about gender identity and how transgender kids are raised.
In the interview with VladTV, the RnB singer spoke on transgender children and the parents that raise them. He also questioned minors’ rights to receive gender-affirming care.
“I have no issue with LBG — I have no problem with nobody. You love who you love, you do what you do,” he prefaced. “I just personally come from an era where a man was a man and a woman was a woman.”
He then went on to say, “There was two genders, and that’s just how I rocked. You could identify as a goldfish if you feel like, I don’t care. That ain’t my business. It becomes my business when you try to make me play the game with you. I’m not gonna call you a goldfish. But if you wanna be a goldfish, you go be a goldfish. We live in a weird time, man. We do.”
The father of seven later expanded on that point, saying: “I feel like parents have almost forgotten what the role of a parent is. If your little boy comes to you and says, ‘Daddy, I want to be a girl.’ And you just let him rock with that? He’s 5 … If you let this 5-year-old boy decide to eat candy all day, he’s gonna do that. When did it become a good idea to let a 5-year-old, let a 6-year-old, let a 12-year-old make a life-changing decision for themself? When did that happen? I don’t understand. He can’t drive a car yet, but he can decide his sex?”
Interviewer Gloria Velez appeared to agree with the singer, responding with, “And he can cut off his pee-pee.”
After being called out for his comment, a statement shared on his page on Sunday read: “I’ve always been an advocate for love and inclusivity in the LGBTQI+ community, so I understand how my comments could’ve been interpreted as insensitive and offensive,” he wrote. “Gender identity is nuanced and I can honestly admit that I plan to better educate myself on the topic, so I can approach future conversations with more empathy.”
But on Monday night, Ne-Yo, whose full name is Shaffer Chimere Smith, released a new video insisting his fans needed to hear his thoughts ‘from the horse’s mouth, not the publicist’s computer.’
‘All right, listen, I normally don’t give too much of a damn about what y’all think about what I do, what y’all have to say about what I say, whatever,’ he began in the video. ‘I normally don’t care because like I said, opinions ain’t special.’He said
‘Everybody got one. However, this is something I feel very strongly on. And I need y’all to hear this from the horse’s mouth, not the publicist’s computer.’
‘So, check this out. First and foremost, I did not apologize for having an opinion on this matter,’ he said.
‘I’m a 43 year old heterosexual man raising five boys and two girls, okay? That’s my reality. Now, if my opinion offended somebody, yeah, sure. I apologize for you being offended because that wasn’t my intention.’
‘My intention is never to offend anybody. However, I’m entitled to feel how I feel. I’m absolutely entitled to feel how I feel the same way you are entitled to feel how you feel.’
‘I ain’t asked nobody to follow me, I ain’t asked nobody to agree with me,’ he continued. ‘I was asked a question and I answered the damn question, okay? I have no beef with the LBGTQIA+ community whatsoever.’
‘I got no beef with y’all, do whatever the hell it is you want to do. Do what you want to do with your kids. However, somebody asked my opinion on this matter, and this is how I feel, I will never be okay with allowing a child to make a decision that detrimental to their life. I will never be okay with that.’
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