Actor and singer Janelle Monáe has branded US leader Donald Trump a “bully” while accepting the Human Rights Campaign’s equality award.
Monáe, who has urged her fans to be open-minded when it comes to gender and sexuality, came out as non-binary in 2022, telling the Red Table Talk show that she didn’t see herself as “a woman, solely”, but rather as “beyond the binary”.
And on Saturday (March 22), the “I Like That” singer, who uses both she/her and they/them pronouns, lambasted Trump, whose executive orders have begun stripping way queer people’s rights.
‘The bully gets elected president’
Taking to the stage to accept the award at the Fairmont Century Plaza, in Los Angeles, Monáe said: “Bullies only win when we let them think they can. Here’s the truth: bullying doesn’t stop when we grow up. It doesn’t end when we leave school. It just gets bigger, it rebrands itself. The bully gets elected president.”
They pledged to stand by marginalised communities affected by Trump’s policies, adding: “Let’s make it clear, we will challenge the giant.”
The Glass Onion star has previously promised their queer “siblings” that they will do all they can to tackle the anti-LGBTQ+ bills being passed in the US, and criticised rapper Nelly for his appearance at an event marking Trump’s inauguration.
“Nelly, you sold out,” Monáe rapped. “I used to think he was cool, but now you look like a motherf****ing fool… f*** you, you got a new attitude.”
Nelly defended his decision, saying he would’ve performed at the event regardless of who was president.
Trump attacked the LGBTQ+ community during his first term in the White House, and almost immediately after being sworn-in again on 20 January signed an executive order proclaiming that America would recognise only two sexes: male and female.
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