American singer, NeYo has apologized to the LGBT community for controversial comments he made about children and gender identity during an interview.
In a recent 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, Ne-Yo issued an apology on social media, this time not leaving out the "T" in "LGBT." "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."
