“This post is giving assault victim coping mechanism rationalizing their abuse. Get help!” the user wrote, sharing an image of a tissue box reading, “It’s okay to go to therapy!”
“Well, being gay and transgender is not actually a natural thing,” Banks replied. “At all, it’s a trauma response. Science lied to you all and told you you were normal, but being homosexual — and on the more extreme end, transgender — is in fact a trauma response. No one is born gay, and no one is born in the wrong body. You guys have mental disorders that science is doing you a major disservice by not medicating. Bet you didn’t know that.”
In fact, a 2019 study found no single gene determines sexual orientation and that DNA cannot predict who will be gay or heterosexual. The study also concluded that neither biology, psychology, nor life experiences alone cause same-sex attraction.
Banks’ post drew swift criticism, with one X user writing, “You outdo your own dumbassery every time you tweet. It’s actually impressive.”
“Attraction to the same sex and living outside assigned gender roles aren’t modern concepts,” one user wrote. “They’ve existed for as long as humans have recorded history, across cultures and centuries.”
“It’s like you are purposely trying as hard as possible to be the most unlikable person in music,” added another.
This is not the first time Banks has taken aim at the LGBTQ community. In 2015, she called a Delta flight attendant a “fucking f****t” during an altercation on a plane, later defending herself by claiming she was a victim of racism.
In 2020, Banks shared a meme claiming gay men were “appropriating horse culture” by using harnesses, lubricant, and ketamine. She defended the post by saying users had mocked her Yoruba religious practices tied to the goddess Yemayá.
Later that year, Banks was suspended from Twitter for calling for an end to what she described as “luxury transgender healthcare.”
In 2021, Black LGBTQ activists urged Instagram to suspend Banks’ account after a transphobic tirade. She claimed that if society could “do mental gymnastics” to accept trans women, she should be accepted as Jewish for marrying artist Ryder Ripps.
In another post, Banks called trans women “just hot gay boys with beat faces and plastic surgery,” adding they were “gay boys on hormones using male aggression to force their ways into women’s spaces.”
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has canceled a $12 million grant to California’s Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) -- a federal initiative created under the Affordable Care Act to teach abstinence and contraception to at-risk youth.
The Trump administration balked at the program’s inclusion of transgender identity, reports Reuters, accusing educators of "indoctrinating" children with "gender ideology."
In a letter to the California Department of Public Health, HHS said it was rescinding the grant because "the grant is not being administered consistent with the authorizing statute, as the funded programs and services include gender ideology which is outside the scope of the statute."
About 100 Orlando residents used chalk on Thursday to restore a rainbow crosswalk honoring victims of the Pulse nightclub massacre, after the Florida Department of Transportation paved it over in the middle of the night.
Installed in 2017, the rainbow Pride crosswalk commemorates the 49 people killed in the Pulse mass shooting. It is also a featured element of the planned permanent Pulse memorial, which recently received $400,000 in state funding, according to Orlando CBS affiliate WKMG.
However, the crosswalk along Orange Avenue, near the former nightclub, was targeted for removal by state officials after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy sent a letter to governors demanding that rainbow crosswalks and other street art be removed. He argued they could "distract" drivers and lead to more crashes.
In March 2022, Justine Lindsay made history as the NFL’s first openly transgender cheerleader. Three seasons later, the Carolina Panthers TopCat is stepping away from the squad to pursue pageantry and community outreach.
In a statement to Outsports, Lindsay said she wanted to grow beyond the sidelines, striving to be “recognized not just as an NFL cheerleader, but as someone making a positive impact, especially during these uncertain times.”
The announcement marks a reversal, as some news outlets had previously reported she would return for the 2025–2026 season.
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Bisexual rapper Azealia Banks sparked backlash after posting on X that being gay or transgender is “not natural,” calling both “a trauma response.”
Banks made the comment in response to an X user who had replied to a since-deleted post.
“This post is giving assault victim coping mechanism rationalizing their abuse. Get help!” the user wrote, sharing an image of a tissue box reading, “It’s okay to go to therapy!”
“Well, being gay and transgender is not actually a natural thing,” Banks replied. “At all, it’s a trauma response. Science lied to you all and told you you were normal, but being homosexual — and on the more extreme end, transgender — is in fact a trauma response. No one is born gay, and no one is born in the wrong body. You guys have mental disorders that science is doing you a major disservice by not medicating. Bet you didn’t know that.”
In fact, a 2019 study found no single gene determines sexual orientation and that DNA cannot predict who will be gay or heterosexual. The study also concluded that neither biology, psychology, nor life experiences alone cause same-sex attraction.
Banks’ post drew swift criticism, with one X user writing, “You outdo your own dumbassery every time you tweet. It’s actually impressive.”
“Attraction to the same sex and living outside assigned gender roles aren’t modern concepts,” one user wrote. “They’ve existed for as long as humans have recorded history, across cultures and centuries.”
“It’s like you are purposely trying as hard as possible to be the most unlikable person in music,” added another.
This is not the first time Banks has taken aim at the LGBTQ community. In 2015, she called a Delta flight attendant a “fucking f****t” during an altercation on a plane, later defending herself by claiming she was a victim of racism.
In 2020, Banks shared a meme claiming gay men were “appropriating horse culture” by using harnesses, lubricant, and ketamine. She defended the post by saying users had mocked her Yoruba religious practices tied to the goddess Yemayá.
Later that year, Banks was suspended from Twitter for calling for an end to what she described as “luxury transgender healthcare.”
In 2021, Black LGBTQ activists urged Instagram to suspend Banks’ account after a transphobic tirade. She claimed that if society could “do mental gymnastics” to accept trans women, she should be accepted as Jewish for marrying artist Ryder Ripps.
In another post, Banks called trans women “just hot gay boys with beat faces and plastic surgery,” adding they were “gay boys on hormones using male aggression to force their ways into women’s spaces.”
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