“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.”
Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe, a Republican, signed a new law last week prohibiting state funds from covering transition-related treatments for transgender inmates.
The law, which took effect July 2, is primarily an appropriations bill funding the Missouri Department of Corrections. As first reported by transgender journalist Aleksandra Vaca on her Transitics Substack, it allocates money for DOC programs, training, mental health services, food storage, and overtime pay -- among other expenses -- but also contains a one-sentence provision barring the use of state funds for gender-affirming care for transgender inmates.
Two parents in Maryland are suing Anne Arundel County Public Schools over the school system's policies affirming the gender identity of transgender students.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, was brought by the conservative, anti-LGBTQ legal organization America First Legal on behalf of John and Jane Doe. It accuses staff members at an unidentified county high school of lying to the Does about their child, Mary Doe, and her gender identity.
The Does allege that the school "socially transitioned" Mary by using a masculine name and male pronouns without informing them or obtaining their consent. They are asking school officials to use Mary's given name and female pronouns and a federal judge to declare the district's transgender-affirming policies illegal.
The term "femboy" was the most searched term during this year's Pride Month, according to a new report from adult content website Pornhub.
The term, which refers to individuals who wholly or partly identify as male and adopt traditionally feminine characteristics in their gender expression, continues to significantly outpace other terms, including "twink," the second most searched term.
The next eight most popular search terms were "anime," "straight guys first time," "pinoy," "furry," "big dick," "animation," "Asian," and "straight."
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
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.”
More from Metro Weekly: