Maren Morris was one of the most vocal stars to criticize Brittany Aldean’s transphobic rhetoric on social media in August, and she has no intentions of backing down.
In fact, the country music singer embraced her transgender allyship after Aldean’s segment with Tucker Carlson on his Fox News show aired, during which the host called Morris “a lunatic country music person.” In an iconic follow-up, Morris created t-shirts with the phrase stamped on the chest and is selling them to raise proceeds for GLAAD’s Transgender Media Program and Trans Lifeline. She told The Los Angeles Times, “I’ll wear that [label] as a badge of honor.”
During her interview with The LA Times, Morris expounded on why she felt, and still feels, the need to stand up to transphobic remarks made by her peers in the country music industry following the feud with Aldean. She shared, “There’s a very insidious culture of people feeling very comfortable being transphobic and homophobic and racist, and that they can wrap it in a joke and no one will ever call them out for it. It just becomes normal for people to behave like that.”
Morris clarified that her criticism of Aldean wasn’t a personal attack, but was motivated by “the culture of misinformation that goes along with trans youth” that runs rampant in the country music demographic. She emphasized, “Your words matter. Your disinformation matters… Suicide rates are so high because of hateful bull— like that.”
The Grammy-nominated singer mused about the divide in the country music industry: the side that wants country music to only be for cis, white, hetero listeners, and the side that wants to expand into a more inclusive audience. Speaking of artists like Jason Aldean and his like-minded supporters, Morris said, “[Country music is] theirs, and everyone else is an other, or woke, or whatever. That’s sad to me.”
While Morris has no regrets about her actions in response to Brittany Aldean‘s comments and the feud that ensued, saying “I sleep pretty good at night knowing that people feel safer in my crowd,” she did share that she isn’t sure if she’ll attend this year’s Country Music Association Awards, even though her record Humble Quest is nominated for album of the year.
“I’m very honored that my record is nominated,” she said, “But I don’t know if I feel [at] home there right now.”
Morris’ hesitation to attend the CMAs and every move she’s made since initially calling out Aldean are perfect examples of how to be a trans ally. Even when it’s opened her up to vitriol from Tucker Carlson, Fox News cronies, and transphobic country music fans, she’s advocated for the transgender community without hesitation. Her dedicated allyship is a chef’s kiss example of standing up for a marginalized community regardless of the criticism she may face, because equal human rights are much more important that any one person’s career or perceived public reputation.
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