Ne-Yo Apologizes After Criticizing Parents of Transgender Children: ‘Gender Identity is Nuanced’ [Video]

“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 on the receiving end of a lot of education and criticism, 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.”

Velez and Ne-Yo echoed a common misconception about gender-affirming surgery for children. According to Reuters, “The ultimate step in gender-affirming medical treatment is surgery, which is uncommon in patients under age 18. Some children’s hospitals and gender clinics don’t offer surgery to minors, requiring that they be adults before deciding on procedures that are irreversible and carry a heightened risk of complications.” Surgery is not recommended for minors with rare exceptions that are agreed upon by the patient, their physician, and their assigned mental health professionals.

Gender-affirming care is not limited to surgery, and multiple reputable medical sources such as the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Psychological Association agree that it can be life-saving. Care can include the child societally transitioning or doing so within the comfort of their home through clothing, pronoun, and name changes. Hormone treatment and puberty blockers are also available under medical supervision.

It’s clear Ne-Yo and Gloria have no clue what they’re talking about. We’re glad Ne-Yo apologized.

I’d like to express my deepest apologies… pic.twitter.com/M5aTFN40tn

— NE-YO (@NeYoCompound) August 7, 2023