Ne-Yo apologizes to LGBTQI+ community for comments on transgender children

The Grammy-winning singer-songwriter tweeted an apology after making comments during an interview about children wanting to transition genders.

Ne-Yo made some controversial statements regarding transgender children and their parents recently. He apologized to the LGBTQI+ community on Sunday with a social media post.

The three-time Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter posted an apology on X, formerly known as Twitter, regarding taking issue with children transitioning gender at a young age.

“After much reflection, I’d like to express my deepest apologies to anyone that I may have hurt with my comments on parenting and gender identity,” Ne-Yo posted. “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.”

The three-time Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter spoke about the issue of children transitioning genders during an interview with Gloria Velez on YouTube’s “Vlad TV.” While saying that he respected the LGBTQI+ community, his feelings about small children wanting to change genders puzzled him.

“I just personally come from an era where a man was a man and a woman was a woman,” Ne-Yo stated in the interview. “There were two genders, and that’s just how I rocked.”

The “Miss Independent” singer said, “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.”

Ne-Yo put much of the onus of the issue on the parents of the children during the interview, stating that the role of a parent is to guide the children and not allow them to make such a life-changing proclamation without counsel.

“I feel like parents have almost forgotten what the role of a parent is,” Ne-Yo continued. “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 five. If you let his five-year-old boy eat candy all day, he’s going to do that.”

Ne-Yo initially addressed the backlash of his comments with posts to his Instagram stories, according to Newsweek. Before issuing his X apology, he posted on IG that he and his detractors needed to agree to disagree.

“My opinion is mine. I’m not asking anybody to agree with me, nor am I telling you what you can and cannot do with your children. I stated my opinion on a matter, and that’s that.”

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