Bette Midler has responded to criticism over a Twitter message in which she attacked the use of gender-neutral language.
On Monday, the Hollywood icon claimed women are being "erased" by the use of certain words to refer to transgender or non-binary people while also voicing concern over the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the U.S. Supreme Court late last month, which means state leaders can make abortion illegal.
Following a wave of comments online, Bette took to Twitter on Tuesday to explain that her tweet was in response to a "fascinating" article published in The New York Times earlier this week.
"There was no intention of anything exclusionary or transphobic in what I said; it wasn't about that," she began. "It was about the same old s**t women - ALL WOMEN - have been putting up with since the cavemen. Even then, men got top billing. But seriously, folks, if anyone who read that tweet thinks I have anything but love for any marginalized people, go to Wikipedia and type in my name."
Bette went on to insist that she has always supported the LGBT community.
"I've fought for marginalized people for as long as I can remember. Still, if you want to dismiss my 60 years of proven love and concern over a tweet that accidentally angered the very people I have always supported and adored, so be it," the Beaches actress continued. But the truth is, Democracy is slipping through our fingers! I'm all in on trying to save Democracy for ALL PEOPLE. We must unite, because, in case you haven't been paying attention, divided we will definitely fall."
In response to Bette's statement, American politician Stephanie Byers - the first openly transgender person to serve in the Kansas Legislature - called for her to do more.
"Bette, I'm the first transgender Native American elected to a state legislature in the US. People against trans women are using your tweet as proof that even liberals are against the trans community. If that isn't the case, specifically say trans men and women are men and women," she fired.
