Cynthia Nixon hits back at critics in scathing viral tweet
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Cynthia Nixon has hit back at critics who have called her an “unqualified lesbian,” “a corporation” and “unhinged” in a scathing tweet.
In the tweet, the openly-gay actor-turned-politician, who is currently campaigning for a nomination to be Governor of New York, noted that she has been on the receiving end of a substantial amount of criticism – and abuse – since launching her campaign.
Cynthia Nixon (Twitter)
However, she then went on to say: “I wasn’t born the son of a Governor. I was born the daughter of a single mom and grew up in a one-bedroom, fifth-floor walk-up apartment. And my name is Cynthia.”
Her response is in reference to her competitor and current Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, who holds the same position his father held.
After announcing her bid to become Governor last March, the former Speaker of the New York City Council Christine Quinn branded her an “unqualified lesbian.”
Nixon hasn’t let the insult go, and has since gone on to make the remark a de facto campaign slogan, even having the phrase branded on badges.
Speaking at the time about the remark, Nixon said that Quinn was “technically right”.
“I don’t have my certificate from the Department of Lesbian Affairs. But in my defence, there is a lot of paperwork involved.”
Nixon’s tweet has already amassed almost 50,000 likes and retweets in just 24 hours.
She has previously spoken about how being open about her sexuality has been one of the “unexpected joys” of her life.
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“As a community we’re at a thorny moment in our LGBTQ journey – it’s a time when many would say it’s better to be queer than it ever has before. We’ve repealed Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, we’ve passed marriage equality, we’ve defeated DOMA.”
She went on to draw attention to the fact that many LGBT+ people continue to live “in the shadows”, including African-Americans, Muslims, Latino people and trans people.
Nixon’s campaign received a significant blow in July when the New York Democratic Party’s LGBT caucus decided to back her opponent, Andrew Cuomo.
If she is successful in her bid, Nixon would be New York’s first openly gay Governor.
