Lorraine Kelly comes out as a trans ally, slams media for broadcasting ‘debates’ about trans equality
Lorraine Kelly dragged up for Attitude Magazine as Morning Gloria.
Daytime television presenter Lorraine Kelly has come out swinging for the trans community in the UK.
In an interview for Attitude magazine’s January issue, ‘Activists and Allies’, Kelly took aim at Ann Widdecombe and TV broadcasters for making LGBT+ equality into a “debate”.
Kelly also admitted that she is “very uncomfortable” with the current trend of TV journalists inviting transphobes to “debate” trans equality live on air.
“I don’t like it and I don’t think it gets us anywhere,” Kelly said.
“Because those people that are entrenched will not change their points of view, sadly, and sometimes it’s almost an ambush,” she added.
The queen of daytime TV and Drag Race UK guest recently took part in a queer lingo quiz for Attitude magazine after discovering her drag alter ego Morning Gloria.
Kelly absolutely nailed the quiz, getting a near-perfect score after sussing out the terms “doppelbanger”, “daddy” and “shade” – and accurately explaining what a “power bottom” is.
The 60-year-old broadcaster has now come out as a trans ally, saying that she’d “rather hear the person’s story and how they got to where they are, and they should be applauded for that” than listen to another debate about trans rights.
“I think what’s going on with trans people just now is kind of what the gay community went through years ago,” Kelly said.
“One would like to hope that it will get better, but in the meantime we’ve got people having a s**t time… just because they want to be the person that they’re supposed to be. And God, don’t we all deserve that?”
Lorraine Kelly also attacked Ann Widdecombe, who earlier this year doubled down on her remarks about “curing” gay people.
“I have never bought into the ‘Ann Widdecombe is a national treasure’ malarkey, you know, when she was on Strictly,” Kelly said.
“To me, that’s just somebody who is so bigoted and homophobic, and never gets called out on it enough. That’s shameful and harmful, and kids are getting bullied and it’s almost like they enable that to happen.
“They might not realise that that’s what they’re doing, but they are. And I just think sometimes you have to go, ‘*Ahem*, excuse me!’
“We’re all entitled to our points of view when it comes to politics and all of that, but if something’s actually wrong, it doesn’t matter whether you’re really left, right or you’re in the middle, I don’t care what party you’re in.
“And you’ve got people like Esther McVey and Ann Widdecombe with their stance on the whole LGBT community, which is just wrong.
“I don’t find that political, I just find that this is either right, or it isn’t.”
She added: “My point of view is that if something’s unjust, or not right, you should call it.”
