Veteran singer Billy Bragg has been slammed online after halting a concert to deliver a lengthy speech about trans rights - sparking a wave of backlash from social media users.
The 67‑year‑old star stopped mid‑set to make a passionate speech on solidarity with the trans and non-binary community.
He said: “Our trans, nonbinary siblings are being attacked left, right and centre. And they’re in exactly the same position that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters were back in the day.
"You remember I always stood in solidarity with them? Well, the time has come now to stand in solidarity of our trans siblings and our nonbinary siblings and say no… Trans rights are human rights.”
Billy Bragg gaslighting his audience 🦄 pic.twitter.com/hZFCuXyTJE
— Biology Rules Ok (@OkayBiology) June 22, 2025
Bragg also acknowledged women’s rights to “safe spaces” but argued the threat came from elsewhere.
“The threat to women and to girls, and to trans women, comes from the same place, and that place is male violence,” he said.
“This is the thing we should be staying up all night on the internet arguing about. This is the thing JK Rowling should be spending her money on stopping,” Bragg added.
He then turned to his older male fans, referring to them as “geezers my age,” and suggested that their discomfort with the topic came down to accepting they’ll never be “pretty” again.
The singer said: “I'm not blaming this on you, it applies to me too. We are never going to be pretty again. That’s gone, mate. Size 34, that’s gone.”
He continued: “There’s now absolutely no reason why we should not be as radical as we were back in the day. As engaged in a fight as we were back in the day. And the fight now, the front line of the fight, is our trans siblings.
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Bragg has long been a vocal supporter of the transgender community, often clashing publicly with figures like JK Rowling over the years
GETTY
While Bragg received a generally muted response from the audience, the reaction online was swift and brutal.
“He’s right about the male violence bit but fails to realise that trans women are actually males. Stupid champagne socialist t**t,” one person wrote.
“A man deciding what a woman should spend her money on. He truly is a misogynistic prick,” added another.
“If he was so concerned about male violence, he’d be advocating for safe male spaces for his fellow men… the ones he calls ‘transwomen’. And he’d leave women alone,” a third said.
“Bully Brag really doesn’t think women deserve sex‑based rights. That women have rights because of men. Women/men. There’s only two,” another argued.
Bragg came under fire after drawing comparisons between the controversy surrounding Algerian Olympian Imane Khelif and the Southport stabbings
GETTY“He’s so insufferable. He is admitting to jumping on the latest cool protest because he’s ageing and overweight!” one comment read.
“Doesn't sound like he's getting much agreement there. Billy, you're a man and you don't get to speak for women, you silly old misogynistic man,” another concluded.
Bragg has long been a vocal supporter of the transgender community, often clashing publicly with figures like JK Rowling over the years.
Last year, he came under fire after drawing comparisons between the controversy surrounding Algerian Olympian Imane Khelif and the Southport stabbings.
He wrote on X: “Imane Khelif is a female boxer who has been defeated 9 times by women opponents. Those claiming she's a man have the same aims as those who claimed that the suspect in the Southport stabbings was a Muslim asylum seeker: to stir up hatred against a marginalised community.”
Social media users quickly hit out at the singer, calling him a “disgrace” and “contemptible”.
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