Lady Gaga on why she never shut down the old viral rumour she was ‘a man’

Cast your mind back to when Lady Gaga first burst onto the pop music scene. Do you remember online the constant rumours and bizarre pictures alleging that Lady Gaga was “a man” – or that she was a “hermaphrodite”? It was everywhere on the internet, and rooted in transphobia. It was a wild time – interviewers were literally asking Lady Gaga to her face as she navigated her newfound fame if she “was a man”. She always handled it iconically, but now in a new interview Lady Gaga explains why she never, ever shut down the rumour she was “a man”.

Famously, when asked about the rumour in 2011 Lady Gaga said “Maybe I do. Would it be so terrible? Why the hell am I going to waste my time and give a press release about whether or not I have a penis? My fans don’t care and neither do I.”

Speaking to Bill Gates, Lady Gaga explained why she never shut down the ‘man’ rumour at the time. “When I was in my early 20s there was a rumour that I was a man. I went all over the world. I traveled for tours and for promoting my records and almost every interview I sat in they said … there was this imagery on the internet that had been doctored … they’d say, ‘There’s rumors that you’re a man. What do you have to say about that?’”

“The reason why I didn’t answer the question is because I didn’t feel like a victim with that lie and I thought: What about a kid who is being accused of that who would think that a public figure like me would feel shame?” Gaga continued. “I’ve been in situations where fixing a rumor was not in the best interest of the well being of other people. In that case, I tried to be thought provoking and disruptive in another way. I tried to use the misinformation to create another disruptive point.

“I’ve been used to lies being printed about me since I was 20 years old. I’m a performer. I think it’s kind of funny.”

She ate that. Nobody can ever take away from Gaga that she always stands for her young queer fans and does right by them – a true ally for trans people and anyone the press and the internet seek to paint as a freak or misfit.

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