As previously reported, Ne-Yo recently sat for an interview with VladTV and shared his thoughts on how to parent transgender children. While there, he also questioned minors’ rights to receive gender-affirming care.
Explaining his point of view, he said at the time, “I have no issue with LBG…I have no problem with nobody. You love who you love, you do what you do,” he began before saying, “I just personally come from an era where a man was a man and a woman was a woman,” said Ne-Yo. “And there was two genders, and that’s just how I rocked. You could identify as a goldfish if you feel like, I don’t care. That ain’t my business. It becomes my business when you try to make me play the game with you. I’m not gonna call you a goldfish. But if you wanna be a goldfish, you go be a goldfish. We live in a weird time, man. We do.”
Neyo went on to say, “I feel like parents have almost forgotten what the role of a parent is. If your little boy comes to you and says, ‘Daddy, I want to be a girl.’ And you just let him rock with that? He’s 5 … If you let this 5-year-old boy decide to eat candy all day, he’s gonna do that. When did it become a good idea to let a 5-year-old, let a 6-year-old, let a 12-year-old make a life-changing decision for themself? When did that happen? I don’t understand.” Whew! Now y’all know Neyo faced immediate backlash over his comments but later apologized… then stood by his words again.
The singer initially posted a statement on Twitter expressing his regret. “After much reflection, I’d like to express my deepest apologies to anyone that I may have hurt with my comments on parenting and gender identity,” the statement reads. “I’ve always been an advocate for love and inclusivity in the LGBTQI+ community, so I understand how my comments could’ve been interpreted as insensitive and offensive.”
Ne-Yo later clarified that his publicist wrote that apology and that it doesn’t convey how he really feels.
“First and foremost, I did not apologize for having an opinion on this matter,” the singer said in a video posted on his Instagram account on Monday (August 7). “I am a 43-year-old heterosexual man raising five boys and two girls, okay? That’s my reality. If my opinion offended somebody, yeah, sure, I apologize for you being offended because that wasn’t my intention. My intention is never to offend anybody.”
“However, I’m entitled to feel how I feel. I am absolutely entitled to feel how I feel the same way you are entitled to feel how you feel,” he continued.
“I have no beef with the LGBTQIA+ (sic) community whatsoever,” he said. “Do whatever it is you want to do. Do whatever you want to do with your kids. However, somebody asked my opinion on this matter and this is how I feel. I will never be okay with allowing a child to make a decision that is detrimental to their life. I will never be okay with that.” Though he added, “I definitely plan to educate myself a little bit more on this matter, however, I doubt that there’s any book anywhere or any opinion that is gonna make me okay with letting a child make a decision like that,” he said.
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Either way, some folks still didn’t like what he had to say about the big topic including his ex-fiancée Monyetta Shaw-Carter. While speaking with TMZ, Carter who shares two kids with Ne-Yo reportedly told the outlet she’s “not cool” with what he said and that his thoughts aren’t aligned with her. However, she noted that although she stands with the LGBTQ+ community she’s not bashing Ne-Yo for what he said. She’s just making it clear that “Those views are HIS.”
Socialites, how do you feel about this? Sound off in the comment box below!
TMZSource
I’m 110% agreeing with Ne-Yo. Because I was once in the Homosexual Life myself