While Eddie Izzard has donned lippy for his stand-up shows for many years, he has increasingly embraced his feminine side in recent years. We gave him the nickname 'gran' during the Brexit impasse, thanks to his fetching pink beret. Since then he has somewhat predictably ended up on the trans bandwagon by adopting she/her pronouns and the forename 'Suzy'. However, unlike many of his trans comrades, Izzard is not that fussed about enforcing his choices on others.
Izzard says people can call him he or she, Eddie or Suzy.
So when Radio 4's Anita Anand referred to him as 'the man', Eddie took no offence. Unfortunately, in the world of legacy media such an act could not go unpunished, and the BBC presenter offered a public apology for the 'misgendering'. The apology came on air 25 minutes into the same broadcast: "Now a little earlier in the programme you might have heard me accidentally misgender Eddie Izzard. I'm very very sorry about that."
It is not clear if she had been told to apologise or whether it was voluntary. The BBC and the establishment it represents have written this outrageous agenda into their constitution. BBC guidelines dictate that staff must 'use the term and pronoun preferred by the person in question'. Please deliver us from this madness!
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