English singer Noel Gallagher disrespected Sam Smith’s chosen pronouns while sharing his thoughts on today’s pop stars.
“Music has become quite fractured and chart music is dominated by pop,” Gallagher told host Jasper Leijdens of Dutch radio station Kink. “Pop is all right, if the pop stars are cool. Sadly the pop stars of today are f**kin’ idiots.”
When Leijdens asked Gallagher which pop star is the biggest idiot, he replied: “Sam Smith.” Asked why, Gallagher simply said: “Look at him.”
Leijdens concurred and did not correct Gallagher on misgendering Smith.
Smith adopted the pronouns “they/them” in 2019. ”I understand there will be many mistakes and mis gendering but all I ask is you please please try,” the singer wrote in a statement on Instagram. “I hope you can see me like I see myself now.”
In 2020, Shawn Mendes apologized publicly to Smith after he used the wrong pronoun when introducing Smith at the iHeartRadio Jingle Ball. “It absolutely slipped my mind," wrote Mendes. "Wont (sic) happen again." Smith replied: “We’re all learning together ... all my love.”
Last month, British TV host Piers Morgan attacked Smith’s chosen pronouns, calling it “exhausting” and claiming he has “a problem” with calling one person “they.” He fumed: “I can’t actually keep up with Sam Smith. Why should I have to? … Why do we have to call Sam Smith they?”
In a 2021 article published by Harvard Medical School, Sabra L. Katz-Wise, PhD wrote that cisgender people should respect a trans or non-binary person’s chosen pronouns. “The name, pronouns, and honorifics that a person chooses to use for themselves communicate to others how they want to be seen and acknowledged,” she wrote. “Using the correct terms for someone is a sign of respect and recognition that you see them as they see themselves.”
According to the Ontario Human Rights Commission, “simply referring to the person by their chosen name is always a respectful approach.”