Warning: This story has mentions of transphobia, which might be distressing to some readers. For 24-hour crisis support and suicide prevention call Lifeline on 13 11 14. For Australia-wide LGBTQI peer support call QLife on 1800 184 527 or webchat.
Comedian Barry Humphries, the man behind the iconic character Dame Edna Everage, has died aged 89.
Humphries was rushed to hospital earlier this week due to a sudden decline in his health. He had been recovering at home following a recent hip replacement procedure.
Humphries spent decades performing his comedy characters including Sir Les Patterson, Sandy Stone, and his most successful alter-ego Dame Edna Everage. He delivered a farewell tour in 2013.
The comedian suffered a fall in February when he slipped on a rug while reaching for a book. The injury led to the hip replacement surgery, and while he had been recovering at home, he’s had to return to hospital due to complications.
London has been Humphries home for many decades, but his injury occurred while he was on holiday in Sydney, and he has remained in Australia while recovering.
Humphries lost a lot of LGBTIQA+ fans when he spoke out against transgender people in 2016.
In an interview with the UK’s The Telegraph, Humphries bemoaned contemporary political correctness as “new puritanism”.
“You can’t describe the world as it is anymore,” Humphries said, “You get jumped on.”
Humphries was voicing his support for Germaine Greer, who had recently made disparaging comments about transgender people and transgender woman Caitlyn Jenner.
“You’re a mutilated man, that’s all,” he told the paper, “Self-mutilation, what’s all this carry on? Caitlyn Jenner – what a publicity-seeking ratbag.”
“It’s all given the stamp – not of respectability, but authenticity or something. If you criticise anything you’re racist or sexist or homophobic.”
Humphries later released a statement from his character Dame Edna distancing himself from his own comments.
Two years later in an interview with The Spectator magazine he was quoted as saying “transgenderism” is “a fashion — how many different kinds of lavatory can you have? And it’s pretty evil when it’s preached to children by crazy teachers”.
Humphries said that those who got upset as his comments describing gender affirming operations as “mutilation”, were probably upset because they had paid so much for their procedures.
In 2019 the Melbourne Comedy Festival took Humphries name off their top award, announcing it would no longer be known as ‘The Barry’.
Humphries has refused the title of drag queen/performer throughout his career, insisting his work as Dame Edna was ‘female impersonation’.
OIP Staff
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