Kangana Ranaut is an award-winning Bollywood actress with over 2 million followers on Twitter. She’s also a self-proclaimed “cheerleader” for the “homosexual community” who sometimes uses antigay slurs, even after her gay fans have asked her not to.
This week, the 33-year-old actress got into a heated conversation with a journalist on Twitter. After she called the man a “sissy” and a “eunuch,” a fan responded by saying, “We really admire you – if we may say, please do not use homophobic language. It negates and weakens your argument.”
The fan added, “The lgbt community have enough oppression. Using these derogatory terms in a normalised way is equally offensive and it takes away from your shine.”
Dear Kangana – We really admire you – if we may say, please do not use homophobic language. It negates and weakens your argument. The lgbt community have enough oppression. Using these derogatory terms in a normalised way is equally offensive and it takes away from your shine.
— Phizzical (@phizzical) September 20, 2020
To which Ranaut responded by claiming to be the “biggest cheerleader for the homosexual community.”
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“I am the biggest cheerleader of homosexual community,” she wrote. “Please see the dictionary meaning of what I have written. I have not made any derogatory remarks for LGBT community never in my dreams, recognise your well wishers and support them.”
I am the biggest cheerleader of homosexual community, please see the dictionary meaning of what I have written. I have not made any derogatory remarks for LGBT community never in my dreams, recognise your well wishers and support them 🙂
— Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) September 21, 2020
Except that Ranaut really isn’t much of a cheerleader. Or, if she is, she’s not a very good one.
Aside from praising India’s Supreme Court for striking down the country’s law against homosexuality in 2018, calling it “great news,” Ranaut doesn’t appear to have much of a history in “cheerleading” for LGBTQ causes or supporting any LGBTQ organizations.
She does, however, have a history of engaging in causal homophobia during interviews.
In January 2019, she was criticized for using a homophobic pejorative when she told an interviewer, “Sissy men don’t like women to be fierce.”
After fans informed her that the term “sissy” was offensive to gay people, she used it again in December 2019 when she accused some of her male colleagues of being “spineless” and “sissies” for not agreeing with her on a political issue.
“Bollywood is full of cowards who are full of themselves,” she said. “All they do is just look into the mirror 20 times a day. … Pumping their muscles in the gym the whole day. That’s who they are.”
After Ranaut proclaimed to be a “cheerleader for the homosexual community” this week, fans once again informed her that her casual homophobia is a problem.
Then check your internalized homophobia, because “sissy” in the modern age is 100% a gay slur, and throwing the accusation of femininity (because sissy means “effeminate and cowardly”) on someone is also depowering and insulting to feminism.
— Amit (@LicenceToMock) September 22, 2020
kangana ranaut called this person “sissy” in order to insult them and then also called herself ‘the biggest cheerleader of the homosexual community’ in the very next line. ma’am when will you stop clowning and finally accept that you’re a piece of shit? 😍😍😍
— biba (@areebawho) September 22, 2020
Because you have been an advocate for LGBT rights, we just wanted to highlight that words like sissy are deemed derogatory. It’s no different to saying ‘baila / bailo’.
Love. x— Phizzical (@phizzical) September 21, 2020
It’s a derrogatory term when used by someone not from the community. It’s a derrogatory term when used in a manner meant to insult somebody for being effeminate.
Ever heard of reclaiming certain words by the oppressed community?
Saying you are an ally & being one are v different— dumb&petty// pls ignire typos (@YeKyaVyavharHai) September 22, 2020
Also, no. You, a cisgender straight woman, do not get to tell us to recognize our well-wishers and support them. The gay community gets to decide that based on your actions, and your current actions are not a good look for you. Listen and learn from those in the community.
— Amit (@LicenceToMock) September 22, 2020
After initially engaging with fans on Twitter, Ranaut went radio silent when the tried explaining why her repeated use of the word “sissy” is offensive. She has not issued any further comment on the matter. Here’s hoping she got the memo this time.
phillycap
When you are checked by a community, it’s not really bright to double down on the thing you were checked on. You cannot go to a dictionary and say well the dictionary says. If the community is offended by what you say, a dictionary isn’t really a valid defense.
cuteguy
Well sounds like she’s taking a page out of Trump and McMconnell playbook. Double down and never apologize
Essie
Maybe her 2M Twitter fans should just drop her, never see her movies and just forget she exists. I’ve never understood people who go back and forth with someone who refuses to see how what they say hurts people. The only thing that will make her see how horrible she is would be to unfollow her, boycott her movies and never talk about her again.
Topazme
that wont happen because she is using the same xenophobic islamophobic rhetoric and trump uses and that aligns with the right wing hindu nationalist government in India…so the propaganda media portrays her as a warrior and a role model while she spews out hate speech and defends her sister who said all muslims should be gunned down like Hitler did in Germany….and the stupid people still support her
Jack Meoff
She should be cancelled for the outfit alone……
MLS
Sissy is now homophobic? I must have missed the memo. I’ve used it with my straight guy friends and girl friends without even thinking about it. Seems like we’re getting a bit too sensitive to me.
Cam
Now do f*g and the N word. You can tell us all about how none of them mean anything. (Eye Roll).
Topazme
i am indian….and believe me when i tell you that she is a right wing nutjob who fully supports the present fascist government..she has said and done so many terrible things……few months ago; she defended her sister/manager who said that all muslims should be put down in a line and gunned down…doesnt matter if the world calls her Hitler….so yeah she is a full blown islamophobic….also recently a famous bollywood superstar committed suicide and Kangana and the news media (which is kinda like Fox News propaganda for India) instead of throw light on depression;just witch hunted and put on media trial for the actor’s girlfriend who too is an actress and just spinned out wide conspiracy theories that entire bollywood mafia murdered the actor and when the investigation came through and nothing came out,they continue to harrass her for using marijuana with the actor who was dealing with anxiety and depression and now there is just whole media trial on the liberal bollywood stars who are being portrayed as drug peddlers and addicts(mind you this is about marijuana and not heroine or cocaine)…which is stupid since in our country cannabis holds very religious value and we offer cannabis to our gods and many holymen smoke marijuana for religious purposes and it is legal in some states while illegal in some other states and there’s kind of a weird law that says that it is legal to purchase and smoke weed but illegal to sell and distribute it….so yeah…this woman is a hateful hateful toxic woman and all the costars and writers and directors she has ever worked with have nothing nice to say about her and she is the biggest hypocrite of all time and i hate her as much as i hate trump
skyboy63
Who is this bitch ?