#girlinredisoverparty: Queer icon Marie Ulven accused of invalidating non-binary, bisexual and pansexual lesbians
Marie Ulven Ringheim, known to most as Girl in Red has found herself the latest target of the Internet's canceling streak after a seemingly enby (non-binary) and transphobic tweet, though in hindsight, it appears her stance may not be as clear cut.
Girl in Red, a Norwegian indie-pop singer-songwriter who found a dedicated audience in young teens owing to, as The Line of Best Fit put it, her "bedroom pop anthems about romance and mental health," has over the years found additional support from the LGBTQIA+ community on account of her being an independent queer artist who writes music about queer, lesbian love. Unfortunately, for many who found solace in her work, a recent tweet of hers appears to have inadvertently invalidated the experiences of the very community that embraced her artistry.
Girl in Red shared a tweet that read, "Its sad that some QUEER people are INVALIDATING and DICTATING other QUEER ppls sexuality. can u not see thats EXACTLY what the ''heteronormative society'' has done towards the lgbtq+ community for centuries?? there are some tiny *ss brains in this world, don't be one of them." While not immediately evident what or whom she was directing her tweet at, some commenters quickly noted that the singer blocked a person in the comments that showed support to bisexual/pansexual lesbians in response to a fellow Twitter user that stated, "They invalidate lesbians, bisexuals, and pansexuals. Stop with this bullsh*t." The blocked commenter is also allegedly a non-binary lesbian, which added fuel to the fire.
In response to Girl in Red's tweet, one user shared, "I will never understand lesbians who don't understand the complex relationship (and disconnect) with womanhood that lesbians feel, especially nonwhite lesbians/lesbians that aren't conventionally attractive. How dare you turn your back on your own community? #girlinredisoverparty." Another user tweeted, "Imagine invalidating a part of the lgbtq+ community despite literally being the icon to one. You’re wack to think that’s okay," with another stating, "It's fr tiring when people ask me how I can be nonbinary AND a lesbian bro I just wanna exist."
Soon, fans of the artist began declaring she was no longer on their playlist anymore, while several others shared they were never fans to begin with. "Wait WHAT. Now Girl in Red is pulling this transphobic garbage, too?! I hate it here," tweeted one user and another stated, "Unstan, and blocked LMAO #girlinredisoverparty," along with an image that read, "F*CK Girl in Red." "Don’t let some random Halsey 2.0 tell u if ur valid or not," quipped one user, "Here I thought the lesbian icon could be unproblematic- eh the only good song she had started to get annoying #girlinredisoverparty," stated another, and one shared, "I was tired of her being a “staple” for lesbians anyways all her music sounds the same," and one user said, "I actually like her music and she was my queer role model but I ain’t gotta support a transphobe."
But despite the cancelation, some are choosing to wait for the singer's official statement because they believe this is all a big mistake. One user stated, "If she doesn't support nb lesbians then TRASH, we love and support nb lesbians here, but it seems like this could have all been a really massive misunderstanding." Another shared, "I'm so f**king sure it was an accident, on a post of her saying judging queer people is wrong I HIGHLY doubt she would block someone agreeing with her, I'm pretty sure it was an accident." When another user pointed out it takes multiple steps to block someone, the former clarified, "No I mean like maybe she thought she was disagreeing with her, I find it VERY unlikely she blocked them because of what she said," adding, "she literally just tweeted about not policing peoples sexuality and sh*t so I highly doubt it was purposeful." Others, sure this wasn't a mistake, pleaded with the artist to change her stance, tweeting, "Girl in Red please don’t be against non-binary lesbians please please I don’t wanna remove ur music from my Spotify playlist. I know there’s no chance that this is a misunderstanding but I’m BEGGING. I don’t have the patience to clear out all those playlists."