Eddie Izzard has earned praise for her appearance on the Sky Arts reality competition “Portrait Artist of the Year,” where she discussed her use of female pronouns with one of the show’s contestants.
Izzard was a recent guest on the show, which regularly brings in celebrities to serve as subjects for the competitors to draw portraits of. While speaking to one of the competing artists, Curtis Holder, the genderfluid actor and comedian mentioned that “Portrait Artist of the Year” was the first show where she asked its staff and crew to use the pronouns she/her.
“It feels great because people just assume that…well, they just know me from before. I’m genderfluid. I just want to be based in girl mode from now on,” Izzard said.
The 58-year-old Izzard has been a major face of Britain’s LGBTQ community since coming out back in 1985, openly discussing her genderfluid identity in multiple interviews. “I thought it was right to be honest about it, to tell my family, friends and then the world,” she said in 2016. “I identify somewhat boyish and somewhat girlish. I identify both but I fancy women.”
Her comments on “Portrait Artist of the Year” sent her trending on Twitter, with many in the LGBT community praising Izzard for not shying away from her identity.
“I‘m so glad I was introduced to Eddie Izzard‘s standup as a kid,” writer Elle Dawson tweeted. “She taught me so much about the weirdness and fluidity of gender presentation at an age when I really needed to see that. Dressed to Kill is one of my favorite specials, one I quote with my family constantly.”
Check out more tweets praising Izzard below:
the way i just genuinely looked up eddie izzard and,, LOOK AT THIS ICON pic.twitter.com/EboHDl3bRC
— steve !! DECIDE (@METALHARRINGTCN) December 13, 2020
The fact that, at such a young age, I took in and related to Eddie Izzard describing herself as a lesbian makes me think that, if I’d had a little more positive trans representation in my life, my egg would have cracked a lot sooner. This stuff matters.
— ? Ezra Furman stan account ? (@JizznyPrincess) December 19, 2020
I’ve been reading people’s reactions to Eddie Izzard using she/her pronouns and I LOVE LOVE LOVE this collective gender euphoria we all feel towards her. Either because we feel represented, because we know how freeing it feels saying it out loud or just because we’re nice people.
— Sofie Hagen (@SofieHagen) December 20, 2020
Was terrified when I saw people talking about Eddie Izzard but she just changed her pronouns. Nobody trend! It’s SCARY. Also, yay! pic.twitter.com/Rp9jBEYeHl
— Maureen Johnson (@maureenjohnson) December 19, 2020
Eddie Izzard has always been, and will always be, a trans legend of epic proportions. Can't wait to see what she does next.
— CN Lester (@cnlester) December 20, 2020
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