Lady Gaga is standing up for Dylan Mulvaney after the trans activist and influencer received social media criticism for sharing a photo with the "Born This Way" singer to mark International Women's Day.
"It’s appalling to me that a post about National Women's Day by Dylan Mulvaney and me would be met with such vitriol and hatred," Gaga wrote in an Instagram post on Monday.
"When I see a newspaper reporting on hatred but calling it 'backlash' I feel it is important to clarify that hatred is hatred, and this kind of hatred is violence," she continued. "'Backlash' would imply that people who love or respect Dylan and me didn’t like something we did. This is not backlash. This is hatred."
Gaga ultimately said this didn't surprise her "given the immense work that it's obvious we still have to do as a society to make room for transgender lives to be cherished and upheld by all of us."
The singer, who has been a supporter of the LGBTQ+ community throughout her entire career, said she feels not only protective of Mulvaney in this moment but of the trans community, whom she said "continues to lead the way with their endless grace and inspiration in the face of constant degradation, intolerance, and physical, verbal, and mental violence."
Gaga goes on to say, "I feel very protective in this moment, not only of Dylan, but of the trans community who continues to lead the way with their endless grace and inspiration in the face of constant degradation, intolerance, and physical, verbal, and mental violence."
While noting that she doesn't speak for the community as a whole, she noted, "I have something to say."
"I hope all women will come together to honor us ALL for International Women's Day, and may we do that always until THE DAY that all women are celebrated equally," she wrote. "That all people are celebrated equally. A day where people of all gender identities are celebrated on whichever holiday speaks to them. Because people of all gender identities and races deserve peace and dignity."
Gaga concluded her message with a call for all people to "come together and be loving, accepting, warm, welcoming" to "stand and honor the complexity and challenge of trans life—that we do not know, but can seek to understand and have compassion for."
Mulvaney reacted to Gaga's post, writing, "You mean the world to me. Love ya 🥹👯♀️💓."
Mulvaney drew the ire of conservatives last year after she did a product endorsement for Bud Light. It led to critics encouraging a boycott of the brand and sales dipped for Anheuser-Busch InBev, the maker of Bud Light.
