Eddie Izzard: what are the comedian’s views on LGBTQ+ rights as she campaigns to be a Labour MP?

Eddie Izzard has received targeted abuse aimed at her as a member of the trans community, since declaring her bid to become the Labour MP for Sheffield nearly four weeks ago.

The comedian, 60, who studied at the University of Sheffield, claims despite having suffered backlash and transphobic abuse the reaction to her candidacy as Sheffield’s new Labour MP has been “overwhelmingly positive.”

“There are some transphobic people who are throwing abuse at me and people have looked at it, it’s quite loud, but it seems to be a tiny minority,” Eddie told PinkNews.

The comedian spent time studying in Sheffield in 1980, before going on to launch a successful career in entertainment. Now, 42 years later, she has returned to represent the South Yorkshire city in the hopes of helping it to “achieve its true potential.”

What are Eddie Izzard’s political goals?

Eddie has admitted that she’s not too keen on the idea of becoming Prime Minister, but would like the opportunity to get into parliament as a Labour minister.

She explained that she doesn’t want her campaign to be defined by her gender, although politics are currently rife with debates about the lives of trans people.

Eddie said: “I think they [the Tories] are trying to stoke up fires, trying to create fights where there are no fights.”

“I’m very worried about LGBTQ+ rights.”

Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, looks set to retract protections put in place for the trans community, having appointed equalities minister Kemi Badenoch who has a history of hostility concerning trans rights.

Eddie Izzard said she hopes to achieve a fairer future for everyone and believes that it is something the Labour party is fighting for. She argued Liz Truss made changes while in power that would only benefit a few and claimed the Tory goverment only focus on themselves.

What are Eddie Izzard’s views on LGBTQ+ rights

As a Labour campaigner, Eddie supports Keir Starmer, just as she has supported all Labour leaders in the past. However, recently Tories haven’t been the only politicians facing backlash surrounding the Trans discussion.

Keir Starmer, 60, who is the current Labour party leader, was criticised for comments he made during a Mumsnet interview, where they discussed trans youth, consent, and trans participation in sport.

Referring to the interview, Eddie said that she doesn’t have the answers on “heated” trans discussions, while acknowledging “these questions are very difficult for our time” to understand.

The comedian added that heated discussions are better than nothing at all as she recalled coming out for the first time during the 1980s, saying: “I wasn’t even considered a person. I was like a non-person or a toxic person, definitely not a person who’s part of society.”