Iggy Azalea Speaks Out About the Plight of Transgender Folks at Chicago Pride

Iggy Azalea

Iggy Azalea Starts Concert Defending Transgender Community: To A Lot Of People You Are Invisible [VIDEO]

Australian rapper Iggy Azalea performed at Chicago’s Pride in the Park onn Saturday (June 29th) where she took a moment to speak out for the transgender community.

2019 marks a special year for Chicago as the city celebrated their 50th anniversary of putting on LGBTQ+ Pride events by having a huge festival in Grant Park. Iggy Azalea, born Amethyst Kelly, was the headliner along with DJ Steve Aoki along with other known acts such as Tamar Braxton, Todrick Hall and Kathy Sledge (of Sister Sledge).

For two minutes, Azalea, who recently announced plans to drop her first album since 2014 In My Defense, paused her set to talk about how vital Pride events are in our society.

The 29-year-old artist said,

“I really want to say something important before we start the show because we’re all here for a reason, right? I don’t want us to forget the meaning of Pride or why we came here. To a lot of people, you guys are still invisible, and you have to fight every day just to be who you are. That’s why we’ve gotta be here tonight because we gotta be loud as f—. This shows you exist, and you are valid.”

She then proceeded to tell the story of a particular fan of hers if a trans woman of color named Michelle who “inspires” her:

“I see the struggle she goes through every day just to be herself just to walk out the door, the s— that I have the privilege to do every day.”

Azalea also shared some very heartbreaking statistics adding,

“Fifty percent of trans people have been raped or sexually assaulted. Forty-one percent of trans people have attempted suicide. Eight percent of trans students feel unsafe at school,”

She emphasized that Michelle has a life expectancy, as a Black trans woman, of only 35 years.

The “Fancy” MC informed the audience that within six months of 2019, 11 trans women of color have passed away before dedicating her next song on the setlist to Michelle, bringing her on stage for a hug to the excitement of the crowd.

It’s not the first time that Azalea has shown love and support to the LGBTQ+ community. The music video for her lead single from her upcoming album, “Sally Walker” featured several drag queens who were contestants on RuPaul’s Drag Race.

On the other hand, Azalea did face backlash from the queer community back in 2015 when she had canceled a gig at Pittsburgh Pride after internet users dug up old homophobic and racist tweets that Iggy put out pre-fame.

Watch her speech in full below.

.@IGGYAZALEA pauses her set to list statistics about trans women!! A FUCKING ALLY pic.twitter.com/HeR9X8cRBH

— NICK FLOCKA FLAME ?? (@nickwaka24) June 30, 2019

What are your thoughts about Iggy’s remarks? Let us know in the comments.