It seems like everyone just hates Iggy Azalea.
Australian rapper Iggy Azalea has skyrocketed to fame after her single “Fancy,” and it didn’t take long before a lot of people started to criticize and hate on the artist. Now, Iggy not only has normal pop-followers hating on her—gay and lesbian groups have started to voice out their opposition for Iggy, as well.
A number of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) groups have voiced out their disapproval of Iggy Azalea being reported to highlight the 2015 LGBT pride festival Pittsburgh Parade. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that both Iggy and the Pride in the Street organizers are now under fire from LGBT groups who are adamant about having Iggy perform on the Pride parade and have announced their decision to boycott the event instead.
“Our board voted last week to not march in the Pittsburgh Pride parade, due to the insensitive choice of Iggy Azalea as headliner,” said Vanessa Davis of youth-advocacy group Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network.
The disapproval of the LGBT community of Iggy has stemmed from her now-deleted tweets that were insensitive and hateful towards gay and lesbians.
The NY Daily News highlights some of Iggy Azalea’s tweets that LGBT groups found offensive.
“When guys whisper in each others ears I always think its kinda homo”
“Wondered why my butt felt like it was about to grow legs, flip me off & walk away. then I remembered i played soccer yestrdy w 5 dyke bitches.”
Jezebel also adds that may Pride attendees did not only see Azalea as homophobic, but racist, as well. She has reportedly dropped outstanding racist comments , stating that she’d like to “steal black culture, sell it and people better get used to this.” Black artist Azealia Banks also criticized the lyrics of Iggy Azalea’s song, “D.R.U.G.S.”
Michael David Battle, founder of Garden Peace Project, comments on how the Pittsburgh pride is now deviating from its original advocacy.
“The Iggy Azalea thing was just a last straw for folks … It goes back to the root of pride and how pride was started—by two trans women of color who were retaliating against police violence.”
Obviously, someone like Iggy, who was criticized for both homophobia and racism, couldn’t possibly be accepted by the more loyal attendees of the Pride parade. The parade’s contracting of Iggy, and the absurdly high entrance prices , made equal impact on the decision of a number of LGBT groups to boycott the Pittsburgh Parade instead.
Organizers of the parade, however, defended their decision to book Iggy to perform.
“If we believed that Iggy Azalea was racist or homophobic, we certainly would not have selected her to headline Pittsburgh Pride. We also don’t believe she would have agreed to come if she was racist or homophobic.”
While Iggy was reported to have cancelled her Great Escape Tour, only adding fuel to the fire she is suffering from, her appearances on Pittsburgh Parade, among others, are still officially on.
The cancellations don’t include Pittsburgh Pride, Ottawa Bluesfest, Québec Summer Festival, or Washington State Fair. Still coming to those!
— IGGY AZALEA (@IGGYAZALEA) May 30, 2015
[Image courtesy Light Brigade Bauer-Griffin / Getty Images]