Dolly Parton is sharing her thoughts on anti-transgender legislation passed in Tennessee earlier this year.
via People:
In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the “9 to 5” superstar said she wants “everybody to be treated good,” in respect to transgender rights and the LGBTQ+ community at-large.
“I try not to get into the politics of everything. I try to get into the human element of it,” Parton, 77 said. “I have some of everybody in my own immediate family and in my circle of employees.”
She added, “I’ve got transgender people. I’ve got gays. I’ve got lesbians. I’ve got drunks. I’ve got drug addicts — all within my own family. I know and love them all, and I do not judge.”
Parton also said that she sees “how broken-hearted they get over certain things” within the LGBTQ+ community and understands “how real they are.”
“I know how important this is to them. That’s who they are,” she continued. “They cannot help that any more than I can help being Dolly Parton, you know, the way people know me.”
The “Jolene” singer concluded, “If there’s something to be judged, that is God’s business. But we are all God’s children and how we are is who we are.”
In March, Tennessee passed a bill that attempts to discriminate against the LGBTQ+ community by labeling “sex” as “a person’s immutable biological sex as determined by anatomy and genetics existing at the time of birth and evidence of a person’s biological sex.” Later that month, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee also signed a ban on transgender athletes into law. This is only a few examples of the record-breaking anti-trans legislationintroduced across the country this year.
While Parton largely steers away from discussing politics, she has been vocal about her support for the LGBTQ+ community. In 2016, she opened up to Pride Source about helping some of her loved ones in the coming out process.
“Actually, I’ve had many people through the years who I have helped to feel good about themselves. I say, ‘You need to let people know who you are and you need to come on out. You don’t need to live your life in darkness – what’s the point in that? You’re never gonna be happy; you’re gonna be sick. You’re not gonna be healthy if you try to suppress your feelings and who you are.’”
“I have a huge gay and lesbian following and I’m proud of ’em, I love ’em and I think everybody should be themselves and be allowed to be themselves whoever they are, whatever they are,” she said.
Parton also said that the LGBTQ+ people in her life have shaped her perspective.
“I certainly know that the gay people I know are the most sensitive and most caring of all. I think they go through so much that they have to live with their feelings on their sleeve,” she said.
Parton added, “They’ve had to go through so much that I think they’re very emotional and tenderhearted and more open to feelings, so I’ve just learned the same things I try to learn from everybody. I know they’re good people and I’ve tried to learn from that as well. Most of the gays I know just want to make the world a more beautiful place like I do.”
Preach, Dolly!
