Lady Gaga has always had the energy of “kid who ate lunch in the English teacher’s classroom instead of the cafeteria.†Now, she’s getting to put what she must have learned in those sessions into practice and educating the Daily Mail, whose laborers can loosely be referred to as “writers†but still require vocab lessons from a pop star. Gaga defended herself and Dylan Mulvaney from criticism on March 11 after the Mail referred to transphobic responses to a picture of the two as “backlash.†“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 said in her response. “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. ‘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.â€
Mulvaney posted the picture to celebrate International Women’s Day on March 9, though the photo was actually taken at a Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals event hosted by Gaga celebrating the Photomedicine Foundation on March 3. (Why does Gaga feel the need to host a big pharma party? Technically irrelevant, but still worth wondering.) Still, nice to see Gaga speaking out for something after a deafening silence on drag bans and anti-trans legislation — to the point where even the Lady Gaga subreddit had questions. “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,†she added. Now, maybe she can go into Haus Labs and cook up some more queer anthems.