Lady Gaga addresses transgender rumors: why she stayed silent

Lady Gaga is one of those pop stars who have become icons of the LGBTQ+ community. She owes this to her distinctive, often camp image and unequivocal support for minority rights. One of the artist's biggest hits, "Born This Way," is an unofficial anthem of non-heterosexual and non-cisgender people.

The artist recently returned to the front pages of the media thanks to her performance in the second part of the box office hit "Joker," as well as the premiere of her new music, announced for October. Lady Gaga also appeared in the second episode of the documentary "What’s Next? The Future Through Bill Gates’ Eyes." She explained her decision not to deny the rumors that dominated newspaper headlines at the beginning of her career, insinuating that she was a transgender woman.

In a memorable interview with CNN in 2011, Lady Gaga reacted vividly to an attempt to force her to comment on her alleged transgenderism. She stated: "Why the hell am I gonna waste my time and give a press release about whether or not I have [male organs]? My fans don’t care and neither do I."

In Netflix's documentary, the pop icon explained to Bill Gates: "When I was in my early 20s there was a rumor that I was a man," Gaga told Gates. "I went all over the world. I traveled for tours and for promoting my records and almost every interview I sat in — there was this imagery on the internet that had been doctored — they were like, 'There’s rumors that you’re a man. What do you have to say about that?'"

Lady Gaga explained: "The reason why I didn’t answer the question is because I didn’t feel like a victim with that lie and I thought: What about a kid who is being accused of that who would think that a public figure like me would feel shame?'" Gaga summed up her attitude toward misinformation by stating: "I've been used to lies being printed about me since I was 20-years-old. I’m a performer. I think it’s kind of funny.."