Rapper 50 Cent, born Curtis Jackson, has sparked renewed backlash after a years-old statement claiming that men who date transgender women are gay resurfaced online, reigniting debate across social media over gender identity and sexuality.
The remark traces back to March 2019, when Jackson posted on Instagram about his former G-Unit collaborator Young Buck, whose real name is David Darnell Brown, after reports surfaced that Brown had been involved with a trans woman. Jackson wrote that being in a relationship with a transgender woman made a man gay, adding that Buck would “be big down at the gay bars.” He later deleted the post. It was not the first time Jackson targeted Brown over the rumors; he had repeated similar jabs in the years since kicking Brown out of G-Unit in 2008.
The comments drew immediate criticism at the time, including from people identifying as transgender women who pushed back directly in the comments, with one writing that it is “not Gay at all” for a heterosexual man to date a transgender woman, arguing “we are WOMEN too.” LGBTQ+ advocates and allies have periodically revived the remark since, criticizing it as an oversimplification of gender identity and s*xual orientation that reinforces harmful stereotypes about transgender women and the people who date them.
Supporters of Jackson have countered that the comment is being taken out of context or amounts to a personal opinion from a different cultural moment, and that resurfacing old statements fuels outrage rather than productive discussion. Critics maintain that public figures with Jackson’s reach carry a responsibility to consider how such remarks affect transgender communities already facing stigma and misinformation.
