Longtime Gender-Bending Comedian Eddie Izzard Goes Public With "She and Her" Pronouns

More and more public figures are becoming vocal about their pronouns. Inception star Elliot Page recently made headlines when he announced his pronouns and name on social media. Several high-profile celebrities and other figures praised Page's bravery, and the Oscar-nominee's decision has had a "trickle-down" effect. More and more people realize the importance of using accurate gender pronouns. And now, Eddie Izzard has announced her pronouns.

The entertainer officially came out as transgender in 1985, calling the decision to go public with her identity "a very hard journey." She said, "I identify somewhat boy-ish and somewhat girl-ish. I identify both but I fancy women."

The Sky Arts series Portrait Artist of the Year featured Eddie on a recent episode of the series where she announced she should be identified solely by "she" and "her" pronouns from now on.

"I try to do things that I think are interesting. This is the first program I've asked if I can be 'she' and 'her' — this is a little transition period." Eddie added that her decision to do so felt great and she also said, "people assume that ... they just know me from before, but I'm gender-fluid. I just want to be based in girl mode from now on." 

The comedian has publicly worn makeup and dresses, remarking, "They're not women's clothes. They're my clothes. I bought them."

Prior to announcing her pronouns, Eddie had previously gone by "he" and "she" interchangeably, embracing both her feminine and masculine sides.

Eddie loves marathon running and once famously stopped mid-race to get a manicure, saying, "Being a transgender guy, I do like my nails and they've been knocked about a bit so I'm getting my nails re-done. I use it as a badge of identity. I am a transgender guy. I came out 31 years ago. I've got boy genetics and girl genetics."

Izzard continued in the Sky interview, "It doesn’t matter what sex or sexuality, how you identify or who you fancy — it matters not one whit. What do you do in life? What do you create? What do you add to the human existence — that is what matters."

News of her announcement traveled fast and soon, tons of other comedians, entertainers, and LGBTQ+ rights advocates hopped onto social media in order to congratulate the comedian for coming forward and also to offer their praise of Eddie's willingness to publicly discuss such personal matters in a candid way.

Many have also praised Eddie's "normalizing" of her transgender identity in the world of comedy along with her unwillingness to be "offended out" of discussing any subject matter.

In addition to Eddie's stage and on-camera accomplishments, she's also set up a particularly brutal January of running: she plans on running 31 marathons in 31 days for the entire opening month of 2021 for charity.