Despite being gay himself and being known for his work on queer projects, British actor Stephen Fry’s apparent apathy for trans folks has Red, White & Royal Blue fans hoping for a certain plot twist in the sequel.
On the podcast TRIGGERnometry, Fry was asked a question sent in by Levi Pay, a former employee of Stonewall, an LGBTQ+ rights organization. Pay took issue with Stonewall’s support for trans children’s right to medically transition; He also accused the organization of “[portraying] lesbians who wish to exclude male people from their dating pool as being equivalent to racists,” seemingly parroting the TERF talking point that trans women don’t belong in women’s and lesbian spaces. “How can Stephen Fry, in all conscience, continue to support them?” Pay asked.
“Do I? I’m not sure I do support them,” Fry immediately fired back. He added that he supported Stonewall at its inception, including in its fight for legalizing same-sex marriage and lowering the homosexual age of consent in the U.K.
“That I supported Stonewall with, but I have no interest or support of this current wave of nonsensical [policies],” Fry said, adding that he fully agrees with Pay’s opinions. “I think it’s shameful and sad. […] I think [Stonewall] has got stuck in a terrible, terrible quagmire.”
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Though Fry’s critique was primarily of Stonewall and not of trans people themselves (elsewhere in the podcast, he criticized those who don’t “have sympathy, or indeed some admiration, for the bravery of children” who come out as trans), his takedown of the organization’s trans-positive policies still struck a negative chord folks across the internet.
In particular, fans of the Red, White & Royal Blue movie and book were disappointed with Fry, who played the King of Britain in the beloved gay rom-com. Red, White & Royal Blue was written by nonbinary author Casey McQuiston, and some fans see Fry’s comments as disrespectful to McQuiston’s identity.
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That’s why they’re calling for his character to be written out of the upcoming Red, White & Royal Blue sequel. Getting rid of a king would be easy enough, and it would set up plenty of potential plots for main characters Henry and Alex to get caught up in.
Fry’s comments were also a disappointment for fans of Heartstopper, where Fry voices the headmaster of Truham, the school Nick and Charlie attend. Heartstopper famously features teenage trans and nonbinary characters, making Fry’s criticism seemingly antithetical to the message of the show.
Long story short, if Fry isn’t comfortable with an organization standing up for trans children, fans don’t think he should be part of telling trans stories.
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