Dylan Mulvaney has largely laid low since controversially partnering with Bud Light on a March Madness campaign earlier this year, but the trans influencer was across the pond last week to accept a ‘Woman of the Year’ award.
On Tuesday’s show, Megyn and Britt Mayer, founder of Rooted Wings, discussed the problem with Mulvaney receiving the honor at the expense of biological women.
[Editor’s Note: You can learn more about Megyn’s position on preferred pronouns here.]
Mulvaney’s ‘Woman of the Year’ Honor
Last Wednesday, Mulvaney was in England to receive the ‘Woman of the Year’ recognition at the Virgin Atlantic Attitude Awards. The award show was put on by LGBTQ Attitude magazine and sponsored by the British airline Virgin Atlantic.
At the podium, Mulvaney admitted it had been just 560 days since he publicly shared his transition via his “365 Days of Girlhood” campaign on social media that amassed millions of followers and brand deals – including the ill-fated Bud Light collaboration.
“Some see me as the woman of the year, some see me as a woman of a year and some change, as I only publicly came out online 560 days ago, and some people don’t see me as a woman at all,” the influencer said. “No matter how hard I try, or what I wear, or what I say, or what surgeries I get, I will never reach an acceptable version of womanhood by those hateful people’s standards. But as long as I have the queer community that sees me for my truth, I’m gonna be okay.”
Mulvaney also noted he was happy to receive the award in the U.K. because he “came to London on holiday this summer after months of feeling isolated and, when I arrived, I didn’t feel that baggage that I was carrying back in the U.S.”
Rather than feel “like the trans beer girl,” Mulvaney said he “romanticized this country as a safe place” where he didn’t have to walk into rooms and wonder “Oh, does that person hate me?” Instead, “I was just another gal walking around in a Burberry trench on her way to a West End musical,” he added.
‘It’s a Joke’
While Mayer said “there is so much wrong with what [Mulvaney] said,” she also believes he got something right in his acceptance speech. “He’s correct in saying that no matter how many surgeries he gets, no matter how much lipstick he puts on, no matter how many sparkly dresses he puts on, he’ll never be accepted as a woman,” she said. “He should have just stopped there. You won’t. You are not a woman. You will never be a woman. Period. Full stop.”
Megyn called the award a “joke,” and she had a message for Virgin Atlantic for being a part of it. “Shame on Virgin Atlantic for sponsoring that event and that award,” she concluded. “You can’t find a better cause to endorse than Dylan Mulvaney as woman of the year? F-ck off.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Mayer by tuning in to episode 649 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.