Gay lifestyle magazine Attitude is facing backlash after naming transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney as its ‘Woman of the Year.’
The US TikTok star, who documented her transition on the video sharing platform last year, accepted the title this week at the Virgin Atlantic sponsored awards bash in London.
But critics slammed the decision, accusing the awards of ‘gaslighting women everywhere’ with prominent feminist campaigner Maya Forstater calling it an ‘insult.’
In her acceptance speech Mulvaney said being honoured with the gong ‘from a queer publication’ ‘means so much more to me.’
She said: ‘Some see me as the woman of the year, some see me as the 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.’
But speaking to MailOnline, Maya Forstater said: ‘It is an insult to women. It is hard to imagine something more misogynist than to pronounce that no woman has achieved anything more significant this year through their work than a man putting on a dress and having cosmetic surgery.’
Transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney has won Attitude magazine’s Woman of the Year award
The influencer — who came out as a transgender woman during the COVID-19 pandemic — posed in a gown with a billowing ruffled skirt
At one point the social media personality switched out of the silver gown into a transparent black dress
Winner: The TikTok star later posed in the Winners Room
In her acceptance speech Mulvaney said being honoured with the gong ‘from a queer publication’ ‘means so much more to me.’
Posting an image of Attitude’s magazine cover with Mulvaney on the front, Piers Morgan wrote on X: ‘Another ludicrous slap in the face to actual women.’
TV personality Charly Arnolt also tweeted: ‘There are nearly 4B women in the world, and of course Dylan Mulvaney wins ‘Woman of the Year’.
TalkTV presenter and NHS GP Dr Renee Hoenderkamp added: ‘This is just gaslighting women everywhere.’
Others congratulated Mulvaney and said she looked ‘stunning’ on Attitude magazine’s front cover.
American TikTok star Mulvaney was given the title this week after spending much of the first half of the year embroiled in controversy over her Bud Light partnership, which cost the beer company $400million in sales.
In her acceptance speech, Mulvany added: ‘Here’s what I’ve realised: 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 standards.
‘But as long as I have the queer community that sees me for my truth, I’m going to be OK.
‘And I’m equally grateful that this title is happening in the UK and not just because I am deeply attracted to your accents but I because I 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 in the US and I didn’t feel like the trans beer girl.
‘I didn’t walk into rooms and think does that person hate me. I was just another girl walking around in a Burberry trench on her way to a West End musical.
‘I romantised this country as a safe place and as dangerous as it is for trans people right now, maybe it’s less about where we are and more about who we’re with – and if I’m surrounded by people like you, this still can be one of my safe spaces.’
She went on to say that ‘we’re all in this together’ and thanked a list of people including her mother, her stylists, her life coach, her agent and her best friend.
‘Some see me as the woman of the year, some see me as the woman of a year and some change as I only publicly came out online 560 days ago’
The dramatic dress also featured a gorgeous jeweled mesh bodice with black straps
Some slammed the decision as ‘ludicrous’ and an ‘insult to women’ but others congratulated the winner and said she looked ‘stunning’ on Attitude magazine’s front cover
The event at the Roundhouse in Camden, London, is held to benefit the Attitude Magazine Foundation, which raises money for LGBT causes.
It was hosted on Wednesday by Britain’s Got Talent judge Amanda Holden and comedian Alan Carr.
Holden said: ‘Since being crowned an Honorary Gay in 2017, it’s always been a dream of mine to host the Attitude Awards, and I couldn’t think of a better person to co-host with than my dear friend Alan Carr.
‘It’s so important right now to stand together as one and embrace this beautifully diverse world we live in and accept everyone for who they are.’
Carr said: ‘It’s been a mixed year for our LGBTQIA+ family, some amazing progress has been made and yet some really distressing setbacks have knocked us for six, which just makes the Attitude Awards even more important and essential.’
Mulvaney worked with Bud Light in April as part of their March Madness campaign and was gifted a can of the light beer with her face on it – which sparked outrage
Her Bud Light ad triggered corporate layoffs and the stripping it of its long-held title of America’s favourite beer.
Mulvaney partnered with Bud Light in April for their March Madness NCAA campaign and was sent a personalised can as part of the promotion.
The backlash caused Bud Light’s parent company, Anheuser-Busch, to lose $400million in sales – as their total US revenue dropped 10.5 percent compared to the year before.
Mulvaney had posted herself drinking Bud Light using the hashtag #budlightpartner, before joking she didn’t know what sport she was promoting.
Since the fiasco, Anheuser-Busch scrambled to cling on to its reputation as an all-American company without distancing itself from the LGBTQ groups it has long supported.
The brand has neither apologised for the campaign nor has it doubled down on it, with CEO Brendan Whitworth attempting a tightrope of diplomacy in the few interviews he’s agreed to since the fallout began.
Transgender influencer Mulvaney also won the gong for Breakthrough Creator at the 2023 Streamy Awards in August and used her celebratory speech as a chance to call out transphobia – before pledging to toast her win with a beer.
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