Dolly Parton Criticizes Tennessee's Anti-Trans Laws: "I Just Want Everyone to Be Treated Good"
"That's who they are. They cannot help that any more than I can help being Dolly Parton"
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter yesterday (November 2), Parton said:
Well, what I always say, "I just want everybody to be treated good." I try not to get into the politics of everything. I try to get into the human element of it. I have some of everybody in my own immediate family and in my circle of employees. I've got transgender people. I've got gays. I've got lesbians. I've got drunks. I've got drug addicts — all within my own family. I know and love them all, and I do not judge.
And I just see how broken-hearted they get over certain things and I know how real they are. I know how important this is to them. That's who they are. They cannot help that any more than I can help being Dolly Parton, you know, the way people know me. If there's something to be judged, that is God's business. But we are all God's children and how we are is who we are.
Her comments were made in response to a bill passed in March that banned gender-affirming health care for minors.
Although Parton hasn't made any public statements on the matter until now, she's certainly not shy about activism through music. The pro-LGBTQ+ messaging in "Rainbowland," her song with Miley Cyrus, got it banned at a Wisconsin elementary school.
Parton once again taps Cyrus for a cover of "Wrecking Ball" on her upcoming rock 'n' roll album Rockstar, due out on November 17.