Alan Cumming Returns OBE Due to “Toxicity of Empire”
January 30, 2023Scottish actor Alan Cumming has handed back his OBE after reflecting upon “conversations about the role of the monarchy.” The stage and screen performer took to Instagram to reveal this decision on his 58th birthday.
In 2009, Alan Cumming was awarded the OBE in response to both his performances as an actor and his activism for LGBTQ+ equality. Identifying as bisexual, Cumming played a significant role in the promotion of LGBTQ+ charities such as the Trevor Project and the Matthew Shepard foundation and has since supported various organizations in the fight for queer liberation.
On January 27, 2023, he uploaded an Instagram photograph of himself with a caption announcing and explaining his reasoning for wanting to return the OBE after 14 years. Though grateful for the positive impact the award had on the LGBTQ+ community in 2009, he described how being associated with the empire is now more damaging than beneficial.
“The Queen’s death and the ensuing conversations about the role of monarchy and especially the way the British Empire profited at the expense (and death) of indigenous peoples across the world really opened my eyes,” he wrote. “Also, thankfully, times and laws in the US have changed, and the great good the award brought to the LGBTQ+ cause back in 2009 is now less potent than the misgivings I have being associated with the toxicity of empire.”
The actor, famous for his roles in major stage adaptations of Hamlet, Cabaret, and Macbeth, received praise for his decision across social media. Comedy writer and producer Alicia Lutes described him as an “absolute legend” in a tweet that now has over 30,000 likes.
Cumming finished the post celebrating a return to his original name, without the OBE title. “I’m now back to being plain old Alan Cumming again. Happy birthday to me!”
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