Suzy Eddie Izzard says she knew her gender identity as a child but rejected it after early career success
June 7, 2024Suzy Eddie Izzard has mentioned that she knew she was trans since childhood.
The 61-year-old comedian shared this insight during her appearance on Lorraine on Thursday.
According to ‘Yahoo! News’, Izzard explained that she “couldn’t define” her trans identity as a child because there was no language for it then and later denied her true self when she found success in her comedy career.
She revealed to host Lorraine Kelly: “I knew I was what seems to be trans, but couldn’t define it when I was a young kid. So I thought well that’s not happening.
“Then I took off as Eddie and thought well it doesn’t matter.”
Earlier this month, Izzard revealed that she is adding Suzy to her name, as it was what she wanted to be called as a child.
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Discussing the name change, she said: “It’s got Edward John in my passport, so I thought why don’t I add Suzy in there.”
Izzard publicly came out as transgender in 2020, after three decades in her career, during her appearance on the Sky Arts programme Portrait Artist of the Year.
Addressing the potential confusion about her name and gender identity on Lorraine, she said she “doesn’t mind” if people make mistakes, although she prefers the pronouns she/her.
Izzard remarked: “So there’s now all this about people don’t know what to say – I prefer Suzy but I don’t mind Eddie. I prefer she/her, but I don’t mind he/him.
“Nobody can make a mistake with me unless they call me Gregory or Sabrina and then that’s not quite right.
“Everything else nobody can make a mistake and they can choose.”
In another part of her interview, Izzard reflected on the “hard time” transgender people face.
She elaborated: “It’s just something we have to go through. We are in the conversation now. And we will get through it. People get very angry on the internet and I just ignore it. I really try to be positive.”
Izzard also spoke about her childhood feelings regarding her gender identity in 2021.
At that time, she said: “I’ve known I was trans since I was four or five. My feelings from the age of five have not moved an inch.
“Thirty-five years ago, I came out. The rest is language. I went through such hell since ’85 that the idea that I’ve come out recently just sounds ridiculous.”
Identifying as a gender-fluid trans woman, Izzard added that she wishes to be “based in girl mode from now on.”
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