Who is Roisin Murphy? Facebook TERF controversy explained as Irish singer comes under fire online 

Irish singer-songwriter Roisin Murphy has come under fire for allegedly outing herself as a TERF, i.e., trans-exclusionary radical feminist. On August 23, X user Joanna Cuddle shared a screenshot of a seemingly transphobic comment under a Facebook post about Irish anti-trans activist Graham Linehan. The comment was made by an account going by Roisin’s name.

Joanna’s post was shared on Reddit by @u/SkyrimSchmyrim, who wrote that the Facebook account was unverified, but it is likely the 50-year-old singer’s personal account. Though Roisin has not addressed the TERF allegation yet, many of her fans believed that the transphobic comment came from her and were deeply disappointed.

The source of the Facebook post has not yet been found, so it’s unclear whether or not the screenshot of Roisin’s alleged comment was altered. It is also unclear what the post was about, apart from Graham’s face being visible in it.

Roisin urged everyone in her alleged comment not to call her a TERF and not to keep using this word against women. She also allegedly referred to trans kids as "little mixed up" kids and said that they were vulnerable and in need of protection.

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Roisin Murphy garners backlash online weeks before her album release

Roisin Murphy rose to fame in the 1990s as part of the pop duo Moloko. The other half of the duo consisted of English bassist Mark Brydon. After Moloko’s split, Roisin embarked on a solo musical career and released her debut album, Ruby Blue, in 2005. She released Overpowered, her second solo album, in 2007.

The Irish musician went into a hiatus of eight years after that and released singles in the meantime, working on some side projects as well as collaborating as guest artists on other artists’ records. She released her third solo album in 2015, titled Hairless Toys.

Her fourth solo album, Take Her Up To Monto, and fifth album, Róisín Machine, were released in 2016 and 2020, respectively. Róisín Machine is critically acclaimed as Roisin Murphy’s most commercially successful album.

She released her single The Universe on May 17 of this year and announced that her sixth solo album, titled Hit Parade, was set to be released on September 8, 2023. However, one of her fans mockingly called Roisin's alleged transphobic comment a PR stunt to eliminate a good part of her fanbase just two weeks before her album release.

Several other people expressed how disheartening it was to see a singer who is deemed as a gay icon, harbor anti-trans notions. Some said that they used to listen to Roisin Murphy's songs but now would most likely cancel her.

Roisin Murphy's apparent silence about the ongoing backlash despite being otherwise active on social media has convinced some people that the comment was indeed made by the singer herself.