Sophie Ellis-Bextor ‘not really bothered’ by which gender her children identify as

‘I just want them to feel like they have choice,’ says singer

(Getty Images)

Sophie Ellis-Bextor has said she is “not really bothered” by which gender her children choose to identify with.

The singer is an outspoken advocate for LGBT+ rights and has five children, all of whom were born male.

“I’m not really bothered about what [gender identity] they choose – I just want them to feel like they have choice,” Ellis-Bextor told The Guardian.

“I’m sure that’s how most people must feel about raising their kids.”

The 41-year-old added that she does have some close friends who are “surprisingly traditional” in the way they view gender roles.

“I’ve been given my children and I can’t mould anything about them,” she added.

“I’ve just got to support them and love them and try to guide them.”

Elsewhere in the interview, the singer voiced concerns about the way gender roles are imposed on children via the marketing of toys.

“If you look at kids’ toys, it’s very much girls’ toys and boys’ toys, maybe even more than I remember when I was small,” she said.

“I don’t know if it’s some weird fear that, if you give kids lots of choice and let them interpret themselves as they are, then you’re going to encourage some sort of craziness.

“I think a lot of people feel very uncomfortable about it and I don’t really know why.”

Generally speaking, though, Ellis-Bextor believes society is much better at understanding “the spectrum of gender”.

“We’ve got to get to a point where we can have their voices heard,” she added.

“But the main point is about just making sure that, socially and economically, [trans people] are supported in the right way.”

Ellis-Bextor's comments come after a YouGov poll found that a quarter of adults in the UK would not feel proud to have an LGBT child.

When the 2,000 respondents were asked whether they would “feel proud to have an LGBT child”, 26 per cent of those polled disagreed.

Meanwhile, less than half (46 per cent) of people surveyed agreed with the statement that they would feel proud to have a child who had come out.

The poll, which was undertaken in October 2019, also found more than one in 10 (11 per cent) would feel uncomfortable living at home with their lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender child.