Billie Joe Armstrong’s Strong Opinion on Moral Panic Around Transsexuals

The public debate surrounding the trans community has made notable progress in recent years. Still, it is not enough to avoid prejudice. AND Billie Joe Armstrong pay attention to that.

The vocalist and guitarist of green Dayunderstands that there is a moral panic regarding trans issues. In his view, people who have this type of reaction are “close-minded as hell”.

The subject was addressed by Armstrong in an interview with Los Angeles Times. The reason is one of the songs on the new album by green Day, Saviors. Titled “Bobby Sox”, the track ended up bringing, although without initial intention, an uncompromising reflection on LGBTQIAPN+ relationships — such as the line “You’re not just any kind of girl; My one true love, and you are my world; Do you want to be my girlfriend? Do you want to be my boyfriend?”, with gender reversal under the same voice.

During the chat with the media outlet, Billie Joe he said that the change of gender in the lyrics had only the initial objective of singing from a woman’s point of view. However, he — who has been married to a woman for decades, but defines himself as bisexual — felt very free to be able to sing a verse like that.

The musician then decided to present the song to a friend of the same age — and was surprised by the reaction.

“He had tears in his eyes when he heard that part. Nowadays it is more common for children to be LGBTQIAPN+, there is more support. But for us, back in the day (between the 1980s and 1990s), it was the beginning of when people were able to openly say things like that.”

Moral panic

Armstrong, then, made the aforementioned statement about what he considers to be a “moral panic” surrounding young transgender people. The musician stated:

“I just think that these people (with panic) are closed-minded. It’s as if people are afraid of their children. Why would you be afraid? Why don’t you let your son just be who he is?”

It is worth highlighting that Billie Joe discusses such themes since the beginning of green Day. In a 2014 interview with Rolling Stone USA (via website Igor Miranda), the artist commented that Dookie (1994), the album that made his band rise to stardom, features many lyrics about his sexual orientation. The comment was made after he recalled one of the hit’s verses “Basketcase” where he says he will look for a prostitute.

“I wanted to challenge myself and whoever was listening. I was also looking at the world and saying: ‘it’s not as black and white as you think, it’s not the sex worker your grandfather knew – or maybe it is’. This album addresses a lot of bisexuality.”