On a recent episode of The Graham Norton Show last Friday, the Harry Potter star expressed her new views on the trans community
BY ELLA GAUCI, IMAGE BY BBC
Legendary lesbian icon Miriam Margolyes appeared on The Graham Norton Show last Friday (3 Nov) and revealed that her mind was changed on pronouns by Australian actor Zoe Terakes. The Harry Potter star told the red couch that she realised another person’s happiness was more important than grammar.
She began the discussion in classic Miriam style by saying that some would say “We mustn’t talk about trans” but she thought “f**k that”.
“I was very keen on grammar,” Miriam continued. “So when people started talking about ‘them’ instead of ‘he/she’, I thought, ‘What the f**k? It’s clear. It’s grammar. It’s the structure of language.’”
However, after she met Zoe Terakes (they/he) – who recently made history as being the first out trans actor to star in the Marvel Universe – Miriam’s opinion was completely changed.
Zoe told Miriam: “What does it matter to you? If you can make somebody happy by calling them they instead of he or she, why not do it?”
“And I thought, that’s right! It doesn’t matter about grammar!” Miriam exclaimed. “If you can make someone happy and give them a sense of themselves, then do it!”
Miriam also revealed during the episode that she had plans to move in with her long-term partner Heather Sutherland. After previously expressing her desire to live apart from Heather, Miriam revealed to Graham and the other guests that she felt it was now time to share a roof with her partner.
“I really do want to live with her because we are old, and we haven’t got much time left,” she said. “It is silly to live apart.”
The outspoken star was promoting her new book Oh Miriam: Stories From An Extraordinary Life.
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