Queen's Brian May criticises Brits decision to scrap gendered awards

Queen star Brian May has criticised the Brit Awards' decision to scrap gendered gongs.

The organisation announced this week that gendered awards like British male solo artist and British female solo artist would be removed, and the biggest prizes will now be in categories such as Artist of the Year and International Artist of the Year.

But May told The Sun he thought the decision was “ill thought out” and a “knee-jerk response” to the current climate of cancel culture.

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“I feel very uncomfortable about some of the decisions that are being made, often out of fear,” the 74-year-old was quoted as saying.

“Because people are so afraid of being called out. It is a horrible atmosphere.”

The rocker said he gets fed up of people trying to change things “without thinking of the long-term consequences”.

The star also said he didn't think his own band would be considered diverse enough nowadays.

He said: "I am sure if Queen started now we would be forced to have people of different colours and different sexes and a trans [person], but life doesn’t have to be like that. We can be separate and different."

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The Brits announced the changes this week.

A statement on the website said: “The Brits confirm that for the 2022 show they will move away from the Female and Male categories, and will launch new awards for Artist of the Year and International Artist of the Year, celebrating artists solely for their music and work, rather than how they choose to identify or as others may see them, as part of The Brits’ commitment to evolving the show to be as inclusive and as relevant as possible.”

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