Billie Joe Armstrong isn’t part of the transphobic agenda.
In a new interview with the Los Angeles Times, the 51-year-old Green Day frontman opened up about his thoughts toward people with anti-transgender mindsets and how cultural conversations on the topic have changed over time.
Ahead of the upcoming Jan. 19 release of the “American Idiot” band’s new album Saviors, Armstrong told the outlet about how its track “Bobby Sox” addresses queerness. The song, per the outlet, finds him musing on the simplicities of romance with his wife, Adrienne Nesser, and sweetly asking, “Do you wanna be my girlfriend?”
Billie Joe Armstrong performs with Green Day in Milwaukee in July 2023.
“But then in the next verse, I thought I should flip the script,” said the 51-year-old musician, who identifies as bisexual. “I’m kind of playing the character of the woman, but it also felt really liberating to sing, ‘Do you wanna be my boyfriend?'”
Armstrong added, “It became more of a queer singalong.”
Billie Joe Armstrong.
Upon playing the song for a friend, the “21 Guns” vocalist said its lyrics “brought a tear to his eye.”
“Nowadays it’s more common for kids to be LGBTQ, and there’s more support,” said Armstrong in the interview. “But for us, back in the day, that was like the beginning of when people were able to openly say things like that.”
Green Day. FilmMagic
While the queer community is certainly more accepted and celebrated in many areas of culture today, anti-LGBTQ+ groups are still prevalent in society. According to the Human Rights Campaign, “at least 31 transgender and gender non-conforming people” were violently murdered in 2023.
Armstrong has long been open about his social and political views, and he was not shy with the LA Times regarding his thoughts on transphobic individuals. “I just think they’re f—ing close-minded,” he said.
“It’s like people are afraid of their children,” added the Grammy winner. “Why would you be afraid? Why don’t you let your kid just be the kid that they are?”
