GLAAD Slams Azealia Banks

Neal Broverman

Neal Broverman is the Editorial Director, Print of Pride Media, publishers of The Advocate, Out, Out Traveler, and Plus, spending more than 20 years in journalism. He indulges his interest in transportation and urban planning with regular contributions to Los Angeles magazine, and his work has also appeared in the Los Angeles Times and USA Today. He lives in the City of Angels with his husband, children, and their chiweenie.

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Neal Broverman

January 07 2013 5:49 PM EST

November 17 2015 5:28 AM EST

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Bisexual rapper Azealia Banks's half-apologies and back-pedaling for using a gay slur on Twitter aren't flying with many, including the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.

The watchdog group released a statement about Banks's use of a slur to describe gay blogger Perez Hilton, who she sparred with on Twitter this weekend. Of the many insults Banks lobbed at Hilton, the worst was when she called him a "messy fa**ot."

"Regardless of her intent or her personal definition, what matters is the meaning given to that word by those who hear it, and the damage it causes when they do," GLAAD said in a statement. "Undoubtedly there are gay kids who follow her on Twitter who hear this word in an entirely different context. This word is used almost universally by bullies, often as part of a larger verbal or physical assault. This word hurts those kids, no matter what Banks meant by it."