Dr Who actor David Tennant bigot UK politician Kemi Badenoch

Beloved actor David Tennant is being criticized in the United Kingdom for comments he made wishing that a very vocal and influential bigot in his country should “shut up.”

The Doctor Who and Good Omens star has ruffled feathers in the UK for his comments made while receiving an award for being a staunch LGBTQ+ ally.

While being recognized with this year’s Celebrity Ally title at the British LGBT Awards ceremony on Friday, Tennant said he wished he lived in a world where hateful would just be quiet, and he mentioned one particularly influential bigot who has used her position in the UK government to make trans people’s lives worse: Minister for Women and Equalities of the United Kingdom, Kemi Badenoch.

“I’m a little depressed by the fact that acknowledging that everyone has the right to be who they want to be and live their life how they want to live it as long as they’re not hurting anybody else, should merit any kind of special award or special mention because it’s common sense, isn’t it?” Tennant asked while accepting the award.

“It is human decency. We shouldn’t live in a world where that is worth remarking on,” he continued. “However, until we wake up and Kemi Badenoch doesn’t exist any more… I don’t wish ill of her, I just wish her to shut up.”

“Whilst we do live in this world, I’m honored to receive this, I’m thrilled to be here,” he said.

Badenoch has become one of the most vocal anti-trans members of the UK government in recent years.

In 2021, audio of her describing trans women as “men using women’s bathrooms” leaked and had previously met with the anti-trans hate group LBG Alliance. In 2023, she said that life saving gender-affirming care for children and teens “is a new form of conversion therapy.”

She also announced an update to the UK’s approval list of countries and territories for foreign nationals applying for Gender Recognition Certificates after moving to Britain. As the UK doesn’t recognize self-identification as a legitimate reason to change gender, countries like Canada, the US, Australia and New Zealand are no longer on the list of origin countries for people who want their gender legally recognized in the UK.

Instead, trans people from those countries have to provide medical reports when applying for gender recognition in Britain, no matter what their official documents from their nation of origin says.

Badenoch has avoided talking about the real issues and instead is latching onto Tennant’s comments, hoping that by twisting things and calling him the bigot, she can win people to her side.

“I will not shut up. I will not be silenced by men who prioritize applause from Stonewall over the safety of women and girls,” she wrote on X (formerly Twitter), prioritizing her own talking points over the safety of queer women and girls. “A rich, lefty, white male celebrity so blinded by ideology he can’t see the optics of attacking the only Black woman in government by calling publicly for my existence to end.”

When any person of any gender or race is using their power and position to oppress, harm, and alienate a small group of women trying to simply live their lives, it is our duty to call them out. Even if they are a Black woman.

A bigot, by definition, is “a person who is obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices, especially: one who regards or treats the members of a group (such as a racial or ethnic group) with hatred and intolerance.” That’s describing exactly how Badenoch acts toward trans people. She’s a bigot, plane and simple, there is no debate.

When women like Marjorie Taylor Greene, Candace Owens, and J.K. Rowling say ignorant, incorrect, hateful, bigoted, and dangerous things, it’s morally good to tell them to shut up until they can learn and grow. The gender of a bigot does not protect them from being called a bigot. That’s not misogyny, that’s human decency.

James Cleverly, the UK’s Home Secretary, tweeted that he’s “not sure David understands the irony of trying to silence the voice of the most senior Black female politician in the UK’s history, in the name of ‘defending’ a minority community.”

We have to say we’re not sure Cleverly and Badenoch understand the irony of trying to silence, harm, and eradicate a group of women while also claiming to be fighting for women.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also weighed in.

“Freedom of speech is the most powerful feature of our democracy,” he tweeted. “If you’re calling for women to shut up and wishing they didn’t exist, you are the problem.”

Calling for women to shut up and wishing they didn’t exist is literally what bigots like Badenoch (and the previously mentioned J.K. Rowling) do every time they talk about trans women.

While transphobes are coming to Badenoch’s defense, others see what she’s doing for what it really is. Dawn Butler, a Black woman and Labour candidate, tweeted out in defense of Tennant.”Not all Black women think the same,” she wrote. “I agree with David Tennant. That’s it, that’s the tweet.”