Star Wars: Mandalorian star Gina Carano accused of ‘mocking trans people’ with ‘boop/bop/beep’ pronouns joke
Actor had faced calls to include her pronouns in her Twitter biography
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Gina Carano, star of the Disney+ Star Wars spin-off The Mandalorian, has faced criticism from fans after making “transphobic” social media posts.
She had faced calls to add her pronouns to her Twitter biography (a common practise among transgender and cisgender social media users to help avoid misgendering).
However, in response to the demand, the actor added the words “boop/bop/beep” to her Twitter name, in apparent ridicule of the convention.
Defending her actions in a subsequent Tweet, Carano wrote: “They’re mad cuz I won’t put pronouns in my bio to show my support for trans lives. After months of harassing me in every way. I decided to put 3 VERY controversial words in my bio.. beep/bop/boop.”
“I’m not against trans lives at all. They need to find less abusive representation,” she added.
Carano played mercenary Cara Dune in three episodes of The Mandalorian’s first season, and is set to return in season two, released on Disney+ this October.
On Twitter, she recently said that Pedro Pascal, who plays The Mandalorian’s lead character, explained to her the purpose behind including pronouns in one’s biography.
“Yes, Pedro & I spoke & he helped me understand why people were putting them in their bios,” she wrote. “I didn’t know before but I do now. I won’t be putting them in my bio but good for all you who choose to.”
She also defended the joke, saying: “Beep/bop/boop has zero to do with mocking trans people & [everything] to do with exposing the bullying mentality of the mob that has taken over the voices of many genuine causes.”
However, many Star Wars fans still took offence at Carano’s actions, with some even calling for her removal from the series.
“I don’t think people have to put pronouns if they do not want to but do not mock people who do. You might not think it has a mocking tone but it clearly does.”
Another responded: “I’m sorry but if people are telling you that it is offensive and hurtful then why keep it up?”
“Cis people do not get to determine what is and isn't harmful to trans people,” responded someone else. “Many trans people have said any sort of pronoun mocking/jokes from cis people, no matter the intent, causes harm.”