Alan Cumming Returns OBE Award Over Toxicity of British Empire

Alan Cumming is revisiting his acceptance of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) award.

Cumming announced on January 27, his 58th birthday, that he returned the OBE award with which late Queen Elizabeth II honored him in 2009.

“I want to tell you about something I recently did for myself,” Cumming captioned on Instagram. “Fourteen years ago, I was incredibly grateful to receive it in the 2009 Queen’s birthday honours list, for it was awarded not just for my job as an actor but ‘for activism for equal rights for the gay and lesbian community, USA.’ Back then the Defense of Marriage Act ensured that same sex couples couldn’t get married or enjoy the same basic legal rights as straight people, and Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell ensured that openly gay, lesbian or bisexual people were barred from serving in the military. (Incidentally both these policies were instituted by the Clinton administration).”

“The Good Wife” alum continued, “The Queen’s death and the ensuing conversations about the role of monarchy and especially the way the British Empire profited at the expense (and death) of Indigenous peoples across the world really opened my eyes. Also, thankfully, times and laws in the US have changed, and the great good the award brought to the LGBTQ+ cause back in 2009 is now less potent than the misgivings I have being associated with the toxicity of empire (OBE stands for Officer of the British Empire). So I returned my award, explained my reasons and reiterated my great gratitude for being given it in the first place. I’m now back to being plain old Alan Cumming again.”

Cumming also shared the official statement he made at the time citing how “shocked and delighted” he was for his LGBTQ+ activism to be recognized. “The fight for equality for the LGBT community in the US is something I am very passionate about, and I see this honour as encouragement to go on fighting for what I believe is right and for what I take for granted as a UK citizen,” Cumming said in 2009. “Thank you to the Queen and those who make up her Birthday honours list for bringing attention to the inaction of the US government on this issue. It makes me very proud to be British, and galvanized as an American.”

He concluded the caption, “Happy birthday to me!”

Cumming previously told IndieWire that discrimination is a “big part of the world” of queer people. “Quite simply, you’re a part of society and you’re not treated equally,” Cumming said in 2009. “In America, I hope there will be a federal intervention to make sure that there is true equality…The whole idea of ‘Oh, we’ve come so far, and look how much we’ve achieved.’ I agree that we’ve come so far, but look around. Everyone in New York is happy that we can marry and we’ve got all these legal rights, but I think the biggest obstacle for gay people to fight against is being complacent. That would be terrible. I mean, we obviously shouldn’t be thankful for something that is a right. You know what I mean? I don’t have any specific stories of being discriminated against, but I guess I do feel discriminated against as a queer man living in the world. Yes. Yes, I do.”

Late-night host John Oliver also recently revealed he turned down the OBE award last year.

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