Fans are not okay (they promise) after seeing Gerard Way perform in a cheerleading uniform.
During My Chemical Romance’s concert at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., on Tuesday, the group’s frontman flaunted his team spirit in a green-and-white cheer dress emblazoned with a “W” in front.
While Way, 45, has never explicitly confirmed his sexual orientation or described himself as non-binary, he uses “he/they” pronouns and opened up about his “gender identity issues” during a 2015 Reddit AMA.
“I have always identified a fair amount with the female gender, and began at a certain point in MCR to express this through my look and performance style,” they wrote at the time.
And fans swiftly took to Twitter to applaud Way’s gender-fluid performance ensemble.
Wrote one, “no bc for years gerard has talked about their gender dysphoria, and hinted at his fluidity but that was when he was deep into drugs and alcohol. he’s finally healthy, happy and sober and embracing his femininity so much more and this is so important to me.”
“Okay all jokes aside i’m really happy that gerard feels comfortable enough to publicly defy gender norms because theyve been very open in the past about struggling with gender and feeling more connected to femininity,” added another.
And a third fan wrote, “you guys don’t understand. as a trans person seeing gerard be okay with openly being feminine and wearing a dress and stuff makes me so happy and i’m so proud of them for being able to openly explore gender expression i’m literally crying right now.”
Way has long voiced their support for MCR’s LGBTQIA+ followers, a relative rarity in the early-2000s pop-punk scene.
“Sometimes I’ll do a signing after a show if there’s time, and I’ll usually meet at least a handful of either non-binary kids or transgender kids,” he told Kerrang! in 2015.
“I think because I’m expressive, and because I’m pretty fearless with the expressiveness, that maybe there’s a connection there for them that they feel safe at one of my shows. ‘Cause to be a kid that’s transgender, you have to be fearless. There’s some connection there.”
In May, MCR dropped their first song in eight years — the six-minute track “The Foundations of Decay” — after announcing their breakup in 2013.
The COVID-19 pandemic delayed their much-anticipated 2020 tour after they played only one show post-reunion, but they’re now embarking on a multi-date tour.
Perhaps Way’s cheer costume will make another appearance.
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