West End star Cumming returns OBE over ‘toxicity’ of Empire
ACTOR Alan Cumming has returned the OBE he received in 2009 because he no longer wants to be associated with the “toxicity” of the British Empire.
The award-winning Scottish star revealed that he had started to feel “misgivings” about the honour after conversations about the country’s history that “really opened his eyes” following the Queen’s death.
He was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for his work as an actor as well as his prolific campaigning for LGBTQ+ rights in America.
At the time, he said he was “shocked and excited” to receive it.
Explaining his decision yesterday, the 58-year-old star of The Tempest and Sky Kids wrote on Instagram that he wanted to tell people about “something I recently did for myself ”.
The actor, who lives in New York, wrote: “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.”
He said: “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 Defence 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.”
Speaking on his 58th birthday yesterday, Cumming added: “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. Happy birthday to me!”
Cumming, who in 2014 backed a Yes vote in the Scottish independence referendum, is not the first to return an honour, with others doing so for a number of reasons.
Beatle John Lennon returned his MBE in 1969, four years after receiving it, as an apparent protest against Britain’s foreign policy. Journalist and author Yasmin Alibhai-brown returned her MBE in 2006, saying she had been “stupid” to accept it to please her mother. Carla Lane, one of Britain’s most celebrated TV comedy writers, returned her OBE in 2002 in protest over animal cruelty.
Some chose to snub the offer outright, including David Bowie, twice, and Nigella Lawson. Bowie turned down a CBE in 2000, and refused again in 2003 when he was to be awarded a knighthood, saying that it was not for what he spent his life working.