Separate Genders Remain at the Brits
Despite online speculation to the contrary, the Brit Awards has retained its separate Best Male and Best Female categories for this year’s ceremony on Tuesday February 18 at London’s O2.
Despite a major cosmetic revamp for 2020, with fewer awards and an end to fan-voted categories, the traditional gender categories remain in both the British and international categories.
US equivalents The Grammys abolished separate gender categories nine years ago for its 2011 ceremony and The Brits was expected to follow suit. The organisers of this year’s event have stated that the changes are to ensure more live music on the night, after several years of falling TV ratings, which in 2019 were down 400,000 from 2018.
Media outlets reported in October that Brits organisers wanted to accommodate non-binary artists -who identify as neither male nor female -and that scrapping gender-specific categories was a likely outcome. Such reports came shortly after pop singer Sam Smith issued a statement on his social media platforms “After a lifetime of being at war with my gender I’ve decided to embrace myself for who I am, inside and out.” Sam Smith asked fans to no longer use he/him but they/them as a term of reference.
Sam Smith has not been nominated in the Best Male category this year or any other as a solo artist, despite three song releases in 2019 during the qualifying period. His single Dancing With A Stranger with American Fifth Harmony singer Normani, is nominated in the Best British Single category.
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