James Moore has branded Piers Morgan "transphobic" after the TV presenter said he now identifies as a penguin.
The ‘Emmerdale’ actor has called for people to help to "normalise" gender identities, rather than "mocking" them, after a tweet on the ‘Good Morning Britain’ Twitter account asked London Aquarium to "come and collect" the TV presenter following his rant.
James wrote on Twitter: "This ain’t funny, it’s transphobic. Can we stop mocking gender identities and help normalise it? We need to be accepting and break the stigma. People are gonna be terrified into keeping quiet and aren’t going to be comfortable in their own bodies because of comments like these."
The ‘GMB’ tweet read: "@piersmorgan is now identifying as a penguin. @london_aquarium feel free to come and collect him whenever you’re ready (sic)"
James’ comments come after Piers ranted that he now identifies as a penguin.
Speaking on ‘GMB’, Piers said: "What’s wrong with male or female? Out of interest."
His co-host Charlotte Hawkins replied: "Why can’t people be what they want to be? They have to be what you tell them to be."
Piers said: "OK, I’m a penguin. I’m identifying as a two-spirit penguin."
Laughter could then be heard in the studio, and the TV presenter continued: "Everyone happy with that? Two spirit, gender neutral, pan-gender, gender fluid penguin.
"I demand to be allowed in the penguin enclosure and to live with the penguins as a penguin, because I’m now a penguin."
James – who has ataxic cerebral palsy – has previously opened up about the challenges of life as a disabled actor, and said that while the situation is improving, there is still a lot of work to be done.
He said at the time: "Honestly, it’s enough to win an NTA anyway and to have the public behind it. But I think this means that we’re doing great things for people with disabilities.
"We’re getting more diverse in society and more open and more accommodating. However, we still need more disabled voices because I don’t think that there are enough in public at the moment."
James Moore brands Piers Morgan ‘transphobic’
