Scottish actor Alan Cumming has handed back his OBE due to his “misgivings” with being associated with the “toxicity” of the British Empire. He was made an OBE in the 2009 Queen’s Birthday Honours for his work as an actor, as well as his campaigning for LGBTQ+ rights in the USA.
He said at the time he was “shocked and delighted” to receive the honour. But following the Queen’s death and subsequent conversations around the future of the monarchy, Cumming said he had decided to revoke the honour.
He wrote on Instagram: “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. 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’.
