Following the fallout from their statement on toileting, which many deemed discriminatory to trans people, Download have released another statement. This time, reassuring concertgoers that there will be safe, accessible toilets for all – with gender neutral toilets provided as well as single sex toilets.

We stand with all members of our community and want everyone to feel safe, supported and welcome at Download pic.twitter.com/TSMIhZFLJZ

— Download Festival (@DownloadFest) May 28, 2025

“At the heart of Download is acceptance – we stand with all members of our community and want everyone to feel safe, supported and welcome at the festival,” the statement reads. “We want to reassure all of our customers that at Download, the majority of toilets will be gender neutral and available to all. There will also be single sex toilets provided. Download Festival has always been and remains for everyone.

“We sincerely apologise that a previous communication on this was not clear. We are looking forward to seeing you at Download this year.”

On May 27, the festival announced that they would be “following the interim guidance issued by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC)” which states that “trans women (biological men) should not be permitted to use the women’s facilities and trans men (biological women) should not be permitted to use the men’s facilities”.

This statement sparked anger amongst many, including artists on their bill, such as NOAHFINNCE, Pinkshift and Witch Fever, who called out the festival one social media.

On X, NOAHFINNCE shared his concern for the safety of trans concertgoers, posting: ‘I had a great time playing last year but will not be attending again if I have to queue up for the ladies’ and my trans sisters have to risk outing themselves in the men’s. All this does is put trans people in danger’.

Pinkshift also commented on the issue through Instagram: “Playing @downloadfest was fun last year but what fucking music festival polices gendered bathrooms? That’s crazy and so unsafe, thanks @noahfinnce for being the only artist I’ve seen talk about this… if Download is part of your life then speak up, they think they can get away with discrimination in the ripe year of 2025”.

It’s not only artists who have taken issue with Download’s toileting policy – high street retailer Lush has reportedly cancelled its collaboration with Download this year after the controversy. Lush had produced a “revival kit” in collaboration with the festival, containing a bath bomb, soap and an ‘Ace Of Sprays’ body spray packaged in a reusable roadie’s box. The kit was available to purchase online and was set to be sold at the festival too.

Now, it seems the collaboration has come to an early end – a user on X shared that they asked Lush’s customer service about the issue, to which they responded: “We are terminating our collaboration with this event so will no longer be participating.”

thank you @LushLtd for taking a stand !! #downloadfestival pic.twitter.com/w977rqMqWj

— stream RIP YOU TO SHREDS! (@htmljones) May 29, 2025

This isn’t the only dispute that Download has found themselves in throughout recent years – in 2024, the festival received backlash for their sponsors, Barclays Bank, having ties to Israel amidst the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. You can read more on that here.

She goes on to discuss trans-exclusionary radical feminists, expressing her disappointment with the movement. She says, “I owe so much of myself to feminism. Tarnishing the most important ideology in my life by denying the existence of trans women is something I take very personally.”

The song begins by addressing these groups with the hard-hitting, yet playful hook “you’re not radical”, “you’re not rad at all”. She then outlines real threats to women such as domestic abuse, sexual violence, and female genital mutilation. Fans were struck by the emotive track, discussing the most hard-hitting lines.

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Nash references several issues in ‘GERM’ including Algerian Welterweight boxer Imane Khelif with the line “Women are facing serious dangers. Not during boxing matches or from trans people needing a p*ss, but from actual violence that is carried out against them every week.” The singer bashes the criticism that the boxer faced for her gold medal win after claims that she had XY chromosomes.

Several artists alike have spoken out about the treatment of trans people recently. Notably, British pop punk singer NoahFinnce called out the accessibility of facilities at Download festival. He posted on social media about his shock that the festival would be abiding by Government guidelines and preventing trans women from using the women’s facilities and trans men using the men’s.

The organisers have since responded to this and confirmed that there will be gender neutral bathrooms at the venue.  

Hey @DownloadFest what the fuck are you doing. How have you got the gall to invite trans people like me to play your festival and then ban them from using the toilet? If the only way we can piss is by outing ourselves then you’ve created an unsafe environment… pic.twitter.com/W0oLIa5P4U — NOAHFINNCE (@noahfinnadams) May 27, 2025

NoahFinnce has shared his support for Nash’s new single, commenting on her release announcement on Instagram with “Thought you were a legend in 2007. Still think you’re a legend now❤️”.

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A post shared by Kate Nash (@katenash)

Nash has been continuously vocal about political issues in the music industry with her recent performance in UK parliament advocating for Grassroots Music Venues.

The song’s release follows the end of Nash’s UK/EU tour, though she will debut ‘GERM’ at Mighty Hoopla alongside The Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra. Find tickets here.

Willoughby captioned the image, saying “Ed Sheeran reportedly went to JK Rowling’s New Year’s Eve party, too.” Sheeran later replied via his Instagram story, saying “Respectfully, India Willoughby, and any other journalist who has reported both these stories, neither are true,” he wrote above a screenshot of Willoughby’s tweet.

He explained that he “spent New Year with [his] family and friends”, and that “The story about wounded soldiers at my show, was a charity that sourced tickets to my show in Cyprus last year, which was a large-scale public concert,”

He then addressed the writers, warning them that “This sort of reporting is [divisive] and damaging, please research before you post things.”

A statement from Ed on his IG Stories earlier today. – EDHQ pic.twitter.com/RqNtK05e2l

— Ed Sheeran HQ (@edsheeran) January 21, 2025

Willoughby then replied to Sheeran, saying it was “great to hear” that he didn’t attend Rowling’s party. She then added that she “used the word ‘reportedly’,” and that the story had been widely reported by UK and international media at the time.

“I also reached out directly to you in the first [week] of Jan via Twitter to ask if the story was correct – but no reply,” she continued. “Delighted to hear you didn’t go!”

The report about Rowling’s NYE party was published by The Sun, according to People. The article has since removed any mention of Ed Sheeran.

After their back and forth, Willoughby posted that she’d heard directly “from the source” that Ed “DID NOT attend JK Rowling’s New Years Eve party”.

Last year, she reported Rowling to the police for misgendering her online. The complaint didn’t “reach the criminal threshold” and no further action was taken.

J.K. Rowling has become quite a divisive figure to some, through her views on gender and the trans community. For years she has stirred controversy through her outspoken opinions, and has been labelled a “TERF” (transgender exclusionary radical feminist).

Transphobia accusations against her started in 2019, when she defended a British researcher named Maya Forstater, who lost her job after sharing transphobic comments on social media. In 2020, Rowling wrote an opinion piece on her website titled ‘J.K. Rowling Writes about Her Reasons for Speaking out on Sex and Gender Issues’. In the post, she discussed why she stood up for Forstater, and also why she was worried about “the new trans activism”.

The piece drew backlash from fans, and even actors involved in the Harry Potter films. Daniel Radcliffe, who’s worked with LGBTQIA+ charity The Trevor Project for many years, said that “It’s clear that we need to do more to support transgender and non-binary people, not invalidate their identities, and not cause further harm.”

Rupert Grint, who plays Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter films, and Bonnie Wright (Ginny Weasley) also issued statements supporting trans people.

In 2020, Rowling released a book under her known pen name, Robert Galbraith. The novel ‘Troubled Blood‘ follows the investigation into the case of a male murderer who dresses as a woman to lure his victims. Some saw this plot to be another indicator of her anti-trans views.

More recently, the Harry Potter author has been caught up in controversy after making comments about Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, who took gold in the women’s boxing at the 2024 Olympics. Khelif is now pressing charges in a lawsuit that accuses a number of X users, including J.K. and Elon Musk, of hateful cyberbullying.

Due to her problematic posts and opinions, many Harry Potter fans have objected to Rowling’s involvement in the upcoming TV adaption of the book and film series. Despite this, she’s confirmed to be “fairly involved” in the project.

Meanwhile, Ed Sheeran is readying to release his next album, a “big pop” record that may see him go back to the upbeat sounds of ‘Divide’ – more on that here.

 He then went on to say, “I get so sick of people trying to change things without thinking of the long-term consequences, some of these things are an improvement, some of them are not.”, adding “[Freddie Mercury] was a musician, he was our friend, he was our brother. We didn’t have to stop and think: ‘Ooh, now, should we work with him? Is he the right colour? Is he the right sexual proclivity?’ None of that happened, and now I find it frightening that you have to be so calculating about everything.”. Today, however, May took to Instagram to defend himself. Blaming “predatory press hacks” that have unfairly made him seem “Unfriendly to trans people.”.

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A post shared by Brian Harold May (@brianmayforreal)

 He explains that his words were “subtly twisted”, and that his “heart is open as always to humans of all colours, all creeds, all sexes and sexualities, all shapes and sizes – and all creatures.”.

For the 2022 ceremony, the British male solo artist and British female solo artist categories will be replaced by a singular artist of the year award, and the same will be applied to the previously gendered international solo artist categories. Regarding the changes, BRIT’s Chair Tom March commented, “It is important that The BRITs continue to evolve and aim to be as inclusive as possible. It feels completely the right time to celebrate the achievements of artists for the music that they create, and the work that they do, irrespective of gender.”. Last year, British non-binary singer Sam Smith was left out of the categories despite being nominated for a number of other awards.

Queen and Adam Lambert are currently set to begin their UK and European ‘Rhapsody Tour’ in Belfast in May 2022, the tour was postponed in February 2020 after their Australian dates due to COVID-19. See here to get tickets. Since the last dates of the tour, drummer Roger Taylor has embarked on a series of solo shows in the UK. On the final night of the tour, October 22^nd, Taylor was joined by May for a surprise performance of a number of Queen classics, as well as a cover of Little Richard’s “Tutti Frutti”. See a fan video of the performance below.

Bragg went on to explain the meaning behind his adjustments on Twitter, “Times changed. Anyone born since the song was released would wonder why it’s a big deal to find common ground with a gay man. The front line now is trans rights.”.  The song has quite obviously always been about highlighting mutual respect amongst everybody. Stating that everyone should be entitled to owning their own sexuality, no matter in what form. When queried on what trans right Bragg was actually in support of, he simply replied, “[the right to] exist.”. 

Sexuality is a song about learning to respect difference. In 1991, the LG community were marginalised by AIDS and Section 28. Now that we have gay marriage etc the song needs updating and today, it’s the trans community who are marginalised and need our allyship

— Billy Bragg (@billybragg) November 11, 2021

Bragg doubled down when fans began to push back on his decisions to change the lyrics. Stating that pronouns are, “a simple way of showing respect. Nothing compels you to use them, just as nothing compels you not to call a person of Pakistani heritage the P word.”.

As well as these changes, “Sexuality (2021)” also has a new moment dedicated to former Smiths frontman Morrisey. After he was condemned by Bragg in 2019 in an interview with NME, for spreading far-right ideals. Bragg quips, “Don’t threaten me with Morrissey, whatever happened to that guy?”. He previously stated that he no longer enjoys listening to Morrisey’s solo albums, but this isn’t much of a burden because, as he told NME, “I wasn’t much of a fan of those anyway.”

All of the information we have on Bragg’s lyric changes have come to light from his current tour of the UK. See below the remaining dates. Order tickets here.

16/11/2021 – G Live – Guildford
18/11 – Corn Exchange – Cambridge
19/11 – Rock City – Nottingham
20/11 – Albert Hall – Manchester
21/11 – City Hall – Sheffield
23/11 – Dome – Brighton
25/11 – Cliffs Pavilion – Southend-On-Sea
26/11 – Leas Cliff Hall – Folkestone
27/11 – Roundhouse – London