Brian May: Queen would not be considered diverse enough today

Queen wouldn’t be considered diverse enough today, Brian May has claimed.

The guitarist made the comment as he criticised the Brit Awards for scrapping its gender categories to be more inclusive.

May, who formed part of the legendary band alongside Freddie Mercury, Roger Taylor and John Deacon, said the decision was “made without a lot of thought”, adding that “people are so afraid of being called out”.

He also told The Sun: “I am sure if Queen started now we would be forced to have people of different colours and different sexes and a trans [person], but life doesn’t have to be like that. We can be separate and different.

“Our generation made a lot of bad mistakes but not everybody in our generation was wrong and not everybody in this generation is right.

“A lot of people from our generation who are being called out for this have actually done a lot of good in their lives.”

The band’s iconic showman, Freddie Mercury, was born to Parsi-Indian parents, and while he never publicly defined his own sexuality, he was a member of the LGBT community.

The Brit Awards announced on Monday it would be using gender neutral categories for UK and international artists going forward.

The ceremony’s chair Tom March said: “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.”

Sam Smith, who is non-binary, and Will Young were among those calling for the move, as gendered categories exclude non-binary people.

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