Alan Cumming hands back his OBE citing the ‘toxicity of empire’

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We tend to receive things on our birthdays, but on his 58th Alan Cumming has given something back: the OBE he was awarded in 2009.

In a post on Instagram, the Scottish actor talked about how he had recently “opened his eyes” to the “toxicity” of the British Empire. He said his soul-searching was prompted by the death of Queen Elizabeth II and the conversations the event sparked.

“I was incredibly grateful to receive [the OBE] 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,'” wrote Cumming. He had become an American citizen a year earlier and cited some of the homophobic bills in that country that he had campaigned against: the Defence of Marriage Act, which prevented federal recognition of same-sex marriages, and the “don’t ask don’t tell” policy that barred openly gay, lesbian or bisexual people from serving in the military.

At the time of receiving his OBE, Cumming had said in a statement: “I see this honour as encouragement to go on fighting for what I believe is right and for what I take for granted as a UK citizen. Thank you to the Queen and those who make up her birthday honours list for bringing attention to the inaction of the US government on this issue. It makes me very proud to be British, and galvanised as an American.”

But recent debates around the monarchy have changed Cumming’s mind about the role of the monarchy in the modern world – especially the way “the British Empire profited at the expense (and death) of indigenous peoples across the world”. Cumming now believes that “the great good the award brought to the LGBTQ+ cause back in 2009 is now less potent than the misgivings I have being associated with the toxicity of empire”.

Cumming is not the only celebrity to have returned their honours. John Lennon returned his MBE in 1969 in protest against “Britain’s involvement in the Nigeria-Biafra thing, against our support of America in Vietnam and against Cold Turkey slipping down the charts”. More recently, the Welsh actor Michael Sheen returned the OBE he was awarded in 2009 after reading up on Welsh history and his country’s relationship with the British state.

Last year, Cumming received a more welcome form of recognition: a Tony award for best musical, as producer of A Strange Loop. More recently, he has been seen on screens starring as the host of the American version of hit show The Traitors, a role he appears to have embraced with glee. “He presents as if he is a supply teacher sent to look after an unruly classroom that he can’t be bothered to discipline … he is evidently having a ball,” read the Guardian’s review.

Now Cumming can bask in another reinvention. As he signed off his post: “I’m now back to being plain old Alan Cumming again. Happy birthday to me!”