Is R&B singer Ciara really a man?

For whatever reason, rumors questioning Ciara's gender and/or sexual orientation have been circulating since late 2004. One version claims the singer "came out" as a transsexual on The Oprah Winfrey Show, though as of this writing she has never appeared on Oprah. Another version claims Ciara is actually a hermaphrodite ("one having the sex organs and many of the secondary sex characteristics of both male and female," as defined by the American Heritage Dictionary). Yet another claims she is a tranvestite (a male who dresses in women's clothing). Another claims she is a lesbian. They can't all be true, obviously, and although I can't produce documentation to prove the allegations false, neither has anyone proven a single one of them true. Indeed, the only "evidence" ever offered is the claim that Ciara Harris made a statement on television. Hogwash.

Ciara herself issued a denial Published in the New York Daily News under the headline "No Gender Gap Here": R&B sensation Ciara just wants everyone to know: She's all woman. "You know what's funny? The rumor that I used to be a man," she told us at the launch party for Vibe Vixen magazine at Frederick's. "They said Oprah said that on her show," she laughed. "I've never been on Oprah in my life - we all know I have years before I go on Oprah, so come on!"





Works Cited

No Gender Gap Here NY Daily News, 21 February 2005

AllHipHop Rumors ALLHIPHOP.com, 10 March 2005 Ciara: Around the Way Girl ALLHIPHOP.com interview, August 2004