Piers Morgan
Piers Morgan said he believed gender neutrality is a massive fad Reuters

Piers Morgan – a figure no stranger to causing an online ruckus – has set Twitter off once again after claiming he identifies as a black woman to a trans couple.

The interview with trans non-binary couple Fox and Owl aimed to speak about issues to do with International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia today (17 May) before Morgan made some odd comments.

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The chat soon became heated as Morgan claimed that he "supported and respected" transgender rights but that he believed gender neutrality is a "massive fad". He then asked if he could identify as a "black woman".

Fox and Owl responded by claiming that Morgan could choose to identify as anything he wished, with Fox stating: "You can. That doesn't take away from how we identify."

Owl added: "It doesn't really change anything about my life how another person identifies. You can identify in any way you want and that's up to you.

"The problem is this is a hypothetical intellectual discussion for you, but this is about our actual identity."

To viewers' delight, Fox even had a dagger for the former journalist when discussing their upcoming children's book on gender and diversity, telling him: "This book is for three-year-olds upwards – so it'll be good for you, Piers."

Continuing to challenge the couple, Morgan went on a bizarre tangent by getting elephants involved, asking if he could identify with the land mammal. He said: "Can I literally say I'm now an elephant and do I get afforded elephant rights? Can I go to London Zoo and demand to be put in an elephant compound because I have decided I'm an elephant?"

Owl replied: "It's not about erasing gender. Nobody's saying that people cannot be men or women, we're saying that people can also be non-binary and gender needs to expand. Please stop fear mongering as it doesn't help. It's not a fad."

Unsurprisingly, Morgan's comments sparked an uproar on Twitter, with one user writing: "as if piers morgan didn't seem like a t*t already, he said he identified as black woman when talking to two nonbinary people...." with another adding: "Am I seriously listening to Piers Morgan trying to justify calling himself a black woman in a debate about gender?"

A third added: "equating their gender expression with Piers Morgan hypothetical claims to be a black woman is ridiculous."