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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Scarlett O'Toole

Lena Dunham faces backlash for 'desperate' joke about wanting her coffin at Pride parade

Lena Dunham has been slammed by members of the LGBTQ community after declaring she wants her coffin to be driven though a Pride parade when she dies.

The Girls creator, 36, who also played Hannah Horvath on the hit show, took to Twitter on Sunday to share the controversial request, with some people describing it as "desperate".

Lena said: "When I go, I want my casket to be driven through the NYC pride parade with a plaque that reads “she wasn’t for everyone, but she *was* for us”- who can arrange?"

A number of users criticised the Tweet and questioned why the 36-year-old, who is heterosexual and married to musician Luis Felber, regarded herself as "an LGBTQ+ icon".

Lena faced backlash for her Tweet (Variety via Getty Images)
Lena and Luis married last year (Getty Images)

One person hit back by commenting: "She died as she lived: in a ploy for attention that was as puzzling as it was desperate."

Another wrote: "It’s called gay pride not straight shame."

A third person said: "What a strange demand for attention," while another added: "There's nothing that the LGBT+ community enjoys more than straight women trying to insert themselves into it, right?"

"Gonna start living my life with whatever amount of confidence lena dunham has that makes her think she’s an lgbtq+ icon," penned another.

Some people welcomed Lena's tweet, with one person writing: "As a fem gay man, i’ll take any ally i can find (& for those looking, there aren’t many)."

Lena played Hannah in Girls (©Girls SM, under licence from Home Box Office, Inc.)

Another said: "You are for everyone! Love you!"

Lena has previously voiced her "huge disappointment" at not being gay.

The actress was awarded by the gay advocacy group Point Foundation with the Horizon Award for being a champion of the LGBTQ+ community in 2014.

At a gala to receive the award, Lena talked about her sister Grace coming out at the age of 17.

"I have always felt a strong and emotional connection to members of the LGBTQ community. It was actually a huge disappointment for me when I came of age and realized that I was sexually attracted to men," she said.

Fans questioned why the actress labelled herself a gay icon (Getty Images)
Lena was given an award by Point Foundation (Mike Marsland/WireImage)

Lena added: "So when my sister came out, I thought, 'Thank God, now someone in this family can truly represent my beliefs and passions'."

Lena has faced criticism for other statements she has made over the years.

In 2017, she apologised to actress Aurora Perrineau for questioning her allegations of sexual assault involving Girls collaborator Murray Miller.

"When someone I knew, someone I had loved as a brother, was accused, I did something inexcusable: I publicly spoke up in his defence,'" she said.

"I didn’t have the "insider information" I claimed but rather blind faith in a story that kept slipping and changing and revealed itself to mean nothing at all."

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