Lizzo Highlights Trans Activists at People’s Choice Awards

Proving that she truly practices what she preaches about love and community empowerment, singer-rapper Lizzo used her acceptance speech at this year’s People’s Choice Awards to champion 17 activists and advocates, as well as the organizations they represent. Two of those activists are for transgender equality. During the ceremony, which aired last Tuesday on NBC, the artist received two awards. Her hit “About Damn Time” won Song of the Year, and she was presented with the People’s Champion award by her mother Shari Johnson-Jefferson. “When I think of Lizzo, the word ‘champion’ comes to mind,” Johnson-Jefferson said in her intro. “She’s a champion of others, she builds you up and she’s always in your corner. She has shown us all that we don’t have to conform to anyone’s standards in order to be happy, to be creative, and to feel worthy.” According to Billboard, the honor recognizes someone who “uses their platform to fight important social causes and embodies being a champion of the people.” When Lizzo took the stage, she almost immediately proved that she was deserving of the title. “To be an icon is not about how long you’ve had your platform,” she says. “Being an icon is what you do with that platform. And ever since beginning my career, I’ve used my platform to amplify marginalized voices.”

She then welcomed the activists onstage. “Make some noise for the people, y’all! These are all activists and people that I think deserve the spotlight!” Among the advocates for women’s rights, racial justice, and reproductive freedom were two women fighting for transgender rights and inclusion. Jayla Rose Sullivan, who Lizzo described as “a professionally trained dancer who is making sure there’s space for transgender and nonbinary performers in the dance community,” and Chandi Moore, who works as a community health educator at Children’s Health Hospital in Los Angeles, “giving trans and gender nonconforming youth the tools they need to live their lives as their authentic selves.” Sullivan also participated in Lizzo’s reality show, Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls, in which a group of women competed against each other to become her backup dancers, while Moore has worked as a health educator for the hospital’s trans youth program since June 2013, in addition to working in HIV testing and counseling. “Power will always be to the people,” Lizzo said at the conclusion of her speech, encouraging viewers to follow the activists and support them. This is not the first time the “Good As Hell” singer has used her platform to speak out for trans rights either. In a March South by Southwest panel, she slammed Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s directive to have parents of trans children investigated as child abusers.

 

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“They’re taking away the right for young children to have a chance to live authentically as themselves,” she said at the time. “It’s a violation of human rights. Trans rights are human rights.” Photos courtesy of social media