Texas-raised Lizzo slams state’s abortion and trans policies
Lizzo was the keynote speaker Sunday at South by Southwest, Austin's annual culture, tech and music conference.
Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Lizzo is slamming Texas policies restricting women’s access to abortion and a recent directive by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to “investigate” the parents of trans youth.
Lizzo was the keynote speaker on Sunday at South by Southwest, the annual culture, tech and music conference held every March in Austin.
As reported by NBC News, the “Truth Hurts” singer — who was raised in Texas — said, “I’m proud to rep Houston, but I’m not proud to rep Texas politics right now,” garnering loud applause from the audience.
“Mind your business,” she added. “Trans rights are human rights.”
In late February, Gov. Abbott issued a directive to investigate families who seek gender-affirming care for trans kids and encouraged other Texans to report these families to child services for abuse allegations, under penalty of law, according to NBC News. However, on Friday, District Judge Amy Clark Meachum issued a temporary injunction preventing the state from enforcing Abbott’s directive.
Two rallies focused on the new directive took place in the state this weekend, one with people supporting it, and the other with those opposed to it, CBS Austin reports.
In addition to her comments on the recent legislation that she says unfairly targets trans people, Lizzo also addressed the state’s abortion laws, which make it illegal to have an abortion as early as six weeks of gestation — or at the detection of a fetal heartbeat.
The report adds that she blasted conservatives who penned both bills.
“The abortion ban is atrocious,” Lizzo said. “Mind your business. Stay out of my body. This is not political.”
Per People, she added, “We got a lot of other things that we need,” noting, “there are people in charge who can change things on a systemic level and they’re letting us down.”
Lizzo was born in Detroit, Michigan, but moved with her family to Houston as a child. According to the NBC News report, she was at the festival in support of her new Amazon Prime Video series, Watch Out for the Big Grrrls, which premieres on March 24.
Her dance competition show is a search for new members of her troupe of backup dancers, The Big Grrrls.
“I used to get called fat a– every single day on the bus,” Lizzo remembered, telling SXSW attendees “they don’t set us up to see our value and our worth, especially as Black women, especially as big Black women.”
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