In May, Demi Lovato announced on YouTube that they now identify as non-binary and go by the pronouns they/them, after going through “a lot of healing and self-reflective work”. Now, the singer has thanked fellow pop musician Lizzo for correcting a photographer who misgendered them. 

In a fan-captured video, Lizzo is seen getting questioned by a paparazzi member who asks if the singer will perform at Jazz Festival in New Orleans with Lovato – using the “her” pronoun to describe them. 

First, Lizzo responded to the photographer, stating: “We don’t (have) a song together.” However, after he misgendered Lovato again, Lizzo corrected him. “They,” she said. “Demi goes by they.” The photographer then thanked Lizzo and used Lovato’s pronouns correctly.

After the encounter went viral on social media, Lovato posted a screenshot on their Instagram story, thanking the “Truth Hurts” singer. “Lizzo Beating you fucking queen I love you. Thank you,” they wrote.

In an interview with Lovato on their 4D YouTube series which will feature “conversations which transcend the typical discourse”, the singer discussed their new pronouns and non-binary identity with writer Alok Vaid-Menon. “I feel like this best represents the fluidity I feel in my gender expression,” Lovato explained. “It allows me to feel the most authentic and true to the person I both know I am and still am discovering.”

The “Sorry Not Sorry” singer also acknowledged that it will take time to adjust to using their new pronouns. “It would mean the world if people could start identifying me as they/them but I will be accepting if people slip and say she/her because I know that, being in my position, it will take a while for people to get used to.” 

Luckily, fans and friends of the singer (see: Lizzo) seem to be receptive to the change – further increasing visibility in pop culture for other trans and gender non-conforming people facing misgendering and hostility.

See Lovato’s full conversation on 4D below.