JoJo Siwa Clarifies Following Backlash Over Her Comment About Not Liking The Word Lesbian
Image: JoJo Siwa
JoJo Siwa has clarified her thoughts on the word “lesbian” following controversy after telling Yahoo! Life that she doesn’t like the word “lesbian.”
“I don’t like the word itself,” the American dancer and singer had said in her video interview. “It’s just like lesbian, it’s just like a lot.”
In January 2021, Siwa had publicly came out and confirmed that she was a proud member of the LGBTQI community by sharing a photo of herself wearing a t-shirt which read, “Best gay cousin ever.”
The Dance Moms star responded to criticisms by fans who accused her of labelling the term ‘lesbian’ a “dirty word”. Siwa took to TikTok to clear up confusion about her dislike of the term to identify her sexuality.
‘Lesbian’Not A Dirty Word
@itsjojosiwa Replying to @????Liz???? ♬ Born This Way – Lady Gaga
Siwa explained that she “never said that lesbian was a dirty word and I never, ever would say that it’s a dirty word because it is not.”
She explained that it was not a bad word nor was it a slur, and the term ‘lesbian’ was “especially not a word that I am ashamed of saying or ashamed of identifying as by any means.”
“I don’t hate the word lesbian, I just – whenever somebody talks to me about my sexuality, I just say that I’m gay,” she added. “It’s not the word that flows off the tongue for me if that makes sense.” The TikTok video was captioned, “My sexuality nor ANYONES is a dirty word.”
‘Lesbians Are Allowed To Be Angry’
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Siwa was criticised by users on Twitter, with some stating that not liking the word and posting it on a large platform with young and impressionable fans had a roll-on effect to the lesbian community.
“You guys need to realize internalized lesbophobia is not an excuse for JoJo Siwa, who has a huge fanbase of children, to go on interview saying an already stigmatized word is gross. Lesbians are allowed to be angry,” said one person on Twitter.
Another user posted to Twitter, “Something that upsets me in particular about the JoJo Siwa stuff is that this is likely going to influence yet another generation into the idea that lesbian is a dirty word when it isn’t.”
A Gay Icon
Since coming out, Siwa has celebrated Pride Month, attended her first pride parade and has spoken about being “honoured” for having been labelled a gay icon.
She said: “It’s something that I’ve been appointed by, not myself, by just the world calling me a gay icon, calling me this generation’s icon. That is an honour that I do not take lightly.”
In a conversation with Entertainment Weekly, JoJo had said that she had known since she was little that she was “never straight”. “But I also was never like, ‘Oh, I’m gay,’” she says. “And I told myself for a long time… ‘If I have someone to come out with, then I will come out.’”
In June 2022, JoJo Siwa and her girlfriend Kylie Prew were caught on a kiss cam during an LGBTQI baseball event to celebrate the Ninth annual LGBTQ+ Night at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
