Lizzo declared she was strongly against Texas’ laws targeting abortions and trans rights, calling the laws “atrocious” during a keynote session at this year’s SXSW festival in Austin, Texas.
“The abortion ban is atrocious,” the artist said on Sunday (March 13) to a packed room in the Austin Convention Center. “Mind your business. Stay out of my body.”
Last year, Texas signed into a law one of the most restrictive abortion measures in the country, effectively criminalizing abortions occurring as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. Though abortions rights advocates have fought against the legislation, a decision from Texas’s Supreme Court on March 11 essentially shut down a federal lawsuit brought by abortion clinics seeking to block the ban.
In February, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed an order that considers gender-affirming surgeries for young trans people as constituting “child abuse” and requires doctors, nurses and teachers to report parents who help their children get such surgeries to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. A state district judge temporarily blocked the order on March 11, though Texas’ state attorney general has said he will appeal the decision and take the issue up to the Texas Supreme Court.
During her SXSW session, Lizzo also emphasized that “trans rights are human rights” and called out politicians who are “letting us down.”
The singer, whose upcoming Amazon TV show Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls premieres on March 25, was born in Detroit, Michigan, but grew up in Houston. “I’m proud to rep Houston, but I’m not proud to rep Texas politics,” she said.
Later in the session, the artist said that her new album, coming roughly three years after her hit record Cuz I Love You, was finished and would be released “very, very soon.”
This article originally appeared on The Hollywood Reporter.
[flexi-common-toolbar] [flexi-form class=”flexi_form_style” title=”Submit to Flexi” name=”my_form” ajax=”true”][flexi-form-tag type=”post_title” class=”fl-input” title=”Title” value=”” required=”true”][flexi-form-tag type=”category” title=”Select category”][flexi-form-tag type=”tag” title=”Insert tag”][flexi-form-tag type=”article” class=”fl-textarea” title=”Description” ][flexi-form-tag type=”file” title=”Select file” required=”true”][flexi-form-tag type=”submit” name=”submit” value=”Submit Now”] [/flexi-form]
Tagged: entertainment blog, music, music blog, Music News, NEWS, Pride, SXSW