Lizzo criticises Nebraska bill banning abortion access and gender-affirming care

21 May, 2023

Lizzo at The O2

Lizzo has hit out at the newly-passed anti-abortion bill during a headline show in Nebraska.

After three-months of legal back and forth, the “Let Them Grow” bill was voted through by Republican state lawmakers on Friday (May 19), banning abortions after 12 weeks alongside a bill that bans gender-affirming care for transgender youth.

The LB574 bill has been heavily criticised, with protesters surrounding the state capitol chambers in Lincoln. During her headline show at the CHI Health Center Omaha in Nebraska on Friday, Lizzo spoke out about the bill.

“Anybody who comes to a Lizzo show should know that I am for people to have the right to reproductive and gender-affirming [healthcare],” she said.

“At times I get very political because as adults, we feel it. There are children here tonight and it really breaks my heart that there are young people growing up in a world that doesn’t protect them,” Lizzo continued. “So let me be your safe space tonight.”

Lizzo at The O2
Credit: Jim Dyson/Getty Images

“Don’t let anybody tell you who you are. Don’t let any laws tell you who you’re not. You are who you are, okay? I see you, you are valid, you deserve to be here. You contain multitudes. These laws are not real. You are what’s real, and you deserve to be protected.”

According to state senator Megan Hunt [the first openly LGBT+ person elected to the state’s legislature]  Nebraska State Senator Beau Ballard was at the concert and was one of the people who had voted through the bills. “They want LGBTQ money, They want LGBTQ entertainment, They want LGBTQ culture, But they won’t vote to protect LGBTQ lives and safety,” said Hunt,

The bill allows Nebraska’s chief medical officer, who is appointed by the Republican governor, to draft new rules for how young trans people and their families can access nonsurgical affirming healthcare. LB574 also bans abortion at 12 weeks and threatens doctors who perform the procedure with the removal of their licence.

In the past week, lawmakers in North Carolina and South Carolina have approved abortion bans and extended restrictions on abortion care while it’s been reported that hundreds of restrictive bills aimed at LGBT+ people, particularly at young trans people, have been filed in nearly every state within the last two years.”

Last month, Lizzo invited several drag performers on stage with her in Knoxville, Tennessee to protest the state’s ban on drag. “Why would I not create a safe space in Tennessee where we can celebrate drag entertainers and celebrate our differences,” she said.

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