A “lesbian” misunderstanding rocked dancer JoJo Siwa’s world over the weekend when some fans took issue with the out entertainer’s dislike for the word.
Last week, Siwa was interviewed by Yahoo! News for their Unapologetically series about people living “out loud and in living color, without fear or regret.”
Siwa may have regretted some of her word choices in the story, along with the two series authors, who teed up the controversy like this: “Siwa’s confidence extends to owning her sexuality as well. After coming out last year, the teen has been called a ‘gay icon’ by many of her adoring queer fans. While she embraces the title with open arms, Siwa acknowledges that she stands on the shoulders of other LGBTQ giants who came before her.”
A pair of ill-advised parentheses only made matters worse.
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After Siwa explained that she’s truly honored with the “gay icon” honorific, the authors added parenthetically, and maybe provocatively: “Just don’t call her a lesbian.”
Siwa goes on, “joking” according to the authors, that she doesn’t “like the word itself. It’s just like a lot. But I mean, at the end of the day, that’s what I am…. It’s like the word moist. It’s just like… ugh!”
In another context, Siwa’s comments may have come off differently.
Either way, the Dance Moms vet and newest So You Think You Can Dance judge wasn’t happy with the reaction and took to TikTok for a clarification, addressing this comment from one fan specifically: “She called it a dirty word. she did nothing but insult us. My sexuality is not a dirty word.”
@itsjojosiwa Replying to @🌈Liz🌈 my sexuality nor ANYONES is a dirty word ❤️🏳️🌈
Said Siwa: “I’ve been going through my comments and I just want to make something super clear: I never said that lesbian was a dirty word and I never, ever would say it was a dirty word because it is not. It is not a bad word. It is not a slur and it is 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 someone talks to me about my sexuality, I just say that I’m gay,” Siwa explained. “It’s not the word that flows off the tongue for me if that makes sense.”
The prolific TikToker captioned the clip, “My sexuality nor ANYONES is a dirty word ❤️🏳️🌈”
Siwa turned 19 in May.
The word “lesbian” is the demonym of the Greek island of Lesbos, home to the sixth-century BCE poet Sappho, who professed her love for girls. It’s been in use as a Western descriptor of queer women since the mid-19th century.
