Lizzo is once again using her platform to speak out about important issues. This time, she’s reminding followers not to lose focus when it comes to the numerous political shifts happening all at once in the United States, from the government’s plan to potentially ban TikTok to the resurgence of outdated anti-LGBTQ and Jim Crow era laws.
“Hi!” the 34-year-old musician wrote on her social media platforms Thursday (March 23), going on to list out three concerning developments that are playing out “as we speak.”
“The ceo of tiktok is being interrogated by congress with intent to ban TikTok in America,” she continued. “Anti lgbtqia legislation is being passed banning gender affirming health care & drag shows.”
And finally, “Jim Crow era laws are being reinstated in Mississippi,” referring to a bill passed earlier this month by the state’s House proposing that judges in Hinds County Circuit Court in Jackson be appointed by the Mississippi Supreme Court chief justice — a conservative white man — rather than the city’s predominantly Black population, who for years have chosen the judges themselves through elections.
The “About Damn Time” singer’s latest tweet came the same day members of Congress grilled TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew for hours about ByteDance, the social media platform’s parent company, and its alleged ties to the Chinese government, which both Democrats and Republicans worry pose a threat to user privacy and national security. The Biden administration has even put forward pending legislation that would give the president the power to ban TikTok nationwide if ByteDance doesn’t divest its stake in the app.
Chew and other spokespeople for the platform, however, have been adamant that ByteDance has never shared, or been asked to share, user data with the Chinese government.
Meanwhile, anti-LGBTQ — specifically, anti-trans and anti-drag — laws have been cropping up across the U.S., most notably in Tennessee. The state’s governor, Bill Lee, recently signed controversial laws banning minors from receiving gender-affirming care and preventing drag queens from performing in certain public spaces, which numerous musicians have publicly denounced.
Lizzo herself spoke about transphobia in a tweet earlier this month, writing, “I’ve never heard a reason why someone is transphobic.. I think if we knew ‘why’ these people felt this way there would way less support for these ideals.” “The ‘why’ is more insidious than we realize,” she’d added.
See Lizzo’s tweet about the TikTok hearing and anti-LGBTQ legislation and the resurgence of Jim Crow laws below: