Lizzo Continues to Carry a Torch For Black, Queer Artists

Lizzo is one of The Advocate's Women of the Year. View the full list from the current issue of the magazine.

For so long, the entertainment industry has had a very narrow-minded view of how a celebrity is supposed to look, sound, and behave. But ever since her mainstream breakthrough onto the pop music scene in 2017 with the viral, chart-topping success of her confident hit "Truth Hurts," Lizzo is helping to redefine what it means to be a real star.

The 31-year-old singer-songwriter (whose fan base is known as "Lizzbians") has refused to limit herself (she says she doesn't "ascribe to just one thing" in terms of her sexuality). And she's been a fierce advocate for LGBTQ+ equality since the formative stages of her career.

Through her empowering, feel-good brand of music and her visibility as one of the industry's still too few plus-sized talents, she is reaching new heights while also opening doors for other talented, marginalized people like her, whose work has been ignored in the mainstream.

Lizzo has had to explain to a hateful world the concept of Health at Every Size, telling CBS Sunday Morning, "I can be healthy and be fat. I can be beautiful and be fat. I can be beautiful and all of those things. And I think it's because I learned to actually look all of my insecurities in the face, call them by their name, and fall in love with them."

While it took way too long for a Black, plus-sized woman to finally be taken seriously in mainstream music, we're glad a new era of pop music is happening where people are being recognized for their talent and what they bring to the table, instead of their ability to adhere to an outdated, unattainable mold. Lizzo proves that to be inspiring and to make history, you don't have to anyone but yourself.