Killers of the Flower Moon star Lily Gladstone clarifies gender identity
Lily Gladstone has clarified that she is “not Two Spirit” and uses non-binary pronouns. On X, formerly known as Twitter, user @asdza_tlehonaei, who is Two Spirit, highlighted how there has been confusion as to whether Gladstone belongs to the community. “Ya’ll took some words they said and [white flag emoji] academic’d it to mean Two Spirit,” she wrote. “That’s not how reclaiming Two Spirit works.” Gladstone reshared her post, telling their followers that the user is “absolutely right” and “wasn’t aware” of the conversation, “but I found what she’s talking about and it bothers me too”. “Two Spirit is not a catch all term for [rainbow emoji]; it’s way more specific and it’s a term that originates with Diné.
I’m not Two Spirit: I use nonbinary pronouns,” said Gladstone, who was raised on the Blackfeet Reservation and is of Piegan Blackfeet, Nez Perce and European heritage.
In an interview with PEOPLE, the star explained that she’s comfortable with both “she” and “they” pronouns. “I remember being 9 years old and just being a little disheartened, seeing how often a lot of my boy cousins were misgendered because they wore their hair long,” shared Gladstone. “It happens to a lot of kids, I think, especially Native boys leaving a community where long hair is celebrated [and then] just kind of getting teased for it.
So I remember back then being like, everybody should just be they. “And in most Native languages, most Indigenous languages, Blackfeet included, there are no gendered pronouns.
