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Jennifer Lopez Describes Sister's Child Using Gender Neutral Pronouns

The 47-year-old said that she couldn't be more proud of Brendan.
Danny Moloshok / Reuters
Danny Moloshok / Reuters

Jennifer Lopez received praise from fans this week after she opted for gender neutral pronouns to reference her sister's child in a heartfelt Instagram post.

On Tuesday, the 47-year-old singer-actress shared a snapshot of Brendan, who is the child of her older sister, Leslie. Brendan attended the Global Young Leaders Conference in Washington, D.C. earlier this year, Lopez wrote.

A post shared by Jennifer Lopez (@jlo) on

In the gushing caption that accompanied the photo, Lopez opted to use "they" and "their" in lieu of traditional male or female pronouns ― and her followers quickly took notice.

"This is why I love you," one person wrote. "You're awesome sauce!" Added another, "I'm legit crying those pronouns made me so happy. Thanks for sharing this and congrats Brendan!!"

In 2015, the American Dialect Society voted for "they" used as a gender neutral singular pronoun as their "Word of the Year." The word was "recognized by the society for its emerging use as a pronoun to refer to a known person, often as a conscious choice by a person rejecting the traditional gender binary of 'he' and 'she,'" society members noted on the organization's website.

When asked if Lopez had any additional comments about the post, her rep told HuffPost, "Jennifer wouldn't give an additional comment, as everything she needed to say was included in the post."

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