Los Angeles Times

At Harry Styles concerts, young gender-nonconforming fans celebrate the freedom to be themselves

LOS ANGELES — Katelyn could hardly believe it. Harry Styles' percussionist, Pauli Lovejoy, picked up the nonbinary pride flag their friend had tossed onstage and began dancing and waving it while Styles sang. It was October of last year, and Styles was performing in Nashville. Katelyn, a nonbinary fan who asked to go by their first name because they have not yet come out to certain family ...
Alondra“ Ash” Sandoval in front of the Kia Forum on Oct. 23, 2022, in Los Angeles, where Harry Styles was set to perform the first of his 15 sold-out concerts.

LOS ANGELES — Katelyn could hardly believe it.

Harry Styles' percussionist, Pauli Lovejoy, picked up the nonbinary pride flag their friend had tossed onstage and began dancing and waving it while Styles sang. It was October of last year, and Styles was performing in Nashville. Katelyn, a nonbinary fan who asked to go by their first name because they have not yet come out to certain family members, screamed with joy at the top of their lungs.

"It just made me feel so safe and validated and loved for being who I am," said Katelyn, 19, who uses they/them pronouns. "I came out to a lot of people after that experience."

It's no secret that Styles is a champion of the LGBTQ community, but to a special section of that fan base — his young gender-nonconforming devotees — Styles' ability to exist comfortably, and extremely publicly, in a fluid space along the gender spectrum is particularly resonant. For them, Styles, 28, is an

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