MEET ACCIDENTAL ACTIVIST DENI
THIS CELEBRITY STYLIST IS TAKING THE WORLD BY STORM – AND THEY’RE DOING IT ALL WHILE SERVING UP COVETABLE LOOKS ON THE REGULAR
Hi darlings! My name’s Deni, my pronouns are they/them and today I’m here to talk about …” This is how inimitable celebrity stylist-turned-LGBTQIA+ activist Deni Todorovic introduces themselves these days – and they’re hoping it soon becomes the norm for everyone.
“Being misgendered can be really grating on you and your self-worth,” explains Deni, who – with a fast-growing 40,000-strong Instagram following – is on the precipice of sparking huge social change. “But with more awareness and knowledge, we have more power.”
If you’ve walked past The Body Shop lately, you will have seen Todorovic’s face (and one incredible hot-pink gown) front and centre on billboards and posters as part of the brand’s Self Love Uprising campaign. Or perhaps you caught the bubbly creator on the ABC TV series Art Works, or, more recently, sharing trend tips on Network Ten’s The Living Room.
But if you don’t recognise the star stylist yet – trust us, you soon will. Becoming an “accidental activist” after coming out as non-binary on social media last year, the former Cosmopolitan fashion editor is quickly becoming a household name and is set to shake things up even more with a host of exciting projects in the coming months.
Oozing with enviable style, this vivacious human is bursting with love as we sit down to talk about how they began using their voice to fight for marginalised groups, why respecting people’s pronouns isn’t just polite – it’s essential – and, of course, the looks they’re loving right now.
You’ve exploded in the LGBTQI+ advocacy space recently! How did that happen?
I say I’m an “accidental activist” because it really came about without me trying! I think activism is often done best when it’s just someone sharing their lived experience, and when I came out as non-binary, that’s what I was doing – sharing that journey with my audience in real time, like a diary. The Black Lives Matter movement was huge at the same time, and I was so affected by that. I went to the protest in Melbourne and had been talking on my socials about the racism that I’ve encountered personally, and everything just shifted for me from there. Your brand of activism is refreshingly love-centred …
I always say, I think activism goes down better as a spoonful of sugar than it does a spoonful of vinegar, and that’s where I really found my own voice as an activist – one that is quite gentle and empathetic.
Why is it so important that people use the right pronouns?
When you choose not to use a person’s correct pronouns, you are misgendering them. Imagine if someone knew your name but constantly called you something else – to me, that’s what it feels like to be misgendered. It’s like nails on a chalkboard. You feel not seen, not heard, not valued and not respected.
Do you think it will become the norm?
I feel like communicators, storytellers, broadcasters, hosts – they have an opportunity to ignite a lot of change. As a society, we do so many things now that we never used to do – for example, acknowledgement of country, which never used to happen, now opens every event
I go to. I would love to get to a place where we are turning on The Project and Carrie Bickmore and Waleed Ali introduce themselves with their pronouns; where Kyle and Jackie O are introducing guests [on their radio show] with their pronouns. How do we go about making this change happen?
There are things we can all do to ignite change, whether that’s putting your pronouns in your social media bio, putting them in your email signature, introducing yourself with your pronouns – or even having staff share their pronouns when there’s a new employee. It’s so important because as soon as you introduce yourself with your pronouns, whatever they may be, I instantly know how to respect you. But it also shows me that you’re an ally to the trans community – and that’s a really beautiful way to show support and love that takes less than a second of your time.
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