Entertainment Music Fans Applaud Jennifer Lopez's Use of Gender-Inclusive Pronouns Jennifer Lopez is getting praise from her fans and members of the non-binary community after using gender-neutral pronouns when describing her sister's child Brandan By Dave Quinn Dave Quinn Dave Quinn is a Senior Editor for PEOPLE. He has been working at the brand since 2016, and is the author of the No. 1 New York Times best-selling book, Not All Diamonds and Rosé: The Inside Story of the Real Housewives from the People Who Lived It. People Editorial Guidelines Published on July 22, 2017 11:17AM EDT Jennifer Lopez is getting praise from her fans and members of the non-binary community after using gender-neutral pronouns when describing her sister’s child Brandan in an inspiring Instagram post on Tuesday. “This is Brendan my sister Leslie’s second child!!” the 47-year-old singer and actress captioned a photo of Brandan, taken at the Global Young Leaders Conference in Washington, D.C.. “They were the one person selected to represent their school at #globalyoungleadersconference in Washington DC!!! And I couldn’t be more proud!!!” “Brendan is strong and smart and loving and a obviously a leader!!,” Lopez continued. “Titi Jenn loves you!! #superproudauntie #familia.” The post inspired a sea of love and supportive comments on Instagram. “Glad for them and proud of you for all your sensibility, understanding and acceptance,” wrote one user. “Always loved you, but love you even more now.” “May Brendan keep representing a new generation of leadership! Congrats to them. And to you for being a decent auntie who respect gender pronouns,” wrote another commenter. Added another: “The fact that you are using their pronouns correctly means so much to someone like me, whose family, while well intentioned, doesn’t always get it right. you are leading by example, and we see you!” Kevin Winter/Getty “This means the world to me,” said one fan. “Thank you for shining your light on Brendan and sharing their accomplishments and beauty with the world!” From Coinage: See Where 6 Stars Were Before They Were Famous Transgender and non-binary activist Jacob Tobia told NBC News Lopez’s use of they/them pronouns for Brendan was “groundbreaking.” “JLo using gender-neutral pronouns for her nibling (the gender neutral term for niece/nephew!) is so groundbreaking,” Tobia said. “Especially because of how naturally and effortlessly she did it. The only thing cuter than JLo being a proud auntie is JLo being a proud trans-affirming auntie!” RELATED VIDEO: Trans Activist Juliet Evancho Opens Up About Her Sex Reassignment Surgery Jeffrey Marsh, a non-binary activist and author, also praise Lopez for respecting Brendan’s pronouns. “What I loved about Jennifer’s post is how ordinary it was,” Marsh said. “It’s a post from a proud aunt about how amazing the kid is. Imagine being lucky enough to have such a famous and talented aunt, and then imagine being treated with respect like it’s not a big thing.” The American Dialect Society named “they” as the Word of the Year in 2015.