Little Mix Features Lesbian Narrative in New Music Video

Little Mix has long advocated for LGBTQ rights, releasing music dedicated to their queer fans, showing their support during Pride, and working with advocacy groups on behalf of the community. Today, the four-piece girl group continued to walk the walk as allies with their new music video. “Only You,” a collaboration with Cheat Codes, features a girl-on-girl love story that should be given a “cuteness” advisory.

The video follows an awkward Yorkie from “San Junipero”-esque teen who puts on her brave face and attends a party. There, she meets a mysterious woman (played by Peyton List of Disney Channel fame), who dons wet hair and a jacket draped over her mostly-naked body, as if she seemingly just slipped out of the pool. The two women dance together, kiss, share drinks–until another partygoer accuses the mystery seductress of stealing her jacket, and subsequently shoves her into the pool, where she… turns into a mermaid!

Seriously, this is the gayest music video ever, and only partly because it’s actually gay. Our redhead-in-chief painstakingly carries her mermaid lover, fin and all, down to the ocean, where she bids her a tearful farewell. It’s sappy, sad, and definitely skirts the edge of the “tragic ends to lesbian love affairs” trope. The story basically sounds like something I dreamt up as a 13-year old gay Aquamarine stan. It’s incredible. I love it.

Last week, Little Mix celebrated Pride by sporting gaudy rainbow makeup on Instagram and sharing a heartfelt message to their LGBTQ fans. Jade Thirlwall, the most vocal queer ally of the group, sported a rainbow-themed tracksuit and wrote on Instagram, “We LOVE you for who you are and are born to be. #Pride is a time to come together, to celebrate and spread love and acceptance without exception whilst learning and knowing the history of why Pride exists in the first place.”

She added, “As an ALLY I promise to never stop supporting your rights, using my platform to raise awareness and challenge any form of homophobia/biphobia/transphobia.” 

Last year, the 25-year old singer-songwriter threw a drag-themed birthday bash and raised money for Stonewall UK, an organization that advocates for LGBTQ rights, at the party. And back in May, Thirlwall was honored at the Stonewall Youth Awards for her work with the charity. She spoke to the audience about wanting to “encourage more artists to raise the flag as allies to the LGBT community and help people accept themselves.” Her work with Stonewall over the course of the past year is just a drop in the bucket of the advocacy and brazen allyship she’s dedicated to the LGBTQ community.

Since March, all four girls have been sharing videos and photos in the studio, hard at work on their fifth album, which fans have dubbed Little Mix 5. No word yet on an official title or release date, but Leigh-Anne Pinnock spilled that the album will drop this year.