Using word ‘alien’ demeaning to ‘extra-terrestrials’: Demi Lovato

Rights activists in US also disapprove using word ‘alien’ as a dehumanizing reference to illegal immigrants

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American singer Demi Lovato has said that using the term ‘alien’ is demeaning for extra-terrestrials (E.T.s).

Lovato has been promoting her docuseries titled ‘Unidentified with Demi Lovato’, which explores the possibility of life outside Earth. In one such promotion, Lovato in an interview with Pedestrian TV said it was preferred that aliens be called extra-terrestrial as the former was derogatory to them.

The singer added that the E.T were not necessarily out to harm the human planet, because if they did, the damage would have already happened.

The term ‘alien’ has come to denote illegal immigrants in the US and is contentious as rights activists have claimed it strips people of their human dignity. US President Joe Biden also moved to remove the term from the legislation when he assumed office in January.

The term gained popularity under former president Donald Trump who was often critiqued for his hardline approach to immigrants. President Biden argued that the term must be replaced with ‘noncitizen’ instead.

Lovato’s series that airs on Peacock television network, would host conversations on life beyond the planet as humans know it. The purpose of the show Lovato said, would be to demonstrate how humans must care for the planet more consciously.