‘Lesbian boyfriend’ explained as Lily-Rose Depp sparks debate by referring to her partner as ‘boyfriend’

Lily-Rose Depp has sparked a debate online once again after referring to her partner as her 'boyfriend'.

Now, the Nosferatu star has called the rapper her 'boyfriend' on a number of occasions, with the most recent being in an interview with MTV about the new movie.

During the interview, Depp was asked about a trait she might have in common with her Nosferatu character, Ellen.

When did Lily-Rose Depp call 070 Shake her 'boyfriend'?

"Ellen is a lover girl, and I love that she gives Thomas a little locket with her hair in," the interviewer said. "Is there anything that people did back then, like a romantic gesture, that you’re like, 'We need to bring that back! I want to see more of that?'"

Depp then replied: "I think that’s cute, honestly. I have a locket of my boyfriend’s hair, kind of like in the movie.

"I like lockets. I think they’re very romantic."

Some (presumably straight) people were confused by Depp's 'boyfriend' comments once again with one commenter making an effort to clarify the situation, writing: "Guys Lily is dating 070 shake (a girl)," to which MTV explained back: "As Lily said boyfriend, we’re respecting her terms."

Why were people confused?

070 Shake - real name Danielle Balbuena - uses she/her pronouns and doesn’t label her sexuality aside from 'being into girls'.

Because of this, Depp's choice of mode of address for Danielle sparked some confusion online, who were newbies to the term which those in the sapphic community were already well aware of.

So, without further ado, let's get into it.

What is a 'lesbian boyfriend'?

LGBTQ+ outlet, Them, explains that a 'lesbian boyfriend' is as simple as it sounds: a lesbian who is a boyfriend.

"The reality is the term is meant to be irreverent - it’s not that deep," the outlet continues. "The naming of a 'lesbian boyfriend' is often not as much a rigid label like how we view pronouns and gender identity today, but more so a playful or perfunctory acknowledgment of someone who contains multiple gender expressions their partner wants to honour - and though 'lesbian' and 'boyfriend' seem to be in opposition to each other, the term conjoins them with ease and validation."

What is the difference between gender identity and presentation?

Them went on to explain the differences between gender, sexuality, presentation, and pronouns.

It outlines: "At their most basic definitions, gender refers to who you are, sexuality refers to who you like, gender presentation refers to how you present yourself to the world, and pronouns are the terms people use to refer to you in lieu of your name.

"Though all four of these things can be related, they also can be completely irrespective of each other.

"For example, a lesbian who presents in a masculine fashion may still identify as a woman and use she/her pronouns, yet prefer masculine terms of endearment."

Such terms can include 'handsome', 'husband' and - in 070 Shake's instance - 'boyfriend'.

Hope that clears things up for ya!