Demi Lovato has announced they have a non-binary gender identity.
Announcing the news on Twitter, they said: “This has come after a lot of healing & self-reflective work. I’m still learning & coming into myself, & I don’t claim to be an expert or a spokesperson. Sharing this with you now opens another level of vulnerability for me. I’m doing this for those out there that haven’t been able to share who they truly are with their loved ones. Please keep living in your truths & know I am sending so much love your way.”
The pop singer will use the pronouns they and them to describe themselves, to “best represent the fluidity I feel in my gender expression”.
Lovato has also described themself as queer, and their sexuality as fluid, saying in 2020 that they were “still figuring it out” and had told their parents in 2017 “that I saw myself ending up possibly with a woman”. They also said: “I think love is love. You can find it in any gender.”
They have given extensive support to LGBTQ causes. In 2016, Lovato cancelled a concert in North Carolina after the state passed a law that limited bathroom access to transgender people, and has also campaigned on equal marriage. Glaad, an American LGBTQ rights organisation, said at the time that Lovato has "consistently used her platform as a successful artist to send messages of acceptance and support to LGBT people everywhere".
Lovato, who first came to fame via the Disney film Camp Rock in 2008, has released seven studio albums, all of which have reached the US Top 5. Their most recent, Dancing With the Devil ... The Art of Starting Over reached number two in the US and UK in April, and accompanied a candid YouTube documentary series.
In it, Lovato described struggles with drug and alcohol addiction, and disordered eating. They also alleged that they were raped on the set of Camp Rock’s sequel, by someone who faced no repercussions after the assault was reported.
Lovato joins another contemporary pop singer to identify as non-binary, Sam Smith, who announced their identity in March 2019, saying: "I'm not male or female, I think I flow somewhere in between." Smith was excluded from the gendered categories at this year's Brit awards, and expressed disappointment, writing on Instagram: "I look forward to a time where awards shows can be reflective of the society we live in." – Guardian
