Singer Demi Lovato announced they are nonbinary and their pronouns are they/them Wednesday during the pilot episode of their new podcast, “4D.”
“I want to take this moment to share something very personal with you,” Lovato said to begin the show. “Over the past year and a half I’ve been doing some healing and self-reflective work. And through this work, I’ve had the revelation that I identify as nonbinary.
“With that said, I’ll officially be changing my pronouns to they/them. I feel that this best represents the fluidity I feel in my gender expression, and allows me to feel most authentic and true to the person I both know I am, and still am discovering.”
In conversation with gender-nonconforming author and performer Alok Vaid-Menon, the “Dancing With the Devil” artist detailed their coming-out journey and explained why they thought they were “supposed to be a certain way” before discovering their true identity. Lovato added that they are “still learning” and don’t consider themself to be an “expert or spokesperson” for the nonbinary community.
“In 2018 when I overdosed, I feel like the reason why that happened was because I was ignoring my truth, and I was suppressing who I really am in order to please stylists or team members ... or even fans that wanted me to be the sexy, feminine pop star in the leotard,” Lovato told Vaid-Menon.
“I thought that was what I was supposed to be, and now I just realise that it’s so much more important to live your truth than to ever suppress yourself because that’s the type of stuff that happens when you do.”
The “Skyscraper” hit-maker also noted that they will allow a grace period for people who “slip and say her/she” when referring to them because they understand that “it’s going to take a while for people to get used to.”
“[It] would mean the world if people could start identifying me as they/them,” they said. “I just want them to be making the effort. I think it’s important because I want to use these pronouns that feel right to me. I also don’t want people to be so afraid of messing up that they don’t try to use them.”
Lovato will release new instalments of their podcast Wednesdays on Apple Podcasts, Audacy, Spotify and other streaming platforms. Each episode, they and their weekly guests will engage in conversations about “identity, creativity, activism, philanthropy, and beyond,” according to the project description on Apple podcasts.
