Demi Lovato is non-binary and changing pronouns from she/her to they/them.
“I feel that this best represents the fluidity I feel in my gender expression,” the pop star said in a message to fans on social media early Wednesday, “and allows me to feel most authentic and true to the person I both know I am and still am discovering.”
Non-binary people do not identify as either female or male.
Lovato said the decision was made “after a lot of healing and self-reflective work.”
On the latest episode of their podcast 4D with Demi Lovato (listen here), they explained that their near-fatal 2018 overdose happened in part “because I was ignoring my truth, and I was suppressing who I really am in order to please stylists, or team members, or this or that, or even fans that wanted me to be the sexy, feminine pop star in the, in the leotard and look a certain way, you know?”
Lovato added: “I thought that was what I was supposed to be and now I just realize 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 singer said “it would mean the world if people could start identifying me as they/them” but admitted there will be slip-ups. “It’s going to take a while for people to get used to. I just want them to be making the effort,” they said. “It’s important because I want to use these pronouns that feel right to me. I also just don’t want people to be so afraid of messing up that they don’t try to use them.”
To fans, Lovato's deeply personal news does not come as much of a surprise. In an interview with Glamour published in March, they hinted at being ready to live their truth. “I know who I am and what I am, but I’m just waiting until a specific timeline to come out to the world as what I am,” they said. “I’m using this time to really study and educate myself on my journey and what I’m preparing to do.”
The 28-year-old has previously talked about being fluid ("I think love is love. You can find it in any gender," they told InStyle in 2018) and, in the Glamour interview, described themselves as “really queer.”
In their message to fans on Wednesday, Lovato said: “I’m still learning and coming into myself, and 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 and know I am sending so much love your way.”
Lovato came out as non-binary on their “I’m Ready” collaborator Sam Smith's 29th birthday. Smith announced in September 2019 a decision to adopt the gender-neutral pronouns “they” and “them.”
At the time, Smith explained: “After a lifetime of being at war with my gender I’ve decided to embrace myself for who I am, inside and out.”