Singer, dancer and YouTube personality JoJo Siwa came out Saturday as a member of the LGBTQ community.
“Now that the world gets to see this side of my life, it makes me really, really happy,” the 17-year-old said in an Instagram video.
“I had never had fallen in love before but I always believed that my person was just going to be my person, and if that person happened to be a boy, great. And, if that person happened to be a girl, great.
“I think, in life, you know when you meet your person.”
Siwa danced around a question about how she labels herself. “I have thought about this and the reason I’m not ready to say this answer is because I don’t really know this answer,” she said. “Right now I am super duper happy and I want to share everything with the world, I really do, but I also want to keep things in my life private until they’re ready to be public.”
Amidst some bizarre declarations (“I think humans are awesome. I think humans are really incredible people!”) Siwa offered words of support for fans who are LGBTQ.
“I know that everyone’s situation is different and it might be harder for some people, and it might be easier for some people, to come out or to be themselves,” she said, “but I think coming out has this stigma around it – that it’s this really, really, really scary thing, but it’s not anymore.
“There are so many accepting and loving people out there.”
Speculation that Siwa was coming out started days earlier after she lip synced Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” in a TikTok video and later shared a photo on Twitter showing her in a T-shirt emblazoned with “Best. Gay. Cousin Ever.”
Siwa, who boasts 10.3 million Instagram followers, was named one of the Time 100 list of the most influential people last year.