You never know what Demi Lovato is going to do next. The controversial pop singer recently got the internet buzzing once again – but at least this time it wasn’t for something stupid, like complaining about frozen yogurt. Nope, this time Lovato got everyone talking because of a major announcement: the 28-year-old celeb is non-binary, and will be using they/them pronouns from here on out.
Every day we wake up, we are given another opportunity & chance to be who we want & wish to be. I’ve spent the majority of my life growing in front of all of you… you’ve seen the good, the bad, & everything in between. pic.twitter.com/HSBcfmNruo
— Demi Lovato (@ddlovato) May 19, 2021
“Today is a day I’m so happy to share more of my life with you all- I am proud to let you know that I identify as non-binary & will officially be changing my pronouns to they/them moving forward,” they wrote in a tweet thread with the video above.
The musical artist said they embraced this identity after “a lot of healing & self-reflective work.” The choice of gender-neutral pronouns “best represents the fluidity I feel in my gender expression,” they explained. As for their very public coming out, they said, “I’m doing this for those out there that haven’t been able to share who they truly are with their loved ones.”
The comments on Lovato’s announcement were a mix of applause and…confusion. It’s amazing how many people out there still don’t know what “non-binary” means. And yet, Lovato is far from the first celebrity to come out as gender fluid. For those not in the know, we’ve curated a list of other celebs who refuse to identify as male or female.
Cover Photo: The 32nd Annual GLAAD Media Awards / Contributor (Getty Images)
Non Binary Celebs
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Nico Tortorella
This Younger heartthrob is married, but Tortorella and their partner both identify as gender fluid as well as polyamorous and use they/them pronouns. "We are ALL multidimensional dynamic creatures and as much as I understand the spectrum, the less I believe in the binary of gender, the more liberated I myself am becoming," they wrote on Instagram in 2018.
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Sam Smith
"I'm not male or female. I think I float somewhere in between," Sam Smith said during an interview with Jameela Jamil on I Weigh Interviews. They later announced their new pronouns in an Instagram post. "After a lifetime of being at war with my gender I've decided to embrace myself for who I am, inside and out," they wrote.
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Jonathan Van Ness
"The older I get, the more I think that I’m nonbinary — I’m gender nonconforming. Like, some days I feel like a man, but then other days I feel like a woman. I don’t really — I think my energies are really all over the place. Any opportunity I have to break down stereotypes of the binary, I am down for it, I’m here for it," the Queer Eye host told Out.
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Asia Kate Dillon
Dillon broke multiple barriers in Hollywood as the first non-binary actor to star in a TV series (HBO's Billions). Their Taylor Mason character on that show was also the first non-binary character to grace the small screen on the regular.
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Janelle Monae
In 2020, the singer-actor retweeted a GIF of a non-binary character from Steven Universe (an animated Cartoon Network series) with the hashtag #IAmNonbinary.
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Jacob Tobia
"I’m a genderqueer person who was assigned male at birth and likes to rock high heels and lipstick, but in the current moment of visibility for transgender women and men, very few people can seem to get my identity right," wrote the LGBTQ activist and author of Sissy: A Coming-of-Gender Story in an MTV essay in 2015.
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Tom Phelan
This actor plays a transgender teen on The Fosters but IRL is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns.
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Tommy Dorfman
"Physically, biologically I am male, and I've never wanted to change that. Yet inside, I am considerably more female," wrote the 13 Reasons Why star in a Teen Vogue essay last year.
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Brigette Lundy-Paine
The Atypical star came out in an Instagram post: "I'm non-binary, always felt a lil bit boy, lil bit girl, lil bit neither. using they/them as of late n it feels right."
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Amandla Stenberg
The Hunger Games and The Hate You Give star came out as non-binary in a 2016 Tumblr post.
