Demi Lovato Source: Associated Press

Watch: Demi Lovato Mulls Possibly Identifying as Trans in Future

Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 2 MIN.

Pop star Demi Lovato, who came out as nonbinary earlier this year and announced "they/them" pronouns, says they might one day identify as transgender, Buzzfeed reported.

On the other hand, Lovato said, it's also possible they will identify as a woman, or perhaps "identify as nonbinary and gender nonconforming my entire life."

"Being nonbinary, what that means... is that I'm so much more than the binary of man and woman. And that we are all so much more if we allow ourselves the ability to look within ourselves and challenge that binary that we've grown up living in," the pop star, who has also identified as pansexual, said.

Lovato made the remarks in a three-minute address to the 19th Represents Summit, Buzzfeed noted. The Summit, which took place virtually Aug. 16-20, also featured Michelle Obama, Dr. Rachel Levine, Billie Jean King, and many other prominent speakers.

"I was very nervous in the beginning to come out as nonbinary because I didn't want people to think it was inauthentic," Lovato recalled in their address. "I just wanted people to see what coming out as nonbinary meant to my healing process."

And a process it is: Lovato recalled being a schoolchild and questioning their gender identity, Buzzfeed detailed, and said that their own process is an ongoing one that will continue "forever."

"There might be a time where I identify as trans, there might be a time where I identify as nonbinary and gender nonconforming my entire life," Lovato explained. "Or maybe there's a period of time when I get older that I identify as a woman."

"I have a feeling that it's not going to ever go back to one way or the other," they went on to say, adding that "it's about keeping it open and free and just I'm a very fluid person, and so that goes with how I express myself as well."

Lovato has spoken about their "fluidity" before, telling podcast host Joe Rogan earlier this year they they were "so fluid now."

Rogan sought clarification for what "fluid" meant. "You like girls? You like boys?"

"Yeah... anything, really," Lovato replied, confirming their pansexuality.

"Part of the reason I am so fluid is that I was, like, super closeted" earlier in life, Lovato explained.

"I felt a lot of shame... growing up in Texas, as a Christian, that's very frowned upon," they said. "Any attraction I ever had toward a female at a young age, I shut it down before I even let myself process what I was feeling."

The interview on Rogan was not the first time Lovato had publicly declared themself to be "fluid." They told InStyle the same in 2018: "I'm very fluid... love is love."

Watch Lovato's comments to the 19th Represents Summit below.


by Kilian Melloy , EDGE Staff Reporter

Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.

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