Janelle Monaé has revealed that she identifies as non-binary.
The singer/songwriter publicly declared her gender fluidity on Twitter after quoting a tweet that featured a non-binary meme.
GLAAD and The Human Rights Campaign yesterday (January 10) promoted the Twitter hashtag #IAmNonbinary as a way to increase non-binary visibility and to correct misconceptions associated with the term, as Out reports.
On the same day, Monaé quote-tweeted a pro-gender fluidity meme along with the hashtag #IAmNonbinary.
The text portion of the meme reads: “‘Are you a boy or a girl?’ I’m an experience, quoting a line from the TV show Steven Universe. The accompanying caption posted by the Twitter user who initially shared the meme said: “There is absolutely nothing better than living outside the gender binary.”
Monaé replied by posting the hashtag #IAmNonbinary.
#IAmNonbinary ? https://t.co/9TN13XAAra
— Janelle Monáe, Cindi (@JanelleMonae) January 10, 2020
In a previous interview, Monaé said that she identifies as both bisexual and pansexual, stating: “I consider myself to be a free-ass motherfucker.”
Revealing that she initially identified as bisexual, Monáe added that she then “read about pansexuality and was like, ‘Oh, these are things that I identify with too’”.
Meanwhile, Sam Smith has said opening up about their non-binary identity felt like a “second coming out.”
Speaking at the Attitude Awards on Wednesday (October 9), Smith – who received the Person of the Year Award – delivered an emotional speech in which they described the award as “overwhelming.”
Smith said: “The last year has been a wild ride of self-realisation and has almost felt like a second coming out.