In an effort to build a space for queer people like myself, every Sunday I’ll be posting interviews, opinion pieces, listicles, reviews, and more focused on the LGBT community (and occasionally about the Latinx community since I am Latinx.) Welcome to Queerly Not Straight! Enjoy and leave a comment below if you have a suggestion for what I should cover next.
Living your truth is absolutely freeing. It’s about no longer living a half-life or a hidden one and being who you’ve always wanted to be. And that’s especially true for anyone in the LGBTQ+ community, including non-binary people. And with Janelle Monáe just coming out as part of said non-binary community, we wanted to take the time to note what they have to say about living this truth along with a couple of other celebrities you might already know.
1. Janelle Monáe (they/she)
Janelle Monáe came out as non-binary during an episode of Red Table Talk where they said, “I’m non-binary, so I just don’t see myself as a woman, solely. I feel all of my energy. I feel like God is so much bigger than the ‘he’ or the ‘she, and if I am from God, I am everything. I am everything. But I will always, always stand with women. I will always stand with Black women. But I just see everything that I am. Beyond the binary.”
2. Demi Lovato (they/them)
“Over the past year-and-a-half, I’ve been doing some healing and self-reflective work. And through this work, I’ve had the revelation that I identify as non-binary,” Demi explained during their 4D with Demi Lovato podcast. Ever since then, it seems like Lovato’s life has changed, a freedom in her eyes and spirit many had never seen before they lived their truth.
3. Ezra Miller (they/it/ze)
“I don’t identify as a man. I don’t identify as a woman. I barely identify as a human,” said Ezra Miller to The Hollywood Reporter in 2018. It’s important to note that even though Miller has gotten into quite some trouble in Hawaii, it’s essential to use their pronouns and respect them even if they aren’t allegedly respecting others.
4. Sara Ramirez (they/them)
Sara Ramirez, best known for their time on Grey’s Anatomy, came out as non-binary in August 2020. They said, via an Instagram post, “In me is the capacity to be Girlish boy Boyish girl Boyish boy Girlish girl All Neither#nonbinary.”
5. Jonathan Van Ness (they/he/she)
Jonathan Van Ness, best known for his time on Queer Eye, said the following during an interview with Out, where they opened up about their identity. “The older I get, the more I think that I’m nonbinary — I’m gender non-conforming. Like, some days I feel like a man, but then other days I feel like a woman. […] Any opportunity I have to break down stereotypes of the binary, I am down for it, I’m here for it.”
Queerly Not Straight posts every Sunday with opinion pieces, listicals, reviews, and more focused on the LGBT community (and occasionally about the Latinx community since I am Latinx.)