Three months after publicly coming out as nonbinary, pop star Demi Lovato says their gender is "a journey forever" and that there may be a time when they don't always identify as nonbinary.
Lovato, 29, spoke at the 19th Represents Summit about coming out as nonbinary in April and announcing that they are now using they/them pronouns. Lovato spoke about what led to that moment and what the future may hold.
"Yes, I definitely think it's a journey forever," Lovato said. "There might be a time where I identify as trans, I don't know what this looks like for me. There might be a time where I identify as nonbinary and gender non-conforming my entire life, or maybe there's a period of time when I get older that I identify as a woman.
"I don't know what that looks like, but for me in this moment right now, this is how I identify. And I have a feeling that it's not going to ever go back to one way or the other, but it's about keeping it open and free. I'm a very fluid person, and so that goes with how I express myself as well."
Lovato announced on her podcast in April that they were changing their pronouns after identifying as nonbinary.
"I feel that this best represents the fluidity I feel in my gender expression and allows me to feel most authentic and true to the person I both know I am and am still discovering," Lovato said.
Lovato followed with a message of acceptance to any fans who struggle with the new pronouns at first.
"If you misgender me, that's okay," they wrote on Instagram and Twitter last month. "I accidentally misgender myself sometimes! It's a huge transition to change the pronouns I've used for myself my entire life. And it's difficult to remember sometimes!"
They said at the 19th Represents Summit that their feelings about potentially being nonbinary began decades ago when Lovato was in fifth grade.
"It didn't just start with a few months ago," Lovato said.
Lovato added that breaking off her engagement with soap opera actor Max Ehrich last year also played a role in coming out as nonbinary.
"When I said goodbye to that relationship, I also said goodbye to everything that was holding me back from being my most authentic self," Lovato said. "And I really started to identify with close friends and family as nonbinary towards the end of last year."
Lovato also shared that spending time creating a song with singer Sam Smith, who also uses they/them pronouns, helped them learn more about being nonbinary.
"It was an 'a ha' moment for me," Lovato said.