Skepticism and backlash around gender-neutral pronouns have taken a toll on Demi Lovato.
The 30-year-old singer and songwriter — who came out as nonbinary in 2021 — recently opened up about why she went back to using she/her pronouns.
In a recent interview with GQ Hype Spain, the “Still Alive” singer said she grew "tired" of having to explain her gender identity. According to the outlet, Lovato opted to use she/her pronouns for the article, which was published June 13.
“I constantly had to educate people and explain why I identified with those pronouns,” Lovato said. “It was absolutely exhausting. And that is one of the reasons that have led me to feel just as comfortable with the feminine pronoun. I was simply tired. But for that very reason, I know that it is important to continue spreading the word.”
When Lovato first announced her decision to use they/them pronouns, she explained that she realized it reflected her identity after doing “some healing and self-reflective work.”
“Through this work, I’ve had the revelation that I identify as nonbinary,” the singer explained at the time. “With that said, I’ll be officially changing my pronouns to they/them. 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.”
In August 2022, Lovato explained that she’d adopted she/her pronouns again because of that fluidity.
“For me, I’m such a fluid person that I don’t really ... I don’t find that I am ... I felt like, especially last year, my energy was balanced in my masculine and feminine energy,” she explained. “So that when I was faced with the choice of walking into a bathroom, and it said ‘women’ and ‘men,’ I didn’t feel like there was a bathroom for me because I didn’t feel necessarily like a woman. I didn’t feel like a man. I just felt like a human.”
“It’s just about, like, feeling human at your core,” she continued. “Recently, I’ve been feeling more feminine, and so I’ve adopted she/her again.”
Lovato went on to emphasize that when it comes to using gender-neutral pronouns in the real world, it's important to meet people where they are.
“Everyone messes up pronouns at some point,” she shared. “Especially when people are learning. It’s just all about respect.”
