Demi Lovato is opening up about their gender identity. The pop star and actor announced they are nonbinary in the premiere episode for their podcast 4D With Demi Lovato. “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 nonbinary,†Lovato said in a clip from posted to their Twitter, adding that they will now use they/them pronouns. “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 continued. The podcast episode featured a conversation with nonbinary writer and performer Alok Vaid-Menon. “I’m still learning and coming into myself,†Lovato said. “I don’t claim to be an expert or a spokesperson.â€
Last year, Lovato broke off their engagement to Max Ehrich, and later said in interviews they worried the marriage would have restricted their identity. “I feel like I dodged a bullet because I wouldn’t have been living my truth for the rest of my life had I confined myself into that box of heteronormativity and monogamy,†Lovato told the New York Times in March. “And it took getting that close to shake me up and be like, wow, bitch, you really got to live your life for who you really are.†The performer released their album Dancing With the Devil … The Art of Starting Over in April, alongside a documentary also titled Dancing With the Devil about their near-fatal 2018 overdose.