Demi Lovato got candid about learning to accept who they really are.
The “Tell Me You Love Me” musician spoke with Jane Fonda in this week’s Fire Drill Fridays livestream about what initially discouraged them from embracing their nonbinary identity, citing society's outdated ideas on gender.
"After years of living my life for other people, trying to make myself smaller for the patriarchy — they run the industry, they are at the center of everything," the 28-year-old star explained, according to PEOPLE. "When I realized that, I thought, 'What are the ways that the patriarchy has been holding me back?' And for me, it was putting me in a box telling [me], 'You are a female, this is what you're supposed to like, this is what you're supposed to do, don't dream bigger and don't speak louder.’”
“That didn't vibe for me because I'm too outspoken for that," they concluded.
Months after coming out as pansexual, Lovato announced their they/them pronouns in a heartfelt episode of 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 non-binary. With that said, I'll be officially changing my pronouns to they/them," the “Dancing with the Devil” artist expressed. "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."
Earlier this week, Lovato made a musical appearance at the iHeartRadio Music Awards, where they delivered a medley tribute to Elton John alongside Brandi Carlile and H.E.R. (Watch it here.)
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