Updated article on 14/07/21: Demi Lovato has opened up about using their preferred pronouns, revealing they they understand if fans accidentally misgender them.
To mark Non-Binary Awareness Week, which commenced on July 14, the 28-year-old shared a message on Instagram to describe their transition of using they/them pronouns after coming out as non-binary in May.
'If you misgender me — that's okay,' the message begins. '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!'
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Lovato continued, noting: 'As long as you keep trying to respect my truth, the shift will come naturally. I'm just grateful for your effort in trying to remember what means so much to my healing process.'
The musician captioned the post with a message describing why they felt it was important to speak about the use of pronouns.
'I felt the need to post this because I often find that the change in pronouns can be confusing for some, and difficult to remember for others,' they explained. 'It's all about your intention.
'It's important to me that you try. But if you make a mistake, it's okay. Remember that I love you and to keep going.'
Original article posted on 19/05/21: Demi Lovato has announced that they are non-binary, in a personal statement with fans following more than a year of 'self-reflecting and healing'.
Sharing a video on Twitter on May 19, 2021, the singer looked happy when delivering their statement, saying: '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.'
The star confirmed that with this milestone, they will 'officially be 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 still am discovering,' they added.
Lovato said that they will continue to discuss their non-binary identity and how they reached this point in their video series '4D With Demi Lovato', as well as opening up the conversation to the many people whose gender identity is found on a much broader spectrum.
The 28-year-old followed up their video with a series of tweets, including one where the 'Sorry (Not Sorry) singer' writes: 'Not only has my life been a journey for myself, I was also living for those on the other side of the camera.'
During a recent appearance on the Drew Barrymore Show, Lovato discussed their recent decision to cut their hair short after years of wearing it long, telling the Charlie's Angels actor: 'I cut my hair because I just wanted to free myself of all of the gender and sexuality norms that were placed on me as a Christian in the south and when I cut my hair I felt so liberated because I wasn't subscribing to an ideal or belief placed upon me to be something that I'm not. Now that I'm owning who I am, I feel the happiest I've ever felt.'
Lovato, who was elevated to stardom at just 16-years-old when they starred in Disney's Camp Rock alongside the Jonas Brothers, has been open with fans throughout their mental health struggles and well-documented difficult times in their personal life, which have included a near-fatal overdose and an eating disorder.
In March, their fly-on-the-wall documentary Dancing With The Devil was released on YouTube in which feature Lovato speaks about how a 2018 drug overdose left them with long term physical health effects, after they suffered three strokes and a heart attack.
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Olivia Blair is Entertainment Editor (Luxury) at Hearst UK, working across ELLE, Esquire and Harper's Bazaar. Olivia covers all things entertainment and has interviewed the likes of Margot Robbie, Emma Stone, Michaela Coel and Ryan Gosling over the years.
