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In today’s society, the LGBT community has developed so increasingly and has aided so many in accepting themselves and their preferences. And so - in light of pride month - we thought it important to support the community by listing some of the few artists that are open about their sexuality. Here are some honourable mentions!
Sam Smith publicly came out as gay in May 2014 while acknowledged a relationship—since ended—with actor and model Jonathan Zeizel. At the 57th Annual Grammy Awards when "Stay with Me" won an award for Record of the Year, they said, "I want to thank the man who this record is about, who I fell in love with last year.” Then in 2019, Smith also came out as gender non-binary. “I’m not male or female. I think I float somewhere in between” the singer said Friday on actor Jameela Jamil’s new Instagram show. They are now one of the most recognised, famous and outspoken members of the LGBT community.
Demi Lovato came out as non-binary on March 30 of this year and confirmed their pronouns are they/them. After coming out as pansexual, they also announced that they’re “too queer” to marry a man. The singer called off their three month engagement to soap opera actor, Max Ehrich.
“I’m so fluid now, and a part of the reason why I am so fluid is because I was super closeted off. I’m part of the alphabet mafia and proud” they stated during an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience Podcast. However, this is not the first time that Lovato has spoken about their queer identity. In a recent cover story with Glamour, Lovato spoke up about how they wanted to get very specific about their identity with their audience sooner rather than later. "I know who I am and what I am, but I’m just waiting until a specific timeline to come out to the world as what I am.”
Kehlani came out as a lesbian through a recent video she posted on TikTok. In the video she exclaims “I finally know I’m a lesbian… I am gay, gay-gay, gay, gay.” Fans were previously confused that the singer came out as bisexual, as only she announce months later that she was pregnant by now ex-partner YG back in 2019. But now all couldn’t’ be happier to know that she now has a better understanding of herself.
On June 30, 2019, the last day of Pride Month, Lil Nas X came out publicly as gay, tweeting: "some of y'all already know, some of y'all don't care, some of y'all not gone fwm no more.” Since coming out, his sexuality has begun to show much more in his music.
David Bowie had adopted several personas across his career and made comments about his sexual orientation on several occasions. His persona of Ziggy Stardust, created in Space Oddity in 1969, was a bisexual alien rock star. The androgynous figure became a gay icon. Since his death back in 2016, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender fans have shared how the rocker influenced their lives and helped bring queer culture into the mainstream in the 1960s and 1970s.
Though the Queen singer never formally labelled his sexuality, Mercury did in fact have same-sex relationships. In 1985, he began a relationship with hairdresser Jim Hutton that lasted until Mercury's death from bronchial pneumonia resulting from AIDS. Many people were disappointed to see this bi-erasure continue in the 2018 biopic Bohemian Rhapsody.
Miley Cyrus has been open about her sexuality as pansexual for the last few years now. During an interview with Variety magazine in 2015 Miley said that “my whole life, I didn’t understand my own gender and my own sexuality.” The star is known for her love of controversy and being free spirited. Therefore, it is understandable when she explains that she hates the word ‘bisexual’ as the word itself acts as a box or rather a form of categorisation and so, identifies as pansexual. When stating her preference she describes it as “every single thing that is consenting and doesn’t involve an animal and everyone is of age.”
Frank Ocean came out as gay back in 2012. Through sharing a Tumblr post regarding his album ‘Channel Orange’, ocean also shared details of falling in love with a man. "4 summers ago, I met somebody. I was 19 years old. He was too. We spent that summer, and the summer after, together. Every day almost, and on the days we were together, time would glide. Most of the day I'd see him, and his smile. By the time I realized I was in love, it was malignant. It was hopeless," Ocean wrote. He has since become one of the most successful artists in the hip hop industry.
Elton John announced he was bisexual in 1976 and has been openly gay since 1988. The legendary singer has been happily married since 2005 to Canadian filmmaker David Furnish. The couple share two sons together, Zachary and Elijah.
Our very own Madi Mai states that she has known she was part of the LGBT community practically her whole life. She explains that “I didn’t really relate to my friends when they would talk about their crushes on boys… it was only when I began to consider that I could also like girls did I start to feel more comfortable.” The singer feels lucky that she has such a great support system through friends and family. She explains that her coming out story even lacks extravagance and was not at all a big deal. “I never came out to my family, they all just kind of knew.” We love to see it. Pride month is for everyone!