Demi Lovato comes out as non-binary. A statement for the LGBTQ+ communities

It has been a few days now since the popstar came out as non-binary and by doing so, she helped many to “come out of the closet”. However, for a lot of people, “non-binary” still represents a complicated concept to understand.

The collocation refers to all those people who don’t feel like they belong to one sex strictly, they don’t recognize themselves entirely as males nor females. There can be many ways in which a non-binary identity can manifest itself: bi/trigender, agender, genderfree or genderfluid. It is important to highlight the fact that binary or non-binary identities have nothing to do with the sexual orientation of an individual. According to a survey conducted in 2011 by the Equality and Human Rights Commission Research, more or less 0.4% of the UK population belong to the non-binary community and studies also show that influencers coming out or advocating for tolerance will help young people feel more confident within their own skin, which will result in a consistent rise in that percentage.

With that being said, we have a great number of influencers (singers, actors and authors all fit into this category) who came out themselves or who simply support the fight against homo-transphobia. Elliot Page, Kristen Stewart, Chris Colfer, Lady Gaga and Demi Lovato, too (just to name a few). Demi Lovato became a symbol for mental health and sobriety awareness after openly speaking about her drug and alcohol abuse, together with an eating and self-harm disorder. After she overdosed a few years ago, she decided to start a path of deep research within her own soul and finally found her peace by discovering herself as non-binary. With the great support of the entire Hollywood scene, Lovato is now contributing to raise awareness on the non-binary cases, together with spreading a message of deep tolerance and love.

Controversies and severe criticism did not fail to be present: many – unfortunately – argue that famous people come out only for their own personal advantages, because they were somehow lacking fame or views or streams. Given the fact that, if it were true we still would not be able to know it, it is highly unlikely for people to come out just for the sake of fame, because it is proven that with fame comes a load of hatred as well.

However, with the will of leaving all the useless discussion on it aside, we must agree on the fact that we should all celebrate people who find the courage to come out and live their life at its fullest and we cannot split this from the role that influencers play in this process.

Articolo a cura di: Victoria Pevere