For the last few months, Demi Lovato has been adjusting to life as an out non-binary person — now, they’re taking a second to chat with their fans about forgiving themselves for making mistakes.
In a tweet posted on Tuesday (July 13), Lovato spoke openly about misgendering — specifically when people use incorrect pronouns when referring to them — and how it’s OK to occasionally make mistakes. “If you misgender me — that’s okay. I accidentally misgender myself sometimes,” they wrote. “It’s a huge transition to change the pronouns I’ve used for myself my entire life. And it’s difficult to remember sometimes!”
The star continued, pointing out that unintentionally misgendering them is a mistake that you should do your best to correct, but not beat yourself up over. “As long as you keep trying to respect my truth, and as long as I remember my truth, the shift will come naturally,” they said. “I’m just grateful for your effort in trying to remember what means so much to my healing process.”
In the caption of the post, Lovato added that how you approach a person’s pronouns is what’s most important. “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 said. “It’s all about your intention. It’s important to me that you try, but if you make a mistake, it’s okay.”
Lovato publicly came out as gender non-binary in May on their podcast 4D With Demi Lovato, changing their pronouns to “they” and “them” and talking about the process of coming to terms with their gender identity. In that episode, Lovato expressed a similar sentiment about not wanting fans to be afraid of occasionally slipping up. “I think it’s important because I want to use these pronouns that feel right to me,” they said in the episode. “I also just don’t want people to be so afraid of messing up that they don’t try to use them.”
Check out Lovato’s tweet below:
