JoJo Siwa, the “Dance Mom” star who recently came out as neither gay nor straight, delivered yet another LGBTQ-inspired message to her fans when presenting the award for “Outstanding Children’s Programming” at The 32nd Annual GLAAD Media Awards.
During her speech, Siwa told kids that they can “be in love with whoever” they want.
“I recently just came out as a part of the LGBTQ community. I have the best, most amazing, wonderful girlfriend in the entire world who makes me so so so happy and that is all that matters,” Siwa exclaimed. “I think it’s really cool now that kids all around the world who look up to me can now see that loving who you want to love is totally awesome. If you want to fall in love with a girl, if you want to fall in love with a boy, if you want to fall with somebody who is a they/them, or who is non-binary, that is incredible. Love is awesome. You can be in love with whoever you want to be in love with, and it should be celebrated. And amazingly, now today in the world, it is.”
Siwa touted the work of GLAAD and the Trevor Project as a resource to help LGBT youth living in an unsupportive environment; she also touted GLAAD’s push for more LGBTQ representation in children’s programming.
The 2021 GLAAD Media Award for “Outstanding Children’s Programming” went to “The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo.” None other than the character Elmo himself accepted the award.
“Elmo wants to remind everyone at home: you’re amazing just the way you are. Elmo loves you. You’re special,” Elmo said.
This past January, the dancer and YouTube star identified herself as a member of the LGBTQ community while not knowing exactly which category she would classify herself in.
“I always believed that my person was just going to be my person,” she said. “And if that person happened to be a boy, great, and if that person happened to be a girl, great!”
Since Siwa has never fallen in love with someone, she avoided a specific label. She also thanked people for the love and support they have shown.
“I think humans are awesome; I think humans are really incredible people. Right now, I’m super duper happy and I want to share everything with the world, but I also want to keep things in my life private until they are ready to be public. Right now what matters is that you guys know that no matter who you love, that it’s OK. It’s awesome and the world is there for you,” she said. “There are so many people that are there for you. I know everyone’s situation is different and it might be harder for some people and it might be easier for some people to come out or be themselves, but I think coming out has this stigma around it — that it’s this really, really, really scary thing, but it’s not anymore. There are so many accepting and loving people out there that it’s OK.”
As to the people who would criticize her coming out, Siwa said that’s not something to “ever be afraid of.”
“Of course people are going to say it’s not normal, but nothing is normal. Literally not one thing about anybody is normal and it’s OK not to be normal, it’s OK to be a little different, it’s OK to be a little weird, strange, different. That’s something we should never, ever be afraid of. That’s something we should be proud of,” she said.
Related: JoJo Siwa Comes Out As LGBTQ, Identifies As Neither Gay Nor Straight