Singer Sam Smith announced to the world Friday that he prefers to be called only by gender-neutral pronouns.
In a lengthy Instagram post Friday, the British singer-songwriter asks fans to help him “embrace myself for who I am” by using the pronouns “they” and “them” in reference to him.
“I’ve decided I am changing my pronouns to THEY/THEM after a lifetime of being at war with my gender I’ve decided to embrace myself for who I am, inside and out,” Smith’s post begins. “I’m so excited and privileged to be surrounded by people that support me in this decision but I’ve been very nervous about announcing this because I care too much about what people think but f**k it! I understand there will be many mistakes and misgendering but all I ask is you please please try. I hope you can see me like I see myself now.”
Smith goes on to say that he does not yet understand what it means to live as a “non-binary” person and that he will be learning as time goes on.
“I am at no stage just yet to eloquently speak at length about what it means to be non-binary but I can’t wait for the day that I am,” said Smith. “So for now I just want to be VISIBLE and open. If you have questions and are wondering what this all means I’ll try my best to explain but I have also tagged below the human beings who are fighting the good fight everyday. These are activists and leaders of the non binary/trans community that have helped me and given me so much clarity and understanding.”
As noted by HuffPost, Smith has been heralding this move regarding his gender identity in recent months. Back in March, he told Jameela Jamil that he began to question his identity after hearing the experiences of genderqueer and nonbinary people.
“When I saw the nonbinary, genderqueer, and I read into it, and I heard these people speaking, I was like, ‘F**k, that is me,'” Smith said at the time. “Nonbinary, genderqueer is that you do not identify in a gender ― you are just you. You are a mixture of all different things. You are your own special creation. That’s how I take it: I’m not male or female. I think I float somewhere in between. It’s all on the spectrum.”
Most recently, Smith began taking his new identity to the next level by wearing heels on the red carpet for the 2019 GQ Men of the Year Awards last week.
“Tonight I wore heels for the first time to an award show,” Smith said in another Instagram post. “I’ve just got home from a gorgeous evening and as I was walking to my front door I stopped and listened to my heels clonking against the floor. And I just thought ‘F*** YES’!! There was a time where I thought I’d never ever ever be able to be myself like this in front of the industry or anyone. It feels so good and I just wanted to share that with you all, and share a picture of my GORJ Gucci heels. They’ll always be my virgin heels.”