Janelle Monáe has publicly come out as non-binary.
The “Tightrope” singer and “Hidden Figures” star appeared on the latest episode of “Red Table Talk” this week and opened up to host Jada Pinkett-Smith about her gender identity.
“I’m non-binary, so I just don’t see myself as a woman, solely,” she said. “I feel like God is so much bigger than the ‘he’ or the ‘she.’ And if I am from God, I am everything.”
Janelle clarified that her gender identity does not lessen her passion for feminism, saying, “I will always, always stand with women. I will always stand with Black women. But I just see everything that I am, beyond the binary.”
Billboard reports that in January 2020, Janelle tweeted the hashtag #IAmNonbinary, leading many fans to believe she was coming out. However, she later told The Cut she tweeted the hashtag in support of the community rather than as a self-declaration.
“It resonated with me, especially as someone who has pushed boundaries of gender since the beginning of my career,” Janelle said at the time.
On why the star chose to come out now, Janelle said in the “Red Table Talk” interview, “Somebody said, ‘If you don’t work out the things that you need to work out first before sharing it with the world, then you’re going to be working it out with the world.’ That’s what I didn’t want to do. So I thought I needed to have all my answers correct, I don’t want to say the wrong thing.”
A representative for the 36-year-old confirmed to Rolling Stone that she still uses she/her pronouns.
