Has Janelle Monae come out as genderqueer? Singer tweets '#IAmNonbinary'
Janelle Monae previously came out as bisexual, and then pansexual. With a tweet, Monae has now seemingly stated that they are nonbinary. #IAmNonbinary has been trending on Twitter, and Monae wrote the same while retweeting another tweet that said, "There is absolutely nothing better than living outside the gender binary."
The tweet featured a gif of Stevonnie, a non-binary character from the Cartoon Network series Steven Universe. The tweet included a quote tweet of an animation. "Are you a boy or a girl?" the meme asks. "I am an experience."
The 34-year-old actor and singer did not specify their preferred pronouns and has not clarified whether the tweet is an announcement or just a show of solidarity with the nonbinary community.
The hashtag #IAmNonbinary trended on Twitter on Friday and many users chose to use it for visibility, posting photos of themselves after having publicly identified as being nonbinary.
Organizations such as GLAAD and The Human Rights Campaign have used the hashtag as a tool of education, using it to correct common assumptions that abound about those who are nonbinary.
"Not all non-binary people use they/them pronouns," they wrote among other things. They also tweeted a number of celebrities who have come out as nonbinary like JVN, Indya Moore, Aja, Sam Smith, Amandla Stenberg, Angel Haze, and Jacob Tobia.
People who identify as nonbinary identify as being outside the gender binary and don't consider themselves to be completely masculine or feminine.
Monae had previously stated in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine that they were pansexual, saying, "Later, I read about pansexuality and was like, ‘Oh, these are things that I identify with too.’ I’m open to learning more about who I am."
They also said, "I want young girls, young boys, nonbinary, gay, straight, queer people who are having a hard time dealing with their sexuality, dealing with feeling ostracized or bullied for just being their unique selves, to know that I see you."