1. Halsey (she/they)
After quietly updating her pronouns on Instagram, Halsey shared, "I am happy with either pronouns :) the inclusion of 'they' in addition to 'she' feels most authentic to me. if you know me at all you know what it means to me to express this outwardly." They later went on to explain that pregnancy affected their perception of gender even more: "My sensitivity to my body has made me hyper aware of my humanness, and that’s all. Doing a remarkable thing. And it’s grand. I hope the feeling lasts."
2. Demi Lovato (they/them/she/her)
In 2021, Demi shared that they identify as nonbinary and said, "I feel that this best represents the fluidity I feel in my gender expression, and allows me to feel most authentic and true to the person I both know I am and still am discovering. I'm still learning & coming into myself, & I don't claim to be an expert or a spokesperson. Sharing this with you now opens another level of vulnerability for me. I'm doing this for those out there that haven't been able to share who they truly are with their loved ones. Please keep living in your truths & know I am sending so much love your way."
Every day we wake up, we are given another opportunity & chance to be who we want & wish to be. I’ve spent the majority of my life growing in front of all of you… you’ve seen the good, the bad, & everything in between.
3. Janelle Monáe (she/her/they/them)
In April 2022, Janelle came out on an episode of Red Table Talk. They said, “I just don’t see myself as a woman solely. I feel all of my energy. I feel like God is so much bigger than the 'he' or the 'she.' And if I am from God, I am everything. But 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.”
4. Emma Corrin (she/they)
Emma shared that playing Princess Diana on The Crown was what actually made them realize they were nonbinary. She told the New York Times, "I feel like Diana helped me explore so many depths of myself and really do a big internal discovery of what I was feeling about everything because she was a very complex person." They also explained to ITV News, "It's taken me a long time to realize that I exist somewhere in between and I'm still not sure where that is yet."
5. Jonathan Van Ness (they/he/she)
In 2019, JVN came out as gender non-conforming and explained that some days they "feel like a man, but then other days [they] feel like a woman." They shared, "I just am either like gender-bendy or nonconform-y or nonbinary and somedays I feel like a boy and somedays I feel like a girl. I didn’t think I was allowed to be non-conforming or genderqueer or nonbinary — I was just always like 'a gay man' because that’s just the label I thought I had to be."
6. Sam Smith (they/them)
On Jameela Jamil's podcast, I Weigh Interviews, Sam first publicly shared that they identify as nonbinary and said, “When I saw the word non-binary, genderqueer, and I read into it, and I heard these people speaking, I was like, ‘Fuck, that is me.’” They continued, “I am not male or female. I think I float somewhere in between."
7. Amandla Stenberg (she/they)
Amandla publicly came out as nonbinary in a series of Tumblr posts after a fan asked their pronouns. They explained, "I mean they/them makes me feel comfortable but I know that the media and the general populace that follows me will critique it/not understand which makes me feel sad and almost more uncomfortable." They told People Magazine, [Gender] can be pretty much whatever you want it to be. I tend to believe that gender as we've set it up in current-day society doesn't actually exist."
8. Sara Ramirez (they/them)
Back in 2020, Sara came out publicly with the Instagram caption, "In me is the capacity to be Girlish boy Boyish girl Boyish boy Girlish girl All Neither #nonbinary ♥️💛🤍💜🖤♥️." They later said that coming out felt "freeing" and playing Che Diaz on And Just Like That was a "perfect fit." They explained, "This character will teach me a lot about how to embrace the power that you have even against systems that would have you shut down."
9. Lachlan Watson (they/them)
Lachlan was about to start transitioning and was even given a prescription of testosterone when they realized they were actually nonbinary. They explained, “I realized in doing that that the problem wasn’t that I wasn’t male; the problem was just that I was female." They added, "I didn’t want the world to look at my body and inherently deem me female and inherently decide just by looking at me what I can or cannot do, how I’m supposed to sound, what I’m supposed to say, what my career is going to look like, how I’m supposed to act, my mannerisms. Everything could have been deemed by taking one look at my body because society assumes that’s what we’re bred and born to do...Seeing myself as female every time I look in the mirror is painful in a way I will never be able to describe."
10. Brigette Lundy-Paine (they/them)
On Instagram, Brigette shared, "I’m non-binary, always felt a lil bit boy, lil bit girl, lil bit neither. using they/them as of late n it feels right. scary af to come out n been rly putting this off. But I feel I owe it to myself and to all of us who struggle w gender.”
11. Asia Kate Dillon (they/them)
Asia shared that playing Taylor on Billions — a character also regarded as the first nonbinary role on American television — was what helped them figure out their own gender identity. They said, "I did a little bit of research and discovered that female is an assigned sex and non-binary is in reference to gender identity and those are two different things. It finally helped me put language to a feeling that I'd had my entire life."
12. Nico Tortorella (they/them)
Nico and their partner, Bethany C. Meyers, both identify as nonbinary. Nico shared, "For me, ‘they/them’ fully encompasses all of it that exists in my own multi-dimensional dynamic being. Right? It just feels more inclusive. It feels wider.”
13. Liv Hewson (they/them)
Liv publicly came out as nonbinary after being out with their family and friends for nine years. They shared, “It was a risk, yes, but at the end of the day, I really felt it was a risk I had to take. It was not sustainable to compartmentalize myself."
14. Shea Couleé (she/they)
Shae explained their gender journey began when they were a kid. They said, "Something that my mom would say all the time growing up — and I don't even think she realized — was, "Oh, Jaren, boys don't talk like that." "Boys don't stand like that.” Boys don't do this and boys don't do that. She was basically saying that some things that came very naturally to me were qualities that were only to be exhibited by a girl. That was really confusing because it never really felt like it was so black and white, so this or that. I just felt like I was being me. Those were some of the first signs at a young age that I knew that my personal feelings about gender didn't quite fit into the status quo."
15. Ruby Rose (they/she)
Ruby explained that they knew they were gender-fluid since they were a kid, but her peers at school bullied her for it. They said, "For a long time, I thought there was something a bit wrong with me, or that I wasn’t the gender I was meant to be...It took years, but eventually, I came to a place where I went: ‘OK, I think I’m just very androgynous and very in tune with the masculine energy.’”
Looking for more ways to get involved? Check out all of BuzzFeed's posts celebrating Pride 2022.
My Fake Boyfriend, a new LGBTQ+ rom-com from BuzzFeed Studios starring Keiynan Lonsdale, Dylan Sprouse, and Sarah Hyland, is out June 17 in the US — just in time for Pride! Sign up for Prime Video now so you're ready to watch.
