Back in March, Sam Smith gave an in-depth interview to a podcast where he spoke at length about his lifelong discomfort with the male identity, and how even when he was a small child, he felt like he never felt like a “boy.” Then in May, Sam spoke to British GQ about identifying as nonbinary, and how he was still educating himself on it and for the time being, he was still comfortable with he/his pronouns. Well, now Sam has decided: Sam will use they/them pronouns, much like Asia Kate Dillon (my fave from Billions). Sam posted this to Instagram, with the title “My Pronouns Are They/Them.”
Today is a good day so here goes. 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. 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 mis gendering but all I ask is you please please try. I hope you can see me like I see myself now. Thank you.
P.s. 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. 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.
This reminds me a bit of Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner’s transition. First she gave that Diane Sawyer interview as Bruce, where she spoke about transitioning and how it was a process and she wasn’t ready to use she/her pronouns. And then a few months later, she became Caitlyn and we began to use the right pronouns. At an editorial level, this is how it should be – we use the pronouns given by each person, at their pace. I like that Sam went at their own pace and you could feel them gradually learning more about how to put words into how they felt. Yes, it takes a little more effort to use the non-binary language (as it does with Asia Kate Dillion), but I’m so glad that Sam is living their truth.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Avalon Red.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pLHLnpmirJOdxm%2BvzqZmb2tka4Bye9KapJirnZ7BqavIr5yYnJWYtqWxw5igmJmdlLCprc2goKefj6LGoLzRqKWorZ6orLW7vq2fnrGknbKuew%3D%3D