Janelle Monáe has announced that she identifies as non-binary.
On Wednesday’s (20 April) episode of Red Table Talk, Monáe, who still uses she/her pronouns, addressed her gender identity.
The announcement comes after the Grammy-nominated singer came out as pansexual in 2018. Pansexuality is an attraction to people regardless of sex or gender.
Speaking to the show’s hosts, Monae 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.”
When co-host Willow Smith asked Monáe about speaking her truth, she responded: “Somebody said, ‘If you don’t work out the things that you need to work out first before you share with the world, then you’ll 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,” she continued.
Monáe further added that rather than seeing people based on their gender and sex, she perceives their energy.
“I don’t see how you identify,” she said. “And I feel like that opens you up to fall in love with whoever, with any beautiful spirit.”
Back in 2020, the singer spoke to Variety about living with a non-binary perspective, saying: “I’ve always tried to get rid of all of those things – any labels – and work on my journey, wherever that may be.
“I do feel like I am an experience, I am on self-discovery, and I just want to continue to show love to everyone who continues to live outside of the binary.”
Monáe is set to star in a supporting role in the forthcoming murder mystery movie Knives Out 2, which is expected to release in cinemas and on Netflix this fall.
