Sam Smith Says This Moment ‘Triggered [Their] Transition’ to Nonbinary

The star revealed to the world that they identified as genderfluid earlier this year.

Mikelle Street

Mikelle is the former editorial director of digital for PrideMedia, guiding digital editorial and social across Out, The Advocate, Pride.com, Out Traveler, and Plus. After starting as a freelancer for Out in 2013, he joined the staff as Senior Editor working across print and digital in 2018. In early 2021 he became Out's digital director, marking a pivot to content that centered queer and trans stories and figures, exclusively. In September 2021, he was promoted to editorial director of PrideMedia. He has written cover stories on Ricky Martin, Miss Fame, Nyle DiMarco, Jeremy O. Harris, Law Roach, and Symone.

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Mikelle Street

December 21 2019 5:46 AM EST

November 04 2024 9:50 AM EST

MikelleStreet

Out100 cover star Sam Smith has had quite the year. Over the past 12 months they've released three songs, and a music video but more importantly, they revealed to the world, developments in their personal life. Namely, the singer publicly announced that they identified as nonbinary and genderfluid and would be utilizing they/them pronouns moving forward. Now, Smith is reveal the moment where these things began to crystallized.

In a new feature in Billboard, Smith and collaborator Normani discuss the creation of their duet "Dancing With a Stranger."

"I had just gone through a breakup and the last thing I wanted to do was write a sad song," Smith said. "I was listening to a lot of really sexy music because it made me feel better, so I wanted the song to capture what I was doing: going to clubs and kissing people." Same sis! Same.

So, Smith wrote "Dancing" in that vein, and brought Normani on board to be a part of it. But there was an unexpected result.

"The song launched me into a really beautiful space of writing and freedom," Smith said. "There's a femininity within that song that has ignited a flame within me; it triggered the transition I've made into a nonbinary person."