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Celebs

Janelle Monáe Just Tweeted 'I Am Nonbinary'

The post came as a part of a trending topic on Twitter.

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

January 10 2020 7:21 PM EST

May 26 2023 2:00 PM EST

MikelleStreet

Janelle Monae has taken advantage of a trending topic on social media to seemingly come out to the world as nonbinary.

On Friday, the hashtag #IAmNonbinary trended on Twitter throughout the day. Many people who have publicly identified as nonbinary used it as a bid of visibility, posting photos of themselves. Others used it as a tool of education. GLAAD tweeted out graphics aimed at helping followers with language that is less binary. The Human Rights Campaign similarly used the hashtag to correct some assumptions about those who are nonbinary.

\u201cHere are some ways to go beyond the binary and ensure the language you use is inclusive of non-binary people. \n\n#IAmNonbinary \ud83d\udc9b\ud83e\udd0d\ud83d\udc9c\ud83d\udda4\u201d
— GLAAD (@GLAAD) 1578675500

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\u201cThere are so many ways to be non-binary. Here are a few reminders:\n\ud83d\udc9b There is no one way to \u201clook\u201d non-binary.\n\ud83d\udc9c Not all non-binary people use they/them pronouns.\n\ud83d\udda4 No one can tell you who you are; only you know yourself. \n#IAmNonbinary\u201d
— Human Rights Campaign (@Human Rights Campaign) 1578679364

\u201cToday and every day, we celebrate non-binary heroes like @JVN who are constantly inspiring confidence in others by wholeheartedly living his truth on and off our television screens. #IAmNonBinary\u201d
— Human Rights Campaign (@Human Rights Campaign) 1578685288

\u201cYou may know Amandla Stenberg as Rue in the Hunger Games or in other productions such as The Hate U Give. She uses both \u201cshe\u201d & \u201cthey\u201d pronouns, and we admire them for their resilience while being in the public eye as a young actor. #IAmNonBinary\u201d
— Human Rights Campaign (@Human Rights Campaign) 1578694744

"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. And then Janelle Monae tweeted.

The star, who came out as pansexual in 2018, tweeted a very simple message. "#IAmNonbinary" she wrote -- until there is clarity around whether this was a coming out, and what pronouns Monae uses, Out will continue to utilize she/her.

\u201c#IAmNonbinary \ud83e\ude90\u201d
— Janelle Mon\u00e1e\ud83d\udc7d\ud83d\ude86\ud83e\udd16\ud83d\ude80\ud83e\ude90 (@Janelle Mon\u00e1e\ud83d\udc7d\ud83d\ude86\ud83e\udd16\ud83d\ude80\ud83e\ude90) 1578700229

The tweet was a quote tweet of an animation. "Are you a boy or a girl?" the meme asks. "I am an experience." The text was paired with a clip of Stevonnie from Steven Universe, wringing and tossing their hair. The line was one used in the show.