JoJo Siwa Says Demi Lovato Sparked Her 'Gay Awakening'

Like many young LGBTQ+ people, JoJo Siwa grew up being a big fan of Demi Lovato. So much so, in fact, that the Grammy nominee even helped sparked JoJo's queer awakening!

During a recent appearance on Demi's 4D With Demi Lovato podcast, JoJo stopped by and opened up about how Demi, specifically during their "Cool for the Summer" era, helped both her and her girlfriend Kylie Prew realize that they were queer.

Hailed as a bisexual anthem when it came out in 2015, "Cool for the Summer" is one of Lovato's better-known hits, and in their podcast, they explained to JoJo how the track also helped them in their own journey to coming out.

"When I did "Cool for the Summer," that song for me was my way of sharing with the world without confirming that I was bisexual," Lovato told Siwa. "But like I said, I didn't come out until 2017. But "Cool for the Summer" was like 2014, 2015, and that to me, it was my way of saying 'I'm not ready to come out, but...'"

Siwa, a former Dance Moms star came out early this year in a couple of social media posts. In one TikTok, Siwa is lip-syncing to Lady Gaga's classic LGBTQ+ anthem "Born This Way," and in another, she dances with members of a TikTok house dedicated to LGBTQ+ creators that the queer creators captioned "now you're one of us!!"

After coming out as pansexual in March, Demi took to Twitter in May and talked openly about their journey with their gender, identifying as nonbinary, and how they now use they/them pronouns.

"Every day we wake up, we are given another opportunity and chance to be who we want and 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, and everything in between," Demi wrote. "Not only has my life been a journey for myself, I was also living for those on the other side of the cameras."

They continued:

"Today is a day I'm so happy to share more of my life with you all: I am proud to let you know that I identify as nonbinary and will officially be changing my pronouns to they/them moving forward."

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