Sam Smith ‘wasn’t prepared for the amount of ridicule’ when they came out as non-binary
Sam Smith came out as non-binary last year and told the world that their pronouns are they/them. (JEAN-BAPTISTE LACROIX/AFP/Getty)
Sam Smith has explained that they were not “prepared for the amount of ridicule” they would face when coming out as non-binary.
Sam Smith came out as non-binary and genderqueer in March 2019, and around six months later announced that they were changing their pronouns to they/them.
Reflecting on coming out in an interview with CBS, Smith said: “Queer people all around the world, we don’t identify within those two places.
“Gender, for me, has been nothing but traumatising and challenging throughout my life. It’s so hard to explain. I just feel like myself. I don’t feel like a man, basically.”
Before coming out, as they began to accept their gender identity, Smith struggled with their mental health.
“2019 for me was a fight with my mental health. For the first time ever, I started to get panic attacks and, you know, feeling anxiety. And I think that’s because I was facing it really for the first time,” they said.
For the “Love Goes” singer it now feels like “a weight has been lifted”, but they have also had to face “bullying” over their gender identity.
“I honestly, I can’t express to enough people how much courage it’s taken,” Smith said.
“I wasn’t prepared for the amount of ridicule. And bullying, really, that I’ve experienced.
“I mean, honestly, the comments and the types of things that I have to answer and walk through every day is very, very intense.”
Smith explained that sometimes they wish they did not have to deal with the pressure of being in the public eye, but added: “When I do feel that type of regret, I always come back to music and how I feel at the basis of all this.
“People hopefully still want to hear me sing and I still love singing. So that’s what gets me through all of it.”
