Demi Lovato reveals how she came out to her parents: 'It took me until I was 25'
Demi Lovato has opened up about an important moment in her life of how she came out to her mom and stepdad.
In an interview with SiriusXM, the singer and actress took the time to detail her comingnout journey while she was still keeping her gender identity a secret from her parents. It wasn't until she was an adult that she had finally gotten the courage to reveal her true self to her loved ones.
"I came from a Christian background and grew up queer and didn't tell people until I felt comfortable with it. It took me until I was 25 to come out to my mom," Demi said.
At the time, the artist identified herself as bisexual, but she eventually revealed in an interview in 2021 that she is pansexual, explaining that she is attracted to both men and women and "anything" in between.
According to her, she first had the conversation about her sexuality with her parents around the time that her 2015 song Cool for the Summer had been released. The song, which contained some queer-coded lyrics such as "Got a taste for the cherry I just need to take a bite," sparked her coming-out moment with her stepdad.
"One day, I was about to go to a show. I was sitting on a plane and I was with my stepdad, who's basically my dad, and I was like, 'Hey, I need to tell you something.' I was like, 'I like girls too.' And he was like, 'Yeah, I know. You have Cool for the Summer out,'" Demi recalled.
While her mom also seemed to have gotten the hint from their song, Demi said that she had a separare conversation with her, but that she "kind of had the same reaction in a way" as her stepdad.
"I was getting ready to go on a date with a girl, and I didn't know if I would be photographed or what would happen and I really liked this girl. I was like, 'I think it's time to tell my mom in case it becomes serious,'" she said.
Demi continued, "I sat my mom down and I was like, 'I need to talk to you.' I said, 'I am about to go on a date with a girl and I just wanted you to know and hear it from me that I do like girls too.' She just almost started crying and was like, 'I just want you to be happy.'"
Her mom's simple response was enough to put Demi at ease.
"To have that reaction from a parent is so valuable and so appreciated because there's so many parents who don't respond that way, and it breaks my heart," she said.
This has since inspired her to want to inspire queer people to feel valued through her social media platforms, pointing out that, "Providing that energy and being a part of the community is so important to me, and providing a safe space is so important too."
Demi, who previously used they/them pronouns to refer to herself, recently announced that she has re-adopted using she/her after she had gotten tired of explaining to people why she identified with such pronouns and educating them about it "constantly."