YouTube star Jojo Siwa comes out as part of the LGBTQ+ community: ‘I am really happy’
The 17-year-old online superstar Jojo Siwa dropped hints of her coming out in a string of social media posts last week and appeared to have confirmed it via an Instagram live stream where she answered questions from fans.
The singer, dancer, actress and YouTube personality first posted a TikTok video lip syncing to Lady Gaga’s hit Born This Way—which many consider an anthem to the LGBTQ+ community—with the lyrics “No matter gay, straight, or bi, lesbian, transgender life, I’m on the right track baby, I was born to survive.”
Fans speculated that Jojo came out as queer, especially after comments from online personalities started to pop up. YouTube personality James Charles commented on the video “I’M SO HAPPY FOR YOU” and Jojo’s brother Jayden Siwa said, “So happy for you Jojo! Love you!”
The Dance Moms alum did not address the speculations but posted another photo of her on Instagram the next day where she was wearing a Gucci track jacket and her signature bow, both with rainbow details. She captioned the post “You make me HAPPPPYY!!!”
Then leading up to the weekend, Jojo posted on her Instagram stories and on Twitter a photo of her with the caption, “My cousin got me a new shirt,” which reads “Best. Gay. Cousin. Ever.” She made the post her "pinned tweet" since.
My cousin got me a new shirt pic.twitter.com/DuHhgRto7b
— JoJo Siwa!?❤️? (@itsjojosiwa) January 22, 2021
Many, including celebrities and online personalities, sent an outpouring of support to the YouTube star.
Rapper Lil Nas x, who came out as gay in 2019, commented, “If u spell ‘swag’ backwards, it’s ‘gay.’ Coincidence??”
TV host Ellen de Generes responded to Jojo’s tweet with a red heart emoji. And even Nickelodeon, the network where Jojo is signed, celebrated her in a tweet.
Meanwhile, celebrity blogger Perez Hilton tweeted a video announcing, “Jojo Siwa just confirmed she’s gay” while cheering on. In his post, Perez called Jojo a “Gay icon!!!”
Over the weekend, an ecstatic Jojo Siwa went live on Instagram to thank her fans and those who supported her for the last few days and declared that she is “really happy.”
“I have felt so much love and I have felt so much support surrounding me, it’s unreal,” Jojo said.
In her almost 15-minute live stream, Jojo answered questions from her fans, including “How long have you been part of the (LGBTQ+) community? How long have you been whatever you are?” To which Jojo initially answered, “I don’t know.”
She continued, “I think my whole life. Because my whole life, I have really, really been just… I like people. But I never had fallen in love before, but I always believed my person was going to be my person. If that person happened to be a boy then great. If that person happened to be a girl, great."
Jojo also revealed that she is not ready to put a label on her sexuality yet when asked by a fan about it. “I have thought about this, but the reason I'm not going to say this answer is because I don't really know this answer,” she said.
“I think humans are awesome, I think humans are really incredible people. Right now, I'm super-duper happy and I want to share everything with the world but I also want to keep things in my life private until they are ready to be public. Right now, what matters is that you guys know that no matter who you love, that it's okay. It's awesome and the world is there for you.”
Before ending the live stream, Jojo sent her love to her fans and said, “If I could give you any advice, do whatever it is that makes you happy.”
In August 2020, Jojo revealed that she was dating musician Mark Bontempo, only to announce in November that they had broken up in an Instagram comment. “We’re teenagers. And our relationship didn’t work out right now. He did nothing. I did nothing. Just better being friends.”
Jojo Siwa, known for her colorful style and signature big bows, first shot to fame on the reality show Dance Moms and has since amassed millions of young followers. She currently has more than 12 million subscribers on YouTube and was named one of Time’s “100 Most Influential People of 2020.”
Photos from www.instagram.com/itsjojosiwa