During Wednesday’s (April 20) episode of Jada Pinkett Smith’s Red Table Talk, Janelle Monae addressed their much-discussed gender identity.
“I’m non-binary, so I just don’t see myself as a woman solely. I feel all of my energy. I feel like God is so much bigger than ‘he’ or ‘she’. And if I am from God, I am everything…But I just see everything I am. Beyond the binary,” they told Jada, Willow, and Gammy. Monae has addressed their gender and sexuality in the past, coming out as pansexual in 2018. Back in 2020, they tweeted “#IAmNonbinary” but told The Cut that they were just spreading awareness and displaying their support for the LGBTQ+ on Nonbinary Day. During the episode, Monae did discuss their pansexuality as well.
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Yesterday, Monae admitted that at the time of the tweet, they had not yet fully processed the decision to come out again, nor had the time to discuss it with their circle. “I wasn’t ready to have my family question my personal life or get calls from people who still look at me at ‘Little Pumpkin,'” they said. “I needed to talk to my dad who was just great. My sister knew already because I’ve been in monogamous relationships, I’ve been in polyamorous relationships. But I knew that I couldn’t be Little Pumpkin. I couldn’t be little Janelle.”
Monae’s episode is the season five premiere of The Red Table Talk and was brought on at the request of Willow.
[Via]