Sam Smith wasn’t prepared for all the “bullying” after changing their pronouns.
The ‘How Do You Sleep’ hitmaker decided last September to change their pronouns from him and his to they and their and Sam admits the ridicule has been “very, very intense”.
They said: “I honestly, I can’t express to enough people how much courage it’s taken. 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.”
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And Sam admits gender has been “traumatising and challenging” for them.
Speaking on CBS This Morning, Sam added: “Gender, for me, has been nothing but traumatising and challenging throughout my life … I just feel like myself. I don’t feel like a man.”
Meanwhile, the 28-year-old singer previously admitted they are glad they have changed their pronouns as it has allowed them to feel “completely like themselves” and “enjoy” their life.
They added: “I’ve always felt the way I’ve felt. It wasn’t a new feeling, it was just the discovery of a language and a community of people that felt the same way. It’s been lovely. It’s been a process of feeling heard and seen — that there is a space that I can live in and enjoy my life in and feel completely like myself, and be treated as such. I think that’s the difference with the pronouns.”
And Sam has “always been non-binary”.
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They said: “I always had a little bit of a war going within my body and my mind … I’m not male or female, I think I flow somewhere in between. It’s all on the spectrum …
“Yes, I have always been non-binary, I have always felt the way I’ve felt, and just hearing other non-binary stories made me suddenly feel seen. This is a way that I can live, where if I tell people this is how I feel and this is how I like to be treated, life is easier.”
