Janelle Monáe Says Response Since Coming Out as Non-Binary Has 'Been Great'

Eric Andersson
·3 min read
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Janelle Monáe
Janelle Monáe

Steve Granitz/FilmMagic

Janelle Monáe is grateful for the positive response since coming out as non-binary last year.

"It's been great," the star of Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, who uses she/her and they/them pronouns, says in the new issue of PEOPLE.

"And I say that because I think that there are a lot more discussions, and that's so important," continues Monáe. "I think that all of us want to walk in our truth. We're just trying to find a name to put with how we feel. And I think that's always great."

"I try to challenge people to listen. Yeah, you may not necessarily understand. But listening is such a free thing we can do. I think that by listening you can give somebody more compassion, more empathy, and that's just one more step [to] bridging that gap between us."

Last April the star, who identifies as queer, came out as non-binary on an episode of Red Table Talk, saying, "I just don't see myself as a woman, solely. I feel all of my energy."

RELATED:  Janelle Monáe Receives Trevor Project's 2022 Suicide Prevention Advocate Award: 'Your Life Matters'

As she tells PEOPLE, "Being non-binary has opened up my mind in terms of the type of art I can make and where I can go, who I can be. I'm all about surprising myself and discovering something new."

At the Critics Choice Awards Jan. 15, Monáe accepted the seventh annual SeeHer Award, an honor for actors who advocate for equality, defy stereotypes and push boundaries.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 15: (EDITORS NOTE: Image contains nudity.) Janelle Monáe accepts the #SeeHer Award onstage during the 28th Annual Critics Choice Awards at Fairmont Century Plaza on January 15, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Critics Choice Association)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 15: (EDITORS NOTE: Image contains nudity.) Janelle Monáe accepts the #SeeHer Award onstage during the 28th Annual Critics Choice Awards at Fairmont Century Plaza on January 15, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Critics Choice Association)

"I try to make an effort in my work ... to highlight the ones who have been pushed to the margins of society, who've been outcast or relegated to 'the other,'" Monáe said in her acceptance speech. "This is a deeply personal choice for me because I grew up to working-class parents: My mother was a janitor, my father was a trash man, and my grandmother was a sharecropper in Aberdeen, Mississippi."

"And it's personal because I am non-binary, I am queer, and my identity influences my decisions and my work," Monáe continued.

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"There were so many times in my life, y'all, where I did not see me. I couldn't see my light. I couldn't see past my circumstances. If you know my story, I wasn't supposed to make it out of Kansas City, Kansas, to be here tonight. I wasn't," said Monáe. "I didn't see the vision clearly for myself. I couldn't see my gift. I couldn't see what my purpose was supposed to be at that time. But thank you, God, so many other people did. They didn't give up on me, and they gave me opportunities despite my own lack of confidence. I was fakin' it till I made it."

"So to anyone out there like me watching right now," Monáe continued, "I just want you to know that I see you—but I challenge you to see you."

For more on Janelle Monáe, pick up the new issue of PEOPLE.