Singer, songwriter, and actress Demi Lovato shared her own coming out journey this past weekend during a Facebook event celebrating National Coming Out Day 2020 (October 11). She also revealed which film helped her realize she was part of the LGBTQ community.
The former Disney Channel star and X-Factor judge labeled herself queer in a social media statement this past summer. This came after the death of her Glee co-star Naya Rivera. In a past interview with radio host Andy Cohen, Lovato said she came out to her parents in 2017.
Lovato, who is of Mexican heritage on her father’s side, and British-American fashion expert and TV personality Tan France (Queer Eye) hosted Facebook’s National Coming Out Day celebration. On this day, people in the LGBTQ community support one another if one of them decides they want to reveal that they are living their life as a non-heterosexual person. National Coming Out Day was first celebrated in 1988.
“It’s a relief when you’re able to be truthful to the entire world,” Lovato said.
During the Facebook event, Lovato told co-host France that she first realized she was queer when she saw the 1999 romantic teen drama Cruel Intentions. In one scene, actresses Sarah Michelle Gellar and Selma Blair share a kiss while on a picnic.
“I was just like, ‘Oh, wait a minute. I really like that,’” Lovato said. “I was like, ‘I wanna try it.’ Then, when I was 17, I did get down with that and that’s when I knew.”
Late last month, Lovato released the song “Still Have Me” after splitting from her fiancé Max Ehrich. The lyrics include, “I’m a mess and I’m still broken/But I’m finding my way back/And it feels like someone’s stolen/All the light I ever had.”