LGBT glossy Out has named
British singer Sam Smith as its Out100 “Evolution of the Year.”
Smith appears on the magazine's annual
Out100 cover wearing a dramatic red eye shadow outlined in black, a
red overcoat, and a black purse.
Smith came out non-binary in March and
changed their pronouns to they/them in September.
“I feel happier and more comfortable
within myself when I'm wearing more feminine clothes, which I'm
experimenting with more and more,” Smith
told the magazine.
“In changing my pronouns, I felt
incredible freedom. It's like a brick was lifted off my chest, and
with that freedom comes another kind of pain. Feeling this free in
our skin is answered with abuse. And that’s really hard. For the
last year and a half, I’ve thought about changing my pronouns. I’ve
always hid behind my 'he, him' pronouns because I was too scared. I
thought living a life playing pretend would be less painful than
being authentic. But I’d rather be myself, even if it means being
abused for it. I’d rather get all this shit for being myself than
lie to myself. That’s not a way to live.”
Smith added that they've trained their
voice to be genderless.
“If I find a piece of music I love, I
wear it like it's a dress,” they said.