Demi Lovato Credits Max Ehrich Split in Part for Their Non-Binary Journey, Says Gender Identity May Change

Demi Lovato has been on a journey of self-discovery and acceptance over the past year or so, and they credit at least some of their growth to the dissolution of their engagement to Max Ehrich.

Demi and Max pulled the plug after two months of being engaged in September 2020, and since that time Demi has opened up about their journey with sobriety, as well as coming out as non-binary.

Making an appearance for "The 19th Represents Summit" with Kate Sosin, Demi said that they'd actually first begun identifying as non-binary as early as March 2020. But after getting into a relationship with Max, they pulled back that part of their identity.

"That led me to ignoring all the parts of myself that I didn’t think were digestible for my partner," Demi explained. As such, the end of that relationship was actually almost like a new awakening for Demi's journey of self-discovery.

"The dissolvement of that relationship was actually probably the best thing that’s happened to me, because of what that led inside of myself," they explained. "I was able to stand on my own two feet without needing someone else to validate me or to make me feel accepted."

"When I said goodbye to that relationship, I also said goodbye to everything that was holding me back from being my most authentic self," Demi said, adding that the breakup was so much more than that. It was also "the dissolvement of all things that had held me back from identifying as the person I do today."

But how Demi identifies today may not be how they identify tomorrow, with the singer describing their experience as an ongoing journey and even they don't know where it might take them next.

"There might be a time where I identify as trans," they explained. "I don’t know what this looks like for me. There might be a time where I identify as non-binary and gender nonconforming my entire life. Or maybe there’s a period of time when I get older that I identify as a woman, I don’t know what that looks like, but for me, in this moment right now, this is how I identify."

They did say that they had a feeling that things wouldn't change for them, but at the same time, "it’s about keeping it open and free and just-- I’m a very fluid person, and so that goes with how I express myself as well."