JoJo Siwa says she’s not ready to label her sexuality, explaining: ‘I think humans are awesome’
JoJo Siwa performs at Honda Center on 13 August, 2019 in Anaheim, California. (Getty/ Michael Tullberg)
JoJo Siwa has said she isn’t ready to label her sexuality, explaining that she thinks all humans are “awesome”.
The YouTube sensation appeared to come out as gay on Twitter on Friday (22 January), sharing a photo of herself wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with the words: “Best. Gay. Cousin. Ever.”
Siwa racked up more than 1 million likes on Twitter with the post, which she captioned: “My cousin got me a new shirt.”
But the 17-year-old has since clarified that, while she is a member of the LGBT+ community, she is not ready to definitively label her sexuality just yet.
During a 15-minute Instagram Live video, Siwa said: “Now that the world gets to see this side of my life, it makes me really, really happy. I’ve been happy in this land for a minute now.”
However, when a fan asked what “label” she falls under, Siwa said she isn’t ready to publicly identify herself.
“I have thought about this and the reason why I am not ready to say this answer is because I don’t really know,” she said.
“I think humans are awesome, I think humans are really incredible people… and I want to share everything with the world, but I also want to keep things in my life private until they’re ready to be public.”
JoJo Siwa is a part of the LGBT+ community, but she doesn’t want to label herself.
Siwa was also asked how long she has been part of the LGBT+ community, to which she replied: “I don’t know.”
She added: “I think my whole life, because my whole life… I liked people but I had never fallen in love before, but I always believed that my person was just going to be my person.
“And if that person happened to be a boy, great, and if that person happened to be a girl, great.”
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Siwa, who has more than 12 million subscribers on YouTube, also clarified that her sexuality had nothing to do with her breakup from Mark Bontempo in November 2020.
“People as teenagers break up, you have a boyfriend or you have a girlfriend when you’re six years old and you break up with them, you’re not with them for forever,” she told fans.
“I was a teenager, I still am a teenager, but I think I’m pretty happy now. I’m pretty good now.”
She also revealed that her decision to come out as a member of the LGBT+ community did not come as a surprise to her parents, telling fans that her mother has known about her sexual orientation for two years.
Siwa said her family have been supportive throughout her coming out.
“Somebody said: ‘Don’t worry, we knew you liked girls.’ Thank you? I think thank you!'” she joked, before adding: “I’m the happiest that I’ve ever been.”
