Walt Disney Television/Paula LoboAdam Lambert is supporting his pal Sam Smith’s decision to come out as non-binary.
Last month, Sam changed pronouns to they/them, but they quickly received some backlash following the change. In an interview with NME, Adam says anyone who reacted negatively should be more “empathetic.”
“At some point, you have to break through the ceiling and discuss trans or non-binary issues and I’m so proud of Sam — they’re really doing a bold thing. It’s time,” Adam says. “A lot of the negative reaction to it is because people are just not being empathetic.”
He adds, “If you stop for a minute and make it not about you and put yourself in the shoes of the person that’s being talked about and try to understand their experience — just for a second — you’ll realize what’s being asked is just that you be a decent human being.”
Adam says he sees some parallels in the way he was treated when he came out as gay 10 years ago to how Sam is being treated now.
“I think it’s a whole new conversation and not a widely explored topic,” Adam says of gender noncomformity. “The media loves something that feels new and 10 years ago — in America, anyway — there wasn’t a lot of mainstream music people identifying as gay, so it was a novelty, and I feel there might be some parallels there.”
“On a personal level, I’m really happy for Sam that they’ve found their truth and they’re feeling liberated by it,” Lambert says.
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