Dove Cameron is choosing self-love for this next chapter of her life.
In her first LGBTQ+ magazine cover, the 25-year-old former Disney star spoke with Gay Times about her decision to come out as queer last year and her journey to living authentically.
“I’ve hinted about my sexuality for years while being afraid to spell it out for everybody,” she says. “I was never confused about who I was…I felt like I wouldn’t be accepted and I had this strange narrative that people wouldn’t believe me.”
Back in August, the singer-actress came out as bisexual during an Instagram live while speaking about the same-sex couples that would be featured in her music video for ‘We Belong’.
Unfortunately, Dove’s news was met with accusations of queerbaiting as a marketing strategy to draw an LGBTQ+ fan base. The star had only publicly dated men at the time.
Despite the criticism, Dove says the decision to come out has made her closer to fans.
“I went on Instagram live and said, ‘Guys, I really needed to explain something to you. Maybe I haven’t said it, but I’m super queer,” she tells Gay Times. “This is something I want to represent through my music because it’s who I am. Ever since then, I’ve had such an unbelievable relationship with my fans and we have this very safe space that we’ve created.”
She further explains that she understood the initial confusion because she had assumed fans knew she was queer, but soon realised that wasn’t the case. “When you are who you are, you assume people see that and then you realize, ‘No, I have to come out, otherwise people aren’t gonna know’,” she says.
On her reason for publicly addressing her sexuality, Dove says she hopes it helps someone. “It felt like something that I could never talk about,” she reveals. “I feel like the industry has changed a lot in terms of having room for people with platforms to be human and not to be picked apart.”
To read the full interview, you grab the summer issue of Gay Times featuring Dove Cameron here.