Opening UpEverything Dove Cameron Has Said About Her Sexuality Since Coming Out: ‘It’s Who I Am’

‘Reclamation of Who You Are’

During an interview with Byrdie from September 2023, Dove spoke about how coming out has affected her personal style, or at least, the perception of her style.

“Me coming out as queer has been something people have definitely focused on, and obviously I wrote a big song about it, so I understand that. But sometimes how you present is a huge statement, a declaration, and a reclamation of who you are,” she explained. “And sometimes, it’s just like, ‘This [style] is what I’m doing right now.’ I might be blonde again in six months. It’s just not always that serious.”

‘Very Scary Time’

Dove spoke about her thoughts on being queer amid anti-LGBTQ legislation during an interview with Variety in April 2023.
“I would love to say I feel incredibly hopeful, and everything’s gonna be fine, but I think that it’s a very, very scary time right now.”
However, she said that the hate is “not more powerful” than the LGBTQ community. “It’s just louder sometimes.”

Shoe Didn’t Fit

Dove opened up about her experience in coming to terms with her identity in an interview with Them in June 2022.

“That was part of my experience was how many shapes I had to fit into dating certain men. And then being like ‘This is painful, this is painful, this is painful — why does this feel so painful?'” she explained.  “And it was because I had this performative feminine thing going on, that I found was unnatural to me.”

“When I came to terms with my identity and I started dating men and women I was like, ‘Oh! Okay that’s why that hurt so badly — I was wearing shoes that were the totally wrong size.'”

The Moment She Came Out Publicly

“God, it was life-changing. I thought I would have to explore things that I wasn’t ready to or explain things that I wasn’t experienced speaking about. And because it never really happened, I’ve been able to transition into living a more honest life absolutely seamlessly,” she told Gay Times. “If I’m going to have a platform, I need to give others the same opportunity to feel acceptance and effortless support without feeling invaded or like they have to explain themselves. It would be my greatest joy in life to create an environment where that’s possible.”

No Labels

“I’m not a label person, but I would say that I am queer and that’s probably my most accurate way to represent myself,” she also told the magazine. “With the process of coming out, it was about who I am as a whole rather than who I choose to date or sleep with. I’m choosing to love myself, to be who I am every day and not edit myself depending on the room that I’m in. I’m making no apologies for who I am. I’m not saying it slightly differently to make people more comfortable.”

1st Pride Month

“This is going to be my first Pride Month, like, really, really out. My friend texted me the other day and was like, ‘This month is for you,’ and I was like, ‘Oh … wow,'” Dove told Entertainment Tonight in June 2021. “There’s a lot of emotion around my coming out that I didn’t really anticipate because I’ve always been out in my private life … I knew I was going to come out, but it’s different.”

She added, “I feel different being out and having people say things like that to me, like, ‘Happy Pride Month.’ I’m like, ‘Oh, thank you. Thanks.’ I’m usually the one wishing Happy Pride Month and counting myself like an ally. So yeah, it’s special. It’s special. I need to figure out what I’m going to do.”

Knowing Who She Is

“I have been out in my own personal life ever since I can remember. I think the first time I had a conversation about my sexuality, I was like 8 years old with my mom. Anybody who I’ve met since then … I’ve said I’m bi … and it’s just been like, ‘Oh, OK.’ Nobody’s ever been like, ‘What?'” she told ET. “I don’t think it’s a big shock once you get to know me, really. When I came out last year, I really was like, ‘Oh great, there it is.'”

An Adjustment

“The world has an opinion about something that is so just natural,” she also shared during her ET interview. “I’m definitely adjusting to that, but for the most part, it’s been really, really wonderful and it feels new. I feel very new. Suddenly, there’s loads of things that I feel very in touch with that aren’t just my identity, my sexuality.”

Impacting Her Fans

While chatting with ET, Dove said it was “important” she came out for her “young fans who are so impressionable.”

“They might not feel like they can see themselves in their idols. I think that it’s so important,” the actress explained. “I did it for me. I did it for me, but I think that the beautiful thing about living your life for yourself is then you make room for other people to live their lives for themselves in whatever way that means to them. That’s very important to me.”

‘Special’ Pride Month

“It was different for me because I think I’ve always sort of put myself, even though I’ve always known who I was, I’ve always kind of put myself in the ally category because I had some weird narrative about not deserving to be a part of the LGBTQ community,” she told Us Weekly in June 2021. “I don’t know what that is. Some inborn self-judgment [or] self-imposed something.”

She continued, “I’m not an ally. I’m a member part of this, I’m not just an ally. So it’s been, honestly, I would say it feels very vulnerable. It feels very exposed and different, but I’m surfing this new wave and it’s been really special. People have been really, really kind.”

The Success of ‘Boyfriend’

“I think the biggest thing that has happened throughout this experience has been an interpersonal change,” she told People of the song in March 2022. “An internal processing of me recognizing the self-hatred that I have towards myself that stands in my way of creating authentically, because clearly when I’m not paying attention or judging or gaslighting myself, then that I’m producing better stuff.”

Dove added, “I was like, that’s really the lesson that I’ve learned here, is that maybe my story about the fact that I’m an outsider is an inaccurate one and I need to do some self-reflection.”

Speaking About Her Sexuality

“To me and to the people closest to me, my sexuality is not a revelation. I’ve even spoken about it in the public eye many times, but there’s a difference between that and then writing a song as explicit in the expression of your sexuality as this song,” she told The Hollywood Reporter in March 2022 of her “Boyfriend” song. “I definitely was very like, ‘This is going to crash and burn in 100 ways.’”

Being Her True Self

“I honestly look back at that first initial foray into the conversation about my sexuality as my first time ever really being myself publicly,” Dove told E! News in June 2022. “I think there’s this narrative where if you are a queer person and you speak about your identity, its though you’ve been sitting on a secret your whole life and it’s this big revelation. Where in my experience, it wasn’t a revelation. I always knew who I was. Ever since I can remember, I knew I was queer.”

She added, “I wasn’t ever afraid of people knowing who I loved. More so, I was afraid of people having access to the human parts of me in an industry that can be so anti-human. That was definitely an emotional thing, but it turned out to be the best thing that could have ever happened to me. Mentally, I’m so much better now.”

‘Quietly Queer’

“I had always kind of been quietly queer,” Dove explained on the Zach Sang Show in November 2022, explaining that she was originally nervous that people “would not believe” that she was queer.  “I know that’s like a crazy thing to be afraid of, but in this day and age, people are so angry, people are so loud.”

“I wasn’t sure if I was knowledgeable enough to share that part of me with the world,” she revealed. “I felt like there was this inherent pressure to speak on it in a way, that I wasn’t sure if I knew myself enough to speak with, with authority.”

AMAs Speech

During Dove’s acceptance speech for New Artist of the Year at the American Music Awards, Dove addressed the November 2022 Colorado Springs shooting at an LGBTQ nightclub, which left five people dead, and 25 others injured.

“I want to start by saying that every award that I ever win will always first and foremost be dedicated to the queer community at large,” she began. “You guys have carved out such a space for me to be myself and to write music about it and I’ve never felt safer or more loved or more supported and I hope I can give you some semblance of that same feeling in my music.”

“On the heels of the tragedy that happened at Club Q in Colorado Springs, I want to remind everyone how important queer visibility is, and how important our community is,” the songstress added. “And I want to direct your attention to organizations like GLAAD and The Trevor Project for what you can do right now. I want to remind you that you are made absolutely right, and you are so loved and so held, and I want to thank you for supporting me. Thank you for holding the space – I’m holding it for you, too.”