Oh, Sam Smith, we all wish you could lay by our sides too.
If you’ve seen recent pictures of Sam Smith online (not that we’ve been Googling), you would’ve probably been pleasantly surprised to find that the 25-year-old British singer-songwriter has been showing impressive signs of progress with his new diet plan. Plus, he’s announced the release date of his upcoming album The Thrill of it All and confirmed his new relationship with 13 Reasons Why star Brandon Flynn. So if you’re wondering how he feels about life right now, just count the number of times he smizes in photos these days.
While everything seems to be falling nicely in place for him now, Smith recently revealed in an interview with The Sunday Times that life wasn’t always so certain for him. Besides struggling with being “literally the only gay in the village,” he also got crap for his liking for dressing effeminately.
When asked if he identifies as a cisgender man, Smith replied, “No, […] I feel just as much a woman as I am man.”
For those who might be confused, sexual orientation and gender identity are like apples and oranges in the same fruit basket. The former describes who you like, the latter describes who you feel. As many who are gender non-binary like Smith confessed to being, they enjoy pushing the boundaries of conventional wisdoms when it comes to dressing up and behaviour.
Smith goes on recounting a time in his youth where he didn’t own any guy clothes, “I would wear full make-up every day in school, eyelashes, leggings with Dr Martens and huge fur coats, for two and a half years.” Sadly, he was teased a lot for it, but suffices it to say that “there were also people respecting me for walking around like that in my school.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BaTvDY2laiE/?hl=en&taken-by=samsmithworld
And that’s where Smith hits the nail on the head with the impact he will have on his coming out experiences. 2017 has been a controversially harsh time for the LGBT community, from the violent concentration camps in Chechnya, Russia to the arrest of gay men in Egypt via dating apps. There have to be many efforts combined to combat such terror, and Smith plays perfectly to fans of his music to listen beyond his soothing tunes and impressive falsettos.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BaeXg-Hlz3G/?hl=en&taken-by=samsmithworld
As Smith continues to boom successfully with his music, he will also bring a voice to a much misunderstood social minority and empower those like him when he was young to overcome oppression.
Header image: The Sunday Times
Other images: Billboard, NME
You must be logged in to post a comment.