Dove Cameron Came Out As Queer & Explained Why She Felt It Was Important

Liv and Maddie star Dove Cameron is opening up about her journey of coming out in the public eye. The star revealed she identified as bisexual in August 2020, but she felt nervous about it before then. Now she’s getting real about the process and how she finally decided to be as truly herself as possible with her fans. Dove Cameron’s quotes about coming out as queer will make you feel inspired.

Cameron opened in a recent interview with Gay Times, and she got honest about her decision to come out as queer. "I was never confused about who I was," she said. The star admitted that the label “queer” works best for her, but she doesn’t like 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 began. “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,” she continued.

When discussing her reluctance at coming out, she admitted, "I felt like I wouldn't be accepted, and I had this strange narrative that people wouldn't believe me." Cameron continued, “I was really nervous to come out and, one day, I dropped it because I was behaving like somebody who was out, and I realized I wasn't. 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 said.

Cameron’s decision to come out followed shortly after one of her lyric videos received backlash from some viewers for “queerbaiting.”

She explained, "I've hinted about my sexuality for years while being afraid to spell it out for everybody." she said. "I did a lyric video last year for 'We Belong.' It had moving line drawings of people falling in love… It was all a man and a woman making out, and it was a weird moment for me."

The star revealed she felt uncomfortable with the video showing only heterosexual couples. "It was so bizarre that I had to ask to mix in different orientations. People started asking for hints about the video, and I used different combinations of emoji couples making out.” She continued, “When the song came out, everybody got the idea that the song was a big LGBTQ+ anthem song, and I found myself in this position where everyone thought I was queerbaiting."

That’s when Cameron decided to reveal her sexuality on Instagram Live in August 2020. "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. This is something I want to represent through my music because it's who I am,'" she said.

Since coming out, Cameron says her relationship with her fans has gotten even closer. "We have this very safe space that we've created," she said. "A lot of my fans have come out to me. A lot of my fans have told me that because it's such a non-issue with me. It wasn't a big announcement. It was never something I really dove into. It was like here I am, and here I always have been."

Cameron also says seeing other celebs come out helped her consider her authenticity in the public eye. "It was the beginning of a bookmark in my brain thinking, 'Wait a minute, can I live life honestly in the public eye — is that something that's publicly available to me?'" she said. She also mentioned how her split with Thomas Doherty helped reposition her in terms of the kind of music she was writing.

"I hope it helps; that's why I came out," she continued, revealing that she hopes to serve as an inspiration for others to embrace coming out, too. "It felt like something that I could never talk about. 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,” said Cameron.

It certainly sounds like Cameron is excited to be even more open with fans, and it’s great to hear.