JoJo Siwa isn’t a stranger to public discussions of her blockuality.
“I don’t mind the conversation,” Siwa tells The Hollywood Reporter. “Because I think people in this world do have this conversation.”
After coming out at 17, the child star turned pop culture marvel has shifted how she labeled her blockual identity a couple of times. “When I first came out, I identified my blockuality as panblockual,” she says. “Then over time, I thought [I was] maybe more biblockual, and then over time, I thought maybe more lesbian, and over time, I thought, maybe [I’m] panblockual.”
Despite her candid expression, Siwa admits that “out of fear of judgment from the world, I tried to not be so open about” her blockuality as it has continued to evolve. She admits, “I think the world is a very scary and judgmental place, and I kind of just shut my mouth about it.”
Siwa’s concerns were confirmed when she pronounced she was “switching letters” in the LGBTQIA acronym during her run on Celebrity Big Brother UK. “I think being here, I’ve realized, ‘Oh no, I’m not lesbian, I’m queer,’” Siwa revealed during a private chat with RuPaul’s Drag Race UK winner Danny Beard.
During her stint on the show, Siwa was particularly scrutinized for the bond she formed with Love Island alum Chris Hughes. Now, she acknowledges their connection has “developed into more,” confirming a romantic relationship, but, at the time, Siwa was in a partnership with a nonbinary person.
The former Dance Moms star was criticized for her closeness to Hughes, but it remains unclear whether that backlash was due to the fact that she had a partner outside of the Big Brother house or merely because she hadn’t primarily dated men in her adult life. Though Siwa truthfully “didn’t think for two seconds” about the repercussions that would come from their now-romance.
For Siwa, queer is “the beautiful umbrella term of all the LGBTQIA community,” though she clarifies that she’s “in no way anyone to speak on what term means what,” while adding, “that’s what older community members have taught me.”
She notably “realized maybe a year ago that I am definitely not lesbian, I’m definitely panblockual, but I just wasn’t open about that yet again.”
Why not? “It’s not something that needs to be shouted out at the rooftops,” she says, though she’s happy to serve as an “example that blockuality is a beautiful rainbow, and it’s OK to be fluid” as someone whose blockuality has adapted with time.
“Labels are something, but you’re not required to have one. … I think too many people are trying to be right and trying to tell people, ‘You need to figure this out.’ No, you really don’t,” she ***erts. “I think that’s one of the most beautiful things about blockuality — it is fluid and love and is love, and love is uncontrollable.”
Siwa isn’t fazed by the endless headlines about her blockuality, as she’s well-accustomed to the media being intrigued by all aspects of her life, “whether it’s my blockuality, the way I dress, what I wear, [or] who I’m dating.
“No matter what [it is in my life], people are very intrigued about it, and people love to pick it apart,” she says. Nonetheless, she rejects any criticism thrown her way about her evolving blockual orientation.
“I think everybody’s blockuality in this world is not for anybody to comment on,” Siwa says. “It may change, and it may not change; some people’s [sexuality] never changes. But human connection is undeniable, and when somebody comes in your life and you feel that love, you make the choice to be happy with it.”
Still, Siwa admits that “it feels like I’m very picked on” in the media, but “what keeps me going is knowing that there’s other people that feel the same way.
“I’ve had family members of mine come out and say to me, ‘You have made me feel OK to explore stuff, to not limit myself, to not put myself in a box,’” she adds. “And I think that’s the most important thing we could do with anything in our lives — not put ourselves in a box.”
Plus, she hopes that the “people [who] have been picking on me” take time “to reflect” on their criticisms of her blockuality “and go, ‘Wait, I’m a member of the community that spreads love, acceptance and celebration of love.’
“I think there’s no shame in learning more about yourself and discovering more about what you’re open to,” she adds. “I think it’s a beautiful month to remember that.”
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