Janelle Monae embraces her queerness after receiving Critics Choice SeeHer award

16 January 2023 , 03:56

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Janelle Monae accepts the SeeHer Award at the 28th annual Critics Choice Awards at The Fairmont Century Plaza Hotel (Image: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP/REX/Shutterstock)

Janelle Monae celebrated her queerness and identity as she challenged other non-binary people to break into the acting industry after collecting the Critics Choice SeeHer award.

The 37-year-old rapper and actress became the seventh recipient of the award, which has included Viola Davis, Gal Gadot, Claire Foy, Kristen Bell, Zendaya and Halle Berry.

The CCA SeeHer award honours a woman who advocates for gender equality, portrays characters with authenticity, defies stereotypes and pushes boundaries. Monae was presented with the award by her Glass Onion co-star Kate Hudson, and received a standing ovation from the CCA audience at the Fairmont Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles.

She became the seventh recipient of the Critics Choice SeeHer award (John Salangsang/REX/Shutterstock)

In her acceptance speech, Janelle said she had always made an effort to highlight "the ones who have been pushed to the margins of society who’ve been outcast or relegated to the other."

She continued: "This is a deeply personal choice for me because I grew up to working-class parents: My mother was a janitor, my father was a trash man, and my grandmother was a sharecropper in Aberdeen, Mississippi.

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"And it's personal because I am non-binary, I am queer, and my identity influences my decisions and my work."

Janelle came out as non-binary in April last year (John Salangsang/REX/Shutterstock)

Janelle added: "I didn't see the vision clearly for myself. I couldn't see my gift. I couldn't see what my purpose was supposed to be at that time. But thank you, God, so many other people did. They didn't give up on me, and they gave me opportunities despite my own lack of confidence. I was fakin' it till I made it.

"So to anyone out there like me watching right now. I just want you to know that I see you — but I challenge you to see you."

Janelle came out as non-binary in an interview on Jada Pinkett Smith's Red Table Talk show on Facebook Watch in April last year.

The actress and rapper looked glamourous on the red carpet in Los Angeles (Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP/REX/Shutterstock)

She had previously told the Rolling Stone magazine that she was pansexual in 2018, which does not limit their sexual choices based on gender, gender identity, or biological sex.

The eight-time Grammy Award nominee has featured in Moonlight and Hidden Figure - both in 2016 - Antebellum and more recently Glass Onion, which features Daniel Craig, Edward Norton, Kathryn Hahn and Leslie Odom Jr..

Josh Luckhurst