--- title: Janelle Monáe Comes Out as Pansexual, Queer, Talks Sexuality description: Janelle Monáe revealed that she identifies as pansexual and talks about life as a black queer woman in a new interview with Rolling Stone. canonical: https://time.com/5255815/janelle-monae-comes-out-as-pansexual/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-04-26T15:56:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:47:18.079Z og:title: Janelle Monáe Comes Out as Pansexual, Talks About Sexuality og:description: "I consider myself to be a free-ass motherf-cker" og:url: https://time.com/5255815/janelle-monae-comes-out-as-pansexual/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteb53a05b62dfaab1/69892ec3656a3f0193bd4417/janelle-monae-comes-out-pansexual-talks-sexuality.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: 2018 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Radhika Jones - Arrivals og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Janelle Monáe Comes Out as Pansexual, Talks About Sexuality twitter:description: "I consider myself to be a free-ass motherf-cker" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteb53a05b62dfaab1/69892ec3656a3f0193bd4417/janelle-monae-comes-out-pansexual-talks-sexuality.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Janelle Monáe Comes Out as Pansexual: 'I'm Open to Learning More About Who I Am' > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. ## Video: Musician, Singer and Activist Janelle Monáe Shares Powerful Messages Through Her Art [Watch (HLS stream): Musician, Singer and Activist Janelle Monáe Shares Powerful Messages Through Her Art](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/aXx7YViv.m3u8) (1:12)  _Published 2018-06-29. Get ready for the artist's upcoming album: 'Dirty Computer' dropping April 27._  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Apr 26, 2018 3:56 PM UTC  BEVERLY HILLS, CA - MARCH 04: Janelle Monae attends the 2018 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Radhika Jones - Arrivals at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 4, 2018 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Presley Ann/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images) BEVERLY HILLS, CA - MARCH 04: Janelle Monae attends the 2018 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Radhika Jones - Arrivals at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 4, 2018 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Presley Ann/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images) Presley Ann—Patrick McMullan via Getty Image  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Apr 26, 2018 3:56 PM UTC [Janelle Monáe](http://time.com/4733274/janelle-monae-marie-claire-respect/) has come out as pansexual in an interview released on Thursday in [_Rolling Stone_](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/cover-story-janelle-monae-prince-new-lp-her-sexuality-w519523). The singer and actress is known for being private about her personal life. “Being a queer black woman in America,” she said, “someone who has been in relationships with both men and women – I consider myself to be a free–ss motherf-cker.” Monáe previously alluded to being [bisexual](https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2018/02/23/janelle-monae-and-tessa-thompson-have-made-a-sexually-charged-bisexual-anthem/), but after learning what [pansexuality](http://time.com/4703309/gender-sexuality-changing/) — that is, being open to sexual attraction towards all members of all sexes and genders — was, she determined that that was her sexuality. “Later I read about pansexuality and was like, ‘Oh, these are things that I identify with too,'” she said. “I’m open to learning more about who I am.” Themes of this sexual fluidity run through her upcoming new album, [_Dirty Computer_,](http://time.com/5235013/janelle-monae-grimes-pynk-tessa-thompson/) which she hopes will give her listeners the freedom to be themselves. “I want young girls, young boys, non-binary, gay, straight, queer people who are having a hard time dealing with their sexuality, dealing with feeling ostracized or bullied for just being their unique selves, to know that I see you,” she said. “This album is for you. Be proud.” ## Transcript [00:00] [ MUSIC ] [00:16] [ MUSIC ] [00:32] [ MUSIC ] [00:48] [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5255815/janelle-monae-comes-out-as-pansexual/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5255815/janelle-monae-comes-out-as-pansexual/"},"headline":"Janelle Monáe Comes Out as Pansexual: 'I'm Open to Learning More About Who I Am'","datePublished":"2018-04-26T15:56:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:47:18.079Z","description":"\"I consider myself to be a free-ass motherf-cker\"","url":"https://time.com/5255815/janelle-monae-comes-out-as-pansexual/","keywords":["Newsfeed","celebrities"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteb53a05b62dfaab1/69892ec3656a3f0193bd4417/janelle-monae-comes-out-pansexual-talks-sexuality.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteb53a05b62dfaab1/69892ec3656a3f0193bd4417/janelle-monae-comes-out-pansexual-talks-sexuality.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"2018 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Radhika Jones - Arrivals","caption":"2018 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Radhika Jones - Arrivals","creditText":"Presley Ann—Patrick McMullan via Getty Image","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5255815/janelle-monae-comes-out-as-pansexual/","name":"Janelle Monáe Comes Out as Pansexual: 'I'm Open to Learning More About Who I Am'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Musician, Singer and Activist Janelle Monáe Shares Powerful Messages Through Her Art","description":"Get ready for the artist's upcoming album: 'Dirty Computer' dropping April 27.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/aXx7YViv/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2018-06-29T20:36:31.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/aXx7YViv.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5255815/janelle-monae-comes-out-as-pansexual/","duration":"PT1M12S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5255815/janelle-monae-comes-out-as-pansexual/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```