Singer Sam Smith embraces gender neutral pronouns they/them

(Reuters) – British singer Sam Smith on Friday asked to be referred to by the gender neutral pronouns they/them, citing “a lifetime of being at war with my gender.”

The Grammy-winning musician, 27, made the announcement in an Instagram post titled “My pronouns are they/them.”

“I’ve decided to embrace myself for who I am, inside and out. I’m so excited and privileged to be surrounded by people that support me in this decision but I’ve been very nervous about announcing this because I care too much about what people think,” the “Stay with Me” singer wrote.

Smith’s Instagram posting swiftly got more than 400,000 likes.

Smith said it was too early to explain “what it means to be non-binary” but the announcement comes six months after the singer came out on social media as “not male or female” but floating “somewhere in between.”

Smith won four Grammy awards in 2015 after releasing debut studio album “In the Lonely Hour” about unrequited love.

Smith joins a growing number of people who wish to use they and them as pronouns, including Jill Soloway, the Emmy-winning creator of transgender series “Transparent,” and “Billions” TV series actor Asia Kate Dillon.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant)