BBC Radio presenter Shivani Dave has come out as non-binary live on air during a Pride special.
During their debut show for BBC Radio Wiltshire, Dave played “I’m Coming Out” by Diana Ross before discussing the meaning behind the hit song and how coming out is something LGBTQ people have to do multiple times.
“Coming out is something a lot of us feel like we should do, and it isn’t just a one time thing either,” they explained during the broadcast.
“It’s something that we have to keep doing over and over and over again.”
Before playing a song by non-binary singer Sam Smith, Dave opened up about their own gender identity, describing themselves as “just a person”.
“Non-binary actually means a lot of different things to different people,” they explained.
“For me, it just means I don’t identify with being a man or woman. I’m sort of outside those two options – I’m just a person.”
They continued: “You know what I said about coming out over and over again? I just did it.”
In a statement following their public coming out, Dave said they hope to inspire other black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) LGBTQ people.
“The presence of non-binary representation in mainstream media like the BBC is virtually non-existent,” Dave said.
“In coming out so publicly I hope to show other non-binary people that they should be proud to embrace who they are.”
They continued: “Being South Asian, I also hope to empower other BAME LGBTQ+ people who are often an unheard minority in the queer community.”
In March 2019, singer Smith revealed they identify as non-binary and genderqueer.
During an interview with Jameela Jamil, they opened up about identifying with stories of people who have also come out.
“I do think like a woman sometimes, in my head, and I’ve sometimes sat down and questioned, ‘Do I want a sex change?’ And it’s something that I still think about. Do I want to. But I don’t think it is,” Smith said.
“When I saw the word ‘non-binary’, ‘genderqueer’, and I read into it, and I heard these people speaking I was like, ‘f***, that is me’.
“I’m not male or female, I think I float somewhere in between.”
