Sam Smith breaks silence on BRITs decision not to ditch male and female awards

Sam Smith spoke out after the BRITs decided to not bin male and female awards.

The BRITs has not gone gender-neutral after Best Male and Best Female categories were in review because Sam, who identifies as non-binary, was twice nominated for the British Male Solo Artist.

Speaking out, Sam admitted they were looking forward to a time where music would be celebrated regardless of someone's gender or race or age.

The singer, who likes to be referred to as they/them pronouns, said music had always been about "unification" and not about dividing people.

They said: "The Brits have been an important part of my career, one of my earliest achievements was winning Critics Choice in 2014.

Sam Smith breaks silence on BRITs decision not to ditch male and female awards (Getty Images for MTV)

"Music for me has always been about unification, not devision.

"I look forward to a time where award shows can be reflective of the society we live in. Let's celebrated everybody regardless of gender, race, age, ability, sexuality and class."

Sam's post was met with the unwavering support of their loyal followers.

"We’re with you Sam , love you always," among the sea of commenters, one wrote.

Another wrote: "We support you."

"We all support you babe."

The BRITs has not gone gender-neutral after Best Male and Best Female categories were in review because Sam, who identifies as non-binary, was twice nominated for the British Male Solo Artist (Twitter)

It comes after the BRITs decided to make no changes to the gender categories.

Singing super star Mabel was the only female selected among 25 nominees in mixed-gender categories at last year's Brits.

A source told The Mirror: “For 2021, there are no changes to the gender categories.

“The Brits are committed to evolving the show and it’s still something that’s very much under discussion. There’s no timeline in place, but there is still a possibility of change in later years.”

The insider added: “If you take away gendered awards you risk not giving a platform to female artists."

Sam attending the Brit Awards 2019 (Doug Peters/EMPICS Entertainment)

Sam has been open about the struggles they face.

They told James Corden on The Late Late Show last year: "It's been amazing, but it's also been really, really hard to see all the backlash and the amount of people that are still so unsupportive of gender nonconforming people and trans people all around the world."

The singer added: "All in all, it's been wonderful, I've always felt the way I felt.

"Being able to tell everyone that and feel so much more open about certain parts of my personality and my life has been absolutely incredible."