Demi Lovato is certainly a trailblazer in her own right, and now we know where she gets it from: her grandfather.
During Logo TV’s inaugural “Trailblazers,” which aired on Thursday, Demi revealed to the audience that her grandfather was gay.
But going into the night, the pop star didn’t plan on telling her grandfather’s story. After being inspired and moved by fellow attendees, especially Edie Windsor, who, along with attorney Roberta Kaplan, worked tirelessly to have DOMA repealed, Demi wanted to let everyone know that her grandfather was a proud member of the LGBT community.
“What happened was she came backstage after a couple speeches…it was shortly after Edie Windsor’s speech, and she came back and we were reading through it [her script] and she said I would really love to say something about my grandfather and she told me the story,” “Trailblazers” Consultant Matt Flanders told MTV News. “She always felt she got her energy and spirit from him and his trailblazing spirit and so we just really quickly wrote the paragraph together and put it in the monitor a few minutes later.”
Following her appearance, Demi stopped by MTV News to further talk about what an impact her grandfather made on her and how thrilled she was to pay tribute to such a courageous man.
“My mom’s birth dad, actually had my mom and was with my grandma and then he split with her because he came out of the closet and that was in the ’60s. So that to me is the epitome of a trailblazer, where you set an example and you do something that is brave and courageous and I was able to talk about that in my little speech,” she said. “And that was exciting for me.”
And although Demi never did get to meet him, she felt that she shares a powerful connection to her grandpa, or as she likes to call him “glampop.”
“He was a hairdresser, so I call him my glampop. Unfortunately, he passed away a few years later so I never got to meet him,” Demi said. “But I do feel like one of the reasons why I have a lot of courage to speak out and stand up for what I believe in came genetically from my grandfather who had the courage to come out of the closet in the ’60s.”
Christina Garibaldi
Christina Garibaldi has been an on-camera reporter for MTV News since 2011. When not interviewing or writing about her favorite stars, she keeps herself busy with baby animal videos and boy bands. Talk to her on Twitter @ChristinaMTV
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