Out singer Adam Lambert has congratulated British singer Sam Smith for coming out as non-binary.
“After a lifetime of being at war with my gender, I've decided to embrace myself for who I am, inside and out,” Smith, who is currently working on his third studio album, wrote on social media last month, adding that they prefer the pronouns “they/them.”

Smith came out as non-binary in April but said at the time that they still preferred the pronouns “he/him.”

Speaking with NME, Lambert congratulated Smith.

"The media loves something that feels new and ten years ago – in America anyway – there wasn’t a lot of mainstream music people identifying as gay, so it was a novelty, and I feel there might be some parallels there," he said.

"On a personal level, I’m really happy for Sam that they’ve found their truth and they’re feeling liberated by it.”

"At some point, you have to break through the ceiling and discuss trans or non-binary issues and I’m so proud of Sam," Lambert said. "They’re really doing a bold thing."

Lambert also called for empathy for no-binary people.

"If you stop for a minute and make it not about you and put yourself in the shoes of the person that’s being talked about and try to understand their experience – just for a second – you’ll realize what’s being asked is just that you be a decent human being," he said. "People get defensive, saying ‘How dare you ask me to change the way I think!’, and just a little empathy would help.”

Lambert, 37, is currently promoting his fourth studio album, Velvet: Side A.

(Related: Adam Lambert calls his coming out “an act of defiance”; Applauds Taylor Swift's activism.)