Eliot Sumner wants to be known as a “musician,” not as a particular gender. Born a biological female, the child of Sting and his wife, Trudie Styler, opened up to the Evening Standard in a new interview. Sumner does not believe in gender “labels” and prefers to dress down instead of dolling up.
“I think forever I was trying to figure out maybe … what I am,” Sumner, 25, told the paper. “But I don’t think anyone should feel pressured to have any kind of label or tag on them. We should treat everybody the same. Me, I don’t like to be put down to a specific thing. We’re all human beings.”
In regard to sexuality, Sumner said “no one had ever asked. They knew already. So I didn’t need to. I’ve never come out to anyone. My friends always knew and I always knew.”
Having grown up as the child of a classic British rocker and a film producer and director, Sumner is used to being associated mostly with their parents.
“I think I’ll always be in the shadow of my parents,” Sumner said. “But that’s okay. Everyone has a challenge. If I’m proud of the music I am making, that’s all I can ask for. If I put it out into the world, it’s not up to me any more.”
In addition to Sumner, Sting, 64, has five other children: two from his first marriage to Frances Tomelty and three with Styler. In June 2014, Sting told the Daily Mail that he does not plan to leave his £180 million (about $300 million in U.S. currency) fortune to his kids.
“I told them there won’t be much money left because we are spending it,” the Police frontman said. “We have a lot of commitments. What comes in we spend, and there isn’t much left. I certainly don’t want to leave them trust funds that are albatrosses round their necks. They have to work. All my kids know that and they rarely ask me for anything, which I really respect and appreciate.”
