Grandfather cause cited by Lovato

DEMI LOVATO PLANS to have a gay old time headlining Sunday’s NYC Pride Dance on the Pier in Tribeca.

“Best audience in the world, and no, there’s nothing better,” says the 21-year-old songbird. She also served as grand marshal for last month’s Pride Parade in L.A.

Lovato (r.) may initially seem like an unlikely booster for gay pride, but the former Disney star, who’s been very vocal about her personal struggles with drug use, bulimia and mental health disorders, recently revealed her grandfather came out as gay 50 years ago. She cites him as an inspiration for her boldness.

“To be honest, I never met him, so I never really thought about it that much until I got asked what does a trailblazer mean to me,” she told Confidenti@l. “He was a brave man who in the ’60s came out of the closet, which is unheard of.”

Meeting civil rights activist Edie Windsor and learning about her struggle against the Defense of Marriage Act rulings, inspired Lovato to talk about her trailblazing grandpa.

“I immediately thought of my grandfather and I thought, ‘I don't know why I’ve never talked about this,’” she said. Now, Lovato feels a duty to use her fame to make the world a better place.

“It does feel like a responsibility, but I don’t feel that it’s a burden,” she said. “When I was with the Disney Channel, I thought, ‘This isn’t fair. I signed up to be a musician and have a TV show. ... I didn’t sign up to be a role model.”

But Lovato, who seems far wiser than her 21 years would suggest, tells us she’s accepted the hand she was dealt, much like Windsor, her grandfather and, of course, er, Spider-Man.

“I always go back to it but in ‘Spider-Man’ S they say, s ‘With great power p comes great g responsibility.’ b It’s like, ‘OK, ‘ if you do want w to live this dream d and have this t type of career r you have to do something good with it,’” she said.

The “Really Don’t Care” singer also jokes that her decision to champion issues of understanding and tolerance requires the people around her to take in more responsibility, too.

“By now, my publicist knows that, and just anybody for that matter, if I want to talk about something I’m going to talk about it, so brace yourself,” she said.