Like Jameela Jamil, actress Rosario Dawson quasi-came out as LGBTQ while discussing her romance with former presidential candidate Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) even though she admitted to “not having a relationship in that space.” Her admission comes months after being sued by a transgender man for alleged transphobia.
Speaking with the feminist site Bustle, Dawson addressed a 2018 Instagram post she wrote celebrating Pride month, which fans interpreted as her coming out of the closet. Here’s what it said:
I will not be ashamed.
this is just who I am.
and who I was meant to be.
No mistakes.
so right here I stand.
I’m out on my own two feet.
no you will not tear me down.
no my heart will not be bound.
sing it loud.
sing it loud.
I’m proud.
I’m proud.Happy pride month! Sending love to my fellow lgbtq+ homies. Keep being strong in the face of adversity. Loud & Proud.
Now, nearly two years later, Dawson kinda, sorta affirmed to Bustle people’s original thoughts about her sexuality.
“People kept saying that I [came out]… I didn’t do that,” she said. “I mean, it’s not inaccurate, but I never did come out come out. I mean, I guess I am now.”
Immediately, however, Dawson clarified she never considered this LGBTQ identity “authentic.”
“I’ve never had a relationship in that space, so it’s never felt like an authentic calling to me,” she said.
As reported by NBC News, a transgender man named Dedrek Finley filed a civil rights discrimination suit against Dawson back in October, alleging that she and her family repeatedly “misgendered him multiple times each day, with deliberate indifference as to the appropriate way to” use Dedrek’s preferred pronouns.
“Instead, in response to Mr. Finley’s complaints, Rosario would respond to Mr. Finley, ‘You’re a grown woman,’” the lawsuit claimed.
Dawson’s admission resembles that of a recent statement made by “The Good Place” actress Jameela Jamil, who came out as “queer” after a recent role she was to play sparked diversity questions.
“I added a rainbow to my name when I felt ready a few years ago,” Jamil said on Twitter, “as it’s not easy within the south Asian community to be accepted, and I always answered honestly if ever straight-up asked about it on Twitter.”
“But I kept it low because I was scared of the pain of being accused of performative bandwagon jumping, over something that caused me a lot of confusion, fear and turmoil when I was a kid,” she continued. “It’s also scary as an actor to openly admit your sexuality, especially when you’re already a brown female in your thirties. This is absolutely not how I wanted it to come out.”
“I know that my being queer doesn’t qualify me as ballroom,” she concluded. “But I have privilege and power and a large following to bring to this show … sometimes it takes those with more power to help a show get off the ground so we can elevate marginalised stars that deserve the limelight and give them a chance.”
Jamil has been in a heterosexual relationship with musician James Blake. As noted by The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh:
The problem is that the Left hangs everything on the hook of identity, but that hook is not connected to anything itself. It’s hanging precariously in the ether, not nailed into any sort of sturdy surface. According to their doctrines, identity is a nebulous, fluid, largely arbitrary, and entirely subjective concept. All that matters is how you identify, but anyone can identify as anything, so the edifice collapses in on itself.