Amandla Stenberg, an actress who gained fame as the ill-fated Rue in "The Hunger Games," has come out as gay.
Known as a vocal supporter of social justice issues from the erasure of non-normative sexualities to the Black Lives Matter movement, Stenberg has previously said she identified herself as bisexual in public. She also said that she would also use the word pansexual to describe herself, meaning she is not limited in who she likes in terms of biological sex, gender or gender identity. At the time, she said identifying as bisexual was easier for those unfamiliar with pansexuality to understand.
In a conversation with musician King Princess for Wonderland magazine, Amandla said she is out and proud.
"So happy to say the words Yep, I'm Gay in official print," Stenberg wrote on Instagram Sunday.
“Let’s get real right out of the gate,” King Princess said. “I don’t know if the people in the back heard you, are you gay?”
"*Insert Ellen DeGeneres' TIME Magazine cover squat and wide smile* 'Yep, I'm Gay,'" Stenberg replies.
Stenberg also discusses the emotional moments she's had when she realized what her sexuality was.
“I was so overcome with this profound sense of relief when I realised that I’m gay – not bi, not pan, but gay – with a romantic love for women,” she said. “All of the things that felt so internally contrary to my truest self were rectified as I unravelled a long web of denial and self -deprivation. Like, ‘Oh, maybe there’s a reason why I kissed my best friends and felt ashamed growing up.’...
“I was flooded with a sense of calm and peace because everything that I struggled with or felt discomfort around finally made sense to me, and once those floodgates opened and years of pent up pain and shame were released, I found the freedom to live my best life waiting for me just underneath.”
For more on Stenberg's interview with King Princess, including representation of black queer women on screen, queer icons and her upcoming projects, go to WonderlandMagazine.com.
About the Author
