In accepting an award Saturday, actress
Evan Rachel Wood said that homophobic speech led her to “bury”
her same-sex attraction.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the
nation's largest LGBT rights advocate, recognized Wood with its
Visibility Award at a gala dinner in North Carolina.
The 29-year-old star of HBO's Westworld
came out bisexual in a tweet in 2012. She told the crowd at the Le
Meridien hotel in Charlotte that she first felt feelings for women at
age 12.
“I thought women were beautiful,”
she
said. “But because I was born that way I never once stopped to
think that was strange or anything else.”
Wood said that hearing frequent
homophobic hate speech from those around her led her to “bury”
her feelings toward women in her teen years.
Wood is currently engaged to Zach
Villa. Together they form the band Rebel
and a Basketcase.