In a new interview, actress-singer
Raven-Symoné said that
falling in love helped her come out publicly as gay.
The former Cosby Show child star
came
out lesbian in 2013 after refusing to discuss rumors about her
sexuality. She married her girlfriend Miranda Pearman-Maday in 2020.
During a roundtable discussion
moderated by out journalist Robin Roberts, Raven-Symoné,
35, said that being a public figure informed her decision to remain
closeted.
“I've been told I've been a
liability,” she told Roberts. “This is what your job is and
that's who you are. Especially at that young of an age. Like you have
to stay this way, and look this way.”
“I was in love, at the time, with
that person, and I was fed up with just closing the door and being
myself once the door was closed instead of being told out in public
that who I was wasn't brandable.”
“I just feel in love,” she
continued. “Oh, OK, I don't have to be 39 before I come out, which
is what I thought when I was younger because that was the trend at
the time.”
“I don't remember young people my age
in the 90s coming out. You only saw an older generation do it,” she
said.
Premiering Wednesday on Disney+,
Turning the Tables with Robin Roberts also features other out
celebrities, including Tig Notaro, Josie Totah, Billie Jean King, and
Melissa Etheridge.
Raven-Symoné
currently stars in the Disney Channel's Raven's Home.