Aunjanue Ellis comes out as bisexual!
It’s Pride Month, and this King Richard actress is very proud of who she is. The 53-year-old recently went public about her sexuality during an exclusive sit-down with Variety.
Ellis’ first attempt to make her orientation known to the world was at the Essence Black Women in Hollywood Awards, where she rocked a Dolce & Gabbana suit with the word “Queer” in rhinestones on the jacket’s left sleeve. However, the bold statement piece didn’t seem to catch any of the swarming press or attendees’ attention.
“I was thinking, ‘Why didn’t more people pay attention to that?’ And I was like, they probably thought it said ‘Queen,’” she comically told the publication. “It wasn’t that I was expecting any sort of major reaction or anything like that. One of my family members noticed, but nobody else did.”
Raised in the backwoods of the Bible belt, Magnolia, Mississippi, Ellis’ road to acceptance hasn’t always included the big rainbows and the beautiful unicorns. Although she’s been open about her preference to close family, friends, and even co-workers, for decades, she stated that her loved ones weren’t very supportive of her decision to live her life out loud.
“If they come to New York and they are around all my gay friends, they’re like, ‘Oh we’re cool.’ But don’t bring it to the house,” Ellis spoke of her relatives’ stance on her lifestyle. “Don’t be open with it.”
She then explained that she initially realized her attraction to girls at the tender age of eight years old, recalling a time in her teenhood that she tried to force herself to like boys.
“The solitude of that is so lonely, it’s violent,” Ellis admitted to the interviewer. “It’s violent because you literally have to tuck and place so many parts of you to be acceptable, so people won’t run from you and don’t want to be around you. It was exhausting. That’s what childhood was like. That’s what adolescence was like. I knew [my sexuality], but there was no template for it; there was no example of it; there was no place for it, and certainly no forgiveness for it.”
Ellis is currently in an 11-year relationship with a man, but she has been fully acknowledging her bisexuality since her 30s. She only remained low-key about it due to the possible repercussions… at that time in her career.
But, one thing about this flamboyant soul, she knew that hiding herself was something that she’d never do–especially in 2022.
“The way that I live my life, around the people that I live my life around, I am public about it,” she happily expressed. “I’m very clear about being bisexual. I have a sweatshirt that says ‘Girl Bi’ that I wear everywhere.”
When speaking on the Hollywood scene’s failure to respect and recognize her as a part of the LGBTQ+ community, Ellis unapologetically said, “I don’t know what the mechanics are that goes into them not processing, or them not just being able to believe that in the same way I am Black, I am queer. This is who I am.”
The full interview can be read here.
Aunjanue Ellis Comes Out as Bisexual?! Twitter Reacts…
happy pride month to aunjanue ellis ONLY
— lil heaux™ (@juptralienbby) June 2, 2022
Aunjanue Ellis is amazing
— jasmine doakes (@jdoakes) June 2, 2022
I’m sorry but I typed in Aunjanue Ellis name and your tweet also came up . And I’m dying laughing rn becuz she is indeed on the “other side” 😂😂 I love it https://t.co/J8nhIwl9OV pic.twitter.com/v9denCY1Ag
— moesha’s diary 📔✍🏾 (@MoeMostDef) June 1, 2022
aunjanue ellis could [redacted] my [redacted]
— 🦪 (@elleiswrite) June 1, 2022
Aunjanue Ellis…I love you. pic.twitter.com/kTH7d7x1SQ
— 𝐍 (@nefiveli) June 1, 2022
On Day 1 of Pride Month Aunjanue Ellis aka Mattie Moss Clark aka Hippolyta done stood up to declare her truth as a Black Queer Woman! May The Lord(e)/Tha Lawd be praised! pic.twitter.com/bQlWAoxRuy
— Tha Good Butch Queen of Tha Norf (@heymissjoseph) June 1, 2022
Wheeeeell hellooo Aunjanue Ellis
👀 respectfully
— Maiaviridae (@_maiathebee) June 1, 2022
Im not surprised Aunjanue Ellis is bisexual.
— Kiara M. (@Kiara2Peace) June 1, 2022
So Pride Month 2022 is sponsored by Aunjanue Ellis & Lynda Carter?? So true!! 🏳️🌈
— That Woman in 12B (@lyfeisacomedy) June 1, 2022
This passage from Aunjanue Ellis’ Variety interview spoke to me. Sang my whole childhood/teenage years with her words. pic.twitter.com/MueMQ6bkse
— Encyclopedia Brown (@LaconicIcon) June 1, 2022
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