Cynthia Erivo Reflects on Coming Out as Queer: 'It's Wonderful to Just Be Me, Really'
Cynthia Erivo didn't have "the language" to describe herself as queer when she was growing up.
On Friday, the 35-year-old actress said during an appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show that "it's wonderful to just be me," after she shared in July that she is bisexual.
"I don't think I had the language to even know what was going on. It's come much later to me now and it's wonderful to just be me, really," Erivo told host Kelly Clarkson about not fully understanding her identity as a teenager.
She added, "I think it's sort of made space creatively to just sort of let go of whatever I was hiding."
"You know, you don't realize you're doing that, putting so much energy behind it," Erivo continued. "And once you take the energy away from concealing something that is so a part of you that you can't hide it, you can put it elsewhere and make more wonderful things."
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The Kelly Clarkson Show Cynthia Erivo
"I knew something was different, but I didn't know what," the Wicked actress added. "What do I call it? What do I say about it?"
Erivo spoke to the importance of people learning how to describe themselves as an important step toward fully understanding their identity, noting that "sometimes we assume every queer person knows it from the beginning."
"Most of us do, but we don't necessarily know the language until someone says these are words that you might want to use, these are expressions you might want to use, here is some space for you so you can speak about yourself without someone else telling you," she said.
Amy Sussman/Getty Cynthia Erivo
In July, the Oscar-nominated actress opened up about her sexuality and the pressures of being in the community during her interview for British Vogue's August 2022 Pride issue, which featured Erivo and 11 LGBTQ+ creatives as its cover stars.
In the issue, Erivo admitted it took a long time for her to share that she is bisexual. "[LGBTQ+ people] still feel the need to be constantly justifying why we deserve to be treated as equal beings, when really the only difference is that we love differently and we express ourselves differently," she said.
"Rather than being chastised for that, we should be commended for being brave," she continued. "That's the most important thing: giving people the space to show up fully as who they are."
The Harriet star also gave advice to those wanting to help the community, but not knowing how to: "Find their queer family and sit and chat with them."
