Riverdale star feared she’d be accused of “faking it” when she came out as bisexual

8th August 2020

The actress came out as a “proud bisexual woman” before attending protests for LGBTQ+ people to stand in solidarity as allies to the Black community.

Lili Reinhart, who came out as bisexual earlier this year, has spoken more about her decision to come out, admitting that she worried the media might try and “vilify” her, because beforehand she’d only been in “hetero-normative relationships.”

She told Flaunt that she’d known about her bisexuality from a young age, explaining: “I knew full well that I was attracted to women from a young age.

“I felt that since I’ve exclusively been in hetero-normative relationships, it would be too easy for any outsider, especially the media, to vilify me and accuse me of faking it to get attention.

“That’s not something I wanted to deal with. But to my close friends, and those in my life, my bisexuality has been no secret.”

These issues are sadly common when it comes to people with bi+ identities. Often they’re accused of ‘faking it’ for attention or told they’re lying and should identify as either gay or straight. People also often make lazy assumptions like they’re ‘greedy’ or ‘confused’.

Lili also briefly about the BLM protest that she attended, saying: “It was incredible to be surrounded by so many people who are actively fighting against the injustices that are happening right now. Enough is enough and hopefully we’ll see real change from the actions that are now being taken.”

She continued, saying: “I felt that I wasn’t doing enough. And I felt that it was lame to keep reposting what everyone else is posting so I asked myself: ‘Okay, what do I have to offer?’

“I definitely learned a lot from the conversations I’ve been having. While it’s important to be an ally in this movement, Black voices cannot be muffled by other voices. This is their time to be heard.

“White people have to acknowledge their fucking privilege, which exists, and is very real. It’s important that we don’t just sit on our asses and let someone else fight this fight for us because it involves absolutely everyone.”