Orange is the New Black writer: I spent my whole life being afraid of lesbians before coming out
Orange is the New Black writer Lauren Morelli has opened up on lesbian culture and the difficulties she faced in making gay friends.
Ms Morelli came out publicly last year, after realising she was gay while writing for the hit Netflix show.
She later divorced her husband, and now dates Samira Wiley, who plays Poussey Washington on the show.
Speaking on This Just Out, she said of starting the show while believing she was straight: “I walked into like the Mecca of lesbians, which is what Orange is the New Black is. Not just for you guys, the audience, but on set. There’s so many lesbians.”
She added: “I freaked out… I always had been nervous around lesbians”, before joking: “The flannel and big boots really scare me!”
The writer continued: “[I was scared because] groups of lesbians would always assume that I was gay.
“I think when I finally realised… I went to the GLAAD awards and there was this very inspiration speech about living visibly.”
When asked about making friends in the lesbian community after coming out, Morelli said: “I had a couple…I have made lesbian friends since coming out, but I really went kicking and screaming into it.”
“I’d spent my whole life being afraid of lesbians!”
She wrote: “It feels important to say these things in a public way, to record them where they are easily accessible because if I could think and feel them while working in the world’s most supportive environment, surrounded by people in the LGBT community, where being a minority of any sort is joyfully celebrated, I can only venture to imagine the pain, confusion and fear that might have existed otherwise.”
Season 3 of Orange is the New Black starts 12 June on Netflix.
Watch the clip below:
