Courtney Act opens up about relationships with lesbians and straight-identifying men
(Photo: Channel 5)
Drag superstar Courtney Act has further opened up about her pansexuality and gender fluidity since winning Celebrity Big Brother (CBB) last month.
The CBB winner and Drag Race alumni is the cover star for the latest issue of Attitude Magazine.
In it, Courtney Act, real name Shane Jenek, opens up about his sexuality and gender identity, and the issues faced as someone who identifies as pansexual and gender fluid.
Speaking to the magazine, Courtney says: “The reason I identify as pansexual is not because I wander around the street looking at women thinking I wanna bang ’em, it’s because I’ve had sexual and emotional experiences with women, and I don’t count that out as being a possibility.”
Adding: ‘I had a threesome with two lesbians. I had an emotional connection with one of the girls. We just decided to give it a go. It doesn’t invalidate the gay identity. It’s important to acknowledge bisexual, pansexual.
“We have such a rigid idea of what heterosexuality is and that’s problematic. We have such a rigid idea of what gay is and that’s also problematic.”
Going on, the 36-year-old Australian native explains having relationships with straight-identifying men who have been initially attracted to the drag persona Courtney.
Jenek adds: “I’ve had relationships — both sexual and emotional —with straight-identifying men.
“There’s something problematic with this idea that straight men can be ‘turned’, and the binary of gay and straight and the lack of knowledge of the Kinsey scale. There is a boy I dated for six months who’d never been with boys, had only been with girls.
“We met, I was in drag, we had a sexual encounter. I got out of drag, we continued the sexual encounter and we ended up dating. He was from Dayton, Ohio, and an Abercrombie & Fitch catalogue model and then when we broke up he went back to dating girls. He said, ‘I was just attracted to you, I’m not attracted to other men.'”
Act stormed to victory on Celebrity Big Brother last month.
She later opened up about an epic wardrobe malfunction which saw her lose her entire dress on her way into the house.
Her fellow housemates had been dubious as to whether the malfunction was staged or not.
Whatever the truth, Big Brother fans were delighted by the victory over anti-LGBT politician Ann Widdecombe.
Speaking shortly after her victory, Courtney said that she was amazed by the public support and validation of her beliefs.
She said: “It’s amazing to think that the public have chosen me, I guess it’s validation of the things I came here believing in.”
(Photo by Stuart C. Wilson/Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images)
She continued: “My inspiration for coming into the house was a teenage boy who didn’t quite know where he belonged or how he fit in, and not knowing what that meant.
“I learned that it’s okay to be different.”
This year’s series of Celebrity Big Brother was called ‘the Year of the Woman’ due to its heavy focus on gender to mark the 100th anniversary of women’s partial suffrage.
(Photo: Channel 5)
Courtney had previously said that she would have preferred a woman to win the ‘Year of the Woman’ series, and called her victory “slightly ironic.”
Host Emma Willis then asked Courtney about her role in educating both fellow housemates and viewers about gender and sexuality.
The topic of gender and sexuality came up frequently during the show, often in clashes with runner-up Ann Widdecombe.
“I was just having conversations with people about things that I’m passionate about,” Courtney said.
