Marvel star Rosario Dawson just came out while making an important point about bi-erasure
Rosario Dawson sparked rumours about her sexual orientation back in 2018 (Bonnie Biess/Getty)
Marvel actress Rosario Dawson has come out as LGBT, ending two years of speculation over her sexuality following a post about Pride month.
Dawson, 40, is best known for her role as Gail in Sin City, and for her portrayal of Claire Temple in Netflix’s Daredevil, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage.
She threw fans into a frenzy when she alluded to her sexuality in an Instagram post in 2018. “Happy Pride month!” she wrote. “Sending love to my fellow LGBTQ+ homies. Keep being strong in the face of adversity. Loud & proud. Here’s a lil throwbyke to last year.”
At the time Dawson had just ended a relationship with the comedian and television host Eric Andre, and many assumed that her post meant that she was coming out as bisexual.
In a recent interview with Bustle, she confirmed that she didn’t intend to come out at the time – but she is now.
“People kept saying that I [came out]… I didn’t do that,” she said. “I mean, it’s not inaccurate, but I never did come out come out. I mean, I guess I am now.”
She then pivoted to clarify: “I’ve never had a relationship in that space, so it’s never felt like an authentic calling to me.”
She didn’t elaborate on how she identifies but it is now being widely reported that she is bisexual.
Dawson has been dating US politician Cory Booker since last year and the couple are deeply in love. “In each other I think we found our person,” she said.
Rosario Dawson at the 2020 NBCUniversal Winter Press Tour on January 11, 2020 (Tommaso Boddi/WireImage/Getty)
The fact that she is currently in a heterosexual relationship in no way invalidates her queerness, although the sense that it does is one familiar to those in the bisexual community.
Bisexual invisibility and erasure contribute to poor rates of mental health among bisexual people, which a recent study found is particularly likely in bisexual women.
The study, published in the Journal of Public Health, noted that bisexual people are at particular risk of invisibility and marginalisation from both the LGBT+ community and wider society.
It also confirmed that bisexual women are far more likely to remain in the closet and to experience discrimination from friends.
Lead author Lisa Colledge said: “Homophobic prejudice is now widely and rightly condemned; specific stigma around bisexual identity needs to be similarly confronted.”
