Keke Palmer received the Vanguard Award during the Los Angeles LGBT Center Gala Saturday, where she delivered an emotional speech about her sexuality.
“I’ve always been my own person, and sexuality and identity, for me, it’s always been confusion. I never felt straight enough; I never felt gay enough; I never felt woman enough; I never felt man enough. I always felt like I was a little bit of everything,” adding that feeling that way caused her “pain and resentment.”
“Why did my gender have to define the power I have in the world? And why does my gender get to decide my sexuality?” Palmer continued. “Since I was younger, I always questioned the boxes I was forced to be in and it starts with who you’re supposed to be as a child, you’re supposed to be as a Black person, or whatever the background you are from. Those walls just try to cave you in from every damn angle — who you are as a creative, who you are as a friend.”
“There is no greater masterpiece than living your truth,” she continued.
In April, Palmer gave birth to her first son, Leodis “Leo” Andrellton, with boyfriend Darius Jackson.
Months before she birthed Leo, rumors swirled that the Illinois-born star was pregnant, but it was not until hosting Saturday Night Live last December that she revealed her bare belly for the world to see.
“There’s some rumors going around, people have been in my comments saying, ‘Keke’s having a baby, Keke’s pregnant,’ and I wanna set the record straight — I am!” Palmer exclaimed at the time. She then proceeded to rip open her caramel-colored blazer to show her baby bump in front of a live studio audience.
“I gotta say, though, it is bad when people on the internet spread rumors about you y’all, but it’s even worse when they’re correct. I mean, like, I was trying so hard to keep it on the down low, cause I got a lot of stuff going on, you know?” she said. “But honestly this has been the biggest blessing, and I am so excited. Guys, I’m going to be a mom.”
The actress continued: “Even though some people feel a little weird about me having a baby cause I was a child actor, I just wanna say, look, I’m 29, I’m grown, I have sex, I own a home, I stormed the Capitol on January 6, you know? Things adults do.”
The 29-year-old has been quite mum about her relationship with Jackson although she did open up about becoming “Instagram official” with him earlier this year.
“It’s not gonna be everything you see, my job is my job, but at the end of the day this is somebody that is important to me so why not,” she added.
