Raven-Symoné is a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community — but she says when Disney proposed that her titular character in “Raven’s Home,” she turned them down.
“You know what, there was a conversation before the series started and I was asked the question, ‘Would you like Raven Baxter to be a lesbian?’ And I said, no. I said no,” Raven told People. “And the reason I said no wasn’t because I wasn’t proud of who I was, or I didn’t want to represent the LGBTQ+ community in any way. It was because Raven Baxter is Raven Baxter is Raven Baxter.”
She said she was not interested in art imitating her life.
“There was no reason for me to change the human that she was in order to fit the actress that played her,” she explained. “And Raven Baxter is a character that I was proud to play, even if she is straight, cisgender, I don’t mind. Let her have her moment. She was divorced though, and I had no worries about saying, ‘No boyfriends.'”
“Raven’s Home,” a spinoff to the popular kids show “That’s So Raven,” premiered in 2017.
Last year, the former Disney actress announced that she had tied the knot with wife Miranda Pearman-Maday.
“I got married to a woman who understands me from trigger to joy, from breakfast to midnight snack, from stage to home,” Symoné captioned a picture of their happy moment. “I love you Mrs. Pearman-Maday! …!!! I’s married NOW.”
Speaking to People, the notoriously private celeb explained why she went som public with her intimate nuptials. “Despite being someone who has kept my personal life private, I decided to share this moment because it’s one of the biggest and happiest of my life,” she said at the time.
“Miranda makes me feel confident and empowered in an entirely new way,” she continued. “We planned our ceremony together and it was a true reflection of our love and partnership.”
