Rosie Perez, a co-host on ABC's “The View," revealed this week that she once had a teen romance with a girl at her Catholic school.
Although Perez identifies herself as
“quasi-straight,” according to the New York Post's Page Six, she later clarified, “No, I’m not gay, lesbian, transgender . . . but I’m a human being.” Her remarks were part of a speech Monday at the TrevorLIVE event in New York City.
According to Perez, she met a girl, Michelle, while both were students at a Catholic junior high school. Perez said that she had to continually repress the urge to act upon her physical attraction to Michelle until one day Michelle acted first.
Perez and Michelle eventually drifted apart, thus ending the relationship, and Perez is now married to Eric Haze. She recalled during her speech how alone and hurt she felt during that time because she had no one to talk to about her struggles.
“I’m not the only one who went through this questioning period,” Perez said. “I remember that hurt and that hurt kept me silent, and that silence brought shame. I didn’t have a community. No, I’m not gay, lesbian, transgender . . . but I’m a human being.”
Perez, who was born out of an affair, grew up in foster care until she was 12 years old, at which point her paternal
aunt took custody of her, according to the Daily Mail. She struggled with a speech impediment while growing up and dealt with depression as an adult.
Perez later went on to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the 1993 film "Fearless" before becoming a co-host on “The View” alongside Whoopi Goldberg, Nicolle Wallace, and Raven-Symoné.
The Trevor Project, which hosted Monday's fundraising event, works toward ending suicide among LGBTQ youths.
“I didn't have a community. I didn't have The Trevor Project,” Perez said at the event. “If I had other people, specifically adults, if I was just able to call up and they said . . . ‘You're normal, don't worry. You're either gonna go here, there or in the middle. Don't worry about it. It'll pass. You're just figuring it out,' even that simple statement . . . that would have made all the difference in the world.”
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