Renee Rapp feels she has a "responsibility" as a queer celebrity.
Renee Rapp feels a sense of responsibility
The 23-year-old actress came out as bisexual nine years ago and her most well-known on-screen character Leighton Murray, from 'The Sex Lives of College Girls', is a closeted lesbian.
She told The Independent: "There’s an inherent responsibility. If you’re somebody who has any sort of visibility as a queer person, right?
"You don’t want to be spewing b*******. You want to be careful and respectful and inclusive and really honest. I was freaked out when it started becoming this public thing.
"Also, I was making it a public thing. I still go through this now - I was speaking to my girlfriend this morning, being like, ‘Oh my God, I talk about being gay so much,’ and beating myself up for it, but then I’m like, ‘What am I beating myself up for? What are these internalised homophobic remarks I’m saying to myself?’"
Despite her struggles, Renee has no regrets about coming out.
The actress explained: "It has improved my quality of life beyond belief. I’m so fortunate in this regard because I don’t deal with a tonne of homophobic s*** compared to my other friends who are very visibly queer. People can be so f****** mean."
Meanwhile, Renee was diagnosed with a mood disorder last year, and the actress has now revealed that she felt somewhat relieved by the diagnosis.
She said: "Now I don’t have to hate myself for it.
"I was in a relationship that didn’t help matters - I had a panic attack in front of them, crying and pacing, and they just left me; they told me they couldn’t handle it. That’s not how you treat somebody whether they have mental health issues or not."