“I was just trying to add to the conversation; that I’m not saying this qualifies me as a part of ballroom [culture], but you don’t actually know my sexuality”
BY SOPHIE GRIFFITHS, IMAGE VIA INSTAGRAM
When most celebrities come out as queer, they’re celebrated online and shown plenty of support in the media. Of course, there is sadly a certain level of homophobia that comes from online trolls but the backlash that Jameela Jamil faced when she came out as queer in February was appalling.
After it was announced that she would be included as one of the panel judges for a new voguing competition for HBO, called Legendary, the internet immediately went into meltdown accusing Jameela of “appropriating ballroom culture”.
Following the criticism, Jameela took to Twitter to release a statement that revealed she identifies as queer, but had struggled to come out earlier because of her Indian and Pakistani heritage.
— Jameela Jamil 🌈 (@jameelajamil) February 5, 2020
In a recent interview with The Guardian, Jameela has touched upon how she understands how the public reacted to her coming out after the backlash that she faced.
She said: “I understood, because of the timing. I was never trying to divert from [the criticism]. I was just trying to add to the conversation; that I’m not saying this qualifies me as a part of ballroom [culture], but you don’t actually know my sexuality.”
She went on to explain that she had not come out before “because I was worried that people would think I was jumping on a trendy bandwagon. And various other reasons. So I understand the pushback.”
However, she expressed that she did not understand the claims that she was a liar. “What a weird lie. It doesn’t help to identify yourself in any way in an industry that still discriminates against people. But the rest of it, I understood. That’s why I didn’t come back complaining.”
We can’t wait to see Jameela as a judge on Legendary when it hits HBO 27 May. 🌈
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