It’s pretty amazing how many people are beginning to feel more comfortable speaking openly about their sexuality. For the most part, we’ve diverged from categorizing people as gay or straight, and more and more people are starting to identify themselves as somewhere on a spectrum of queerness. Yet, despite a ton of famous men and women coming out as bisexual, sexually fluid, pansexual, etc., so many of them are stuck playing solely heterosexual roles in their careers.
So, what’s the sitch here? Are actresses who openly identify as a member of the LGBTQ+ community actively avoiding roles where the character identifies as the same sexual orientation that they do? Is Hollywood simply not making enough queer characters for these kick-ass gals to take on? Check out the gallery below and decide for yourself!
Bella Thorne
Everyone was super enthused when this former Disney Channel star came out as bisexual last summer, but we've yet seen her take on a role as a queer character. However, that could all change very soon.
The 19-year-old bad girl hinted that there would be a "controversial" girl-on-girl scene in her upcoming horror flick, The Babysitter. Whether or not the same-sex scene means that her character is on the LGBTQ spectrum or if it's just a ploy to turn on straight audiences is still yet to be determined.
Bella's said in the past, even before she came out as bi, that she would love to play a gay character — She wrote on Twitter that she'd love to do a project "where [she] get[s] a little girl on girl action" with Jennifer Lawrence!
Photo: Wenn Iages
Miley Cyrus
Miley identifies as pansexual and was openly dating Victoria's Secret model Stella Maxwell while she and Liam Hemsworth were on a break. However, the Hannah Montana actress has still yet to portray a queer character on screen. Considering her acting career has been fairly slow moving since her Disney days, perhaps taking a role as a badass queer gal is just the push she needs!
Photo: Wenn Images
Rowan Blanchard
Our girl Rowan Blanchard is only 15 and has nine major acting roles under her belt — yet all of them have been straight! She's very vocal about representation and social justice and came out as queer about a year ago saying, "I personally don't wanna label myself as straight, gay or whateva. [I'm] open to liking any gender in future [which] is why I identify as queer."
We're sure it's only a matter of time before this teen begins to portray characters with more diverse identities!
Photo: Wenn Images
Cara Delevingne
Cara's most popular roles have been in the movie adaptation of John Green's YA classic, Paper Towns, and the 2016 blockbuster, Suicide Squad, but the young actress is still definitely working to build up her acting resume to its full potential.
The model has been in several high-profile relationships with other women including St. Vincent, Michelle Rodriguez and Amber Heard, however the star identifies as bisexual and has also been romantically linked to many men (like Harry Styles!!) throughout the years. Cara says that acting is her passion, so we think more diverse roles are def in her future.
Photo: Wenn Images
Lily Rose Depp
Lily's only 17 and has only been in four movies (so far!), so we can't give the gal too much flack for not having played an LGBT character yet. She posed for iO Tillett Wright's Self-Evident Truths Project and used the platform to explain that she was part of the LGBTQ community and identifies as sexually fluid.
Photo: Wenn Images
Anna Paquin
Anna's been acting since 1993 and yet somehow, despite her long list of film credits, none have been anything but straight!
The actress came out as bisexual in 2010, the same year she and her True Blood co-star, Stephen Moyer, were married!
Photo: Wenn Images
Lindsay Lohan
Linds said of her sexual orientation, "I don't want to classify myself. First of all, you never know what's going to happen — tomorrow, in a month, a year from now, five years from now. I appreciate people, and it doesn't matter who they are, and I feel blessed to be able to feel comfortable enough with myself that I can say that."
So while she might be pansexual, bisexual, or just somewhere on the spectrum of queerness, one thing is for sure — her relaysh with Samantha Ronson was pretty darn cute.
The actress has been a staple in Hollywood since she played Hallie and Annie in The Parent Trap in 1998, but has yet to take her IRL feelings about sexuality to the movie screen.
Photo: Wenn Images
Olivia Thirlby
Olivia is definitely a young queer actress to keep your eye on — it's only a matter of time before she's a big name in Hollywood considering her serious talent! Like Johnny Depp's daughter, she came out as queer by participating in the Self-Evident Truths Project and later said in an interview that she was bisexual.
Photo: Wenn Images
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