Like many celebrities, I am unfortunately all too familiar with the accusation of faking a romance and my sexuality in order to increase public exposure.
Take Ruby Rose, for example. She recently had to defend her rekindled relationship with The Veronica’s Jess Origliasso, stating that the duo are not together for publicity reasons after an Australian radio host accused her of using her relationship for PR purposes.
Amber Heard after her break up with Johnny Depp was also accused through a deeply disturbing article in Hollywood Life of causing her own marriage failure due to ‘bisexual tendencies’.
Then there’s Megan Fox, Miley Cyrus, Angelina Jolie and Evan Rachel-Wood- again, all coming out as bisexual and instead of being received with support and slaps on the back, they were met with disbelief and claims of publicity stunts.
The big question is, why does someone’s sexuality scream scandal?
When my current girlfriend and I first got together, she had always thought she was straight. For the first few months while we figured out what we were, she was also going through the process of figuring out her own sexuality.
I, having been attracted to and experienced relationships with both men and women for some time, was lucky to feel a little more stable than her in a very public affair. However, it was a deeply confusing and distressing time for the both of us. For a long time we struggled with managing the whole saga, or whether we should bother to try at all.
How do we tell our family, our friends, the people we have worked with? How do we manage this publicly? What if we don’t work out, and if that’s the case, how will this impact sexual minorities who support us in Australia and internationally?
Unfortunately the coming out process for my partner, and the initial stages of our relationship was not an easy feat due to constant criticism from the media, fellow Bachelor contestants, friends and sadly, some of my family.
Being a self-proclaimed D-grade celebrity and having to watch someone I care about undergo so much online and face-to-face bullying makes me wonder how the likes of Amber Heard, Ruby Rose and the many other women who bravely ‘came out’ at some point – who are a thousand times more under the public spotlight – deal with the pressure.
Are they also asked to make a pornographic films in order to prove their sexuality? Is their body language contemplated, are they followed around by paparazzi, asked to have threesomes, not allowed to have male OR female friends without being put in question?
From the articles I have read and personal encounters with curious members of the public, it seems the Australian community is deeply confused by why two feminine women would choose to be with one another instead of choosing to be with and please a man.
