Cara Delevingne perfectly sets the record straight about sexual identity
Vogue’s recent issue featuring Cara Delevingne on the cover got a ton of backlash, and with good reason. If you need a quick refresher, in an interview with the magazine, Delevingne opened up about her bisexuality and her relationship with her girlfriend. The writer of the article, Rob Haskell, suggested that her sexual orientation might not be permanent, but a “phase.” The suggestion set off alarm bells: calling anyone’s sexuality a “phase” is deeply dismissive.
The controversy ignited an online petition in which signers requested the magazine apologize and recognize the damaging, inaccurate nature of such a statement. “Vogue should have taken this opportunity to combat negative stereotypes, not reinforce them,” the petition states. But since the magazine didn’t do that, Delevingne has.
This week, she set the record straight about her sexual identity when she sat down for an interview with The New York Times. “My sexuality is not a phase. I am who I am,” said the newly minted actress, who stars in Paper Towns. It was a brief but perfect statement that spoke directly to the issue. We’re thrilled to see Delevingne awesomely standing up for herself, and using her platform to educate people about sexual identity.
The Vogue interview was the first time Delevingne publicly discussed her bisexuality and her relationship with her girlfriend, the singer known as St. Vincent. “It took me a long time to accept the idea, until I first fell in love with a girl at 20 and recognized that I had to accept it,” she told Vogue.”I think that being in love with my girlfriend is a big part of why I’m feeling so happy with who I am these days,” she added. Her comments were undermined when Haskell wrote: “Her parents seem to think girls are just a phase for Cara, and they may be correct.”
In her interview with the Times, Delevingne said she found the petition sparked by Haskell’s statement flattering but saw “nothing malicious” in the article itself. Still, her response served as a perfect clarification. In two sentences she offered a lesson for those who dismiss bisexuality, or any sexual orientation, as a “phase.” It’s not appropriate or correct. As she perfectly puts it: “I am who I am.” And we’re thankful for that.
(Image via 20th Century Fox)
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Cara Delevingne gets awesomely real about love and sexuality
