Actress Amber Heard has spoken openly about her sexuality since 2010, when she publicly revealed that she was bisexual.
She was asked by a reporter at the time about her then-girlfriend Tasya Van Ree, and answered ‘honestly’ and ‘off the cuff’.
But at The Economist’s Pride and Prejudice event last week, she revealed that she didn’t realise that it would be an announcement that could change her career.
“I could tell by the look on this person’s face it was a big deal,” she said.
She soon realised why so few actors and actresses have made similar announcements, saying that she started to become associated with her sexuality.
“I started to understand why so many people — studio execs, directors, advisers, agents, producers — why everyone was so adamant about this not being the label that comes before my name,” she said.
“I quickly became, not ‘actress Amber Heard’, but ‘out lesbian Amber Heard’.”
Even when recently she got a divorce with Johnny Depp, her bisexuality was unnecessarily brought into the conversation.
Heard also mentioned that the announcement also took a toll on her career.
“It did impact my career, it was difficult,” she continued.
“It was not easy. I was the only one working in this way, so it was definitely difficult because no one had done it.
“I did that even though everyone told me it would end my career, without a doubt.”
Kristen Stewart has faced similar scrutiny since she has been open about dating women, and only used the word ‘gay’ for the first time to describe herself on an episode of SNL earlier this year.
We still have a long way to go when it comes to accepting and providing equal opportunity to people of all sexualities in Hollywood.
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