The 14-year-old Girl Meets World star took to Twitter over the weekend to open up about her sexuality. The Disney Channel starlet wrote, “In my life—only ever liked boys. However I personally don’t wanna label myself as straight, gay or whateva so I am not gonna give myself labels to stick with—just existing.”
Aye! ♡♡♡ pic.twitter.com/NXOZv5Jlzy
— Rowan Blanchard (@rowblanchard) January 16, 2016
What does queer mean exactly? Well, according to the Unitarian Universalist Association, the word queer can hold many definitions, including, “attracted to people of many genders,” “not fitting cultural norms around sexuality and/or gender identity/expression” and simply “non-heterosexual.”
When one of her followers asked if she would be open to dating different genders in the future, Blanchard responded, “Yes open to liking any gender in the future is why I identify as queer.”
She was surprised, though, by the amount of hate she received in the wake of coming out.
“I thought I was being brave and was proud of myself and then everyone attacks me… Cool,” she wrote in a Tweet.
@lovingrowboat like I thought I was being brave and was proud of myself and then everyone attacks me… Cool
— Rowan Blanchard (@rowblanchard) January 17, 2016
Luckily, the majority of Tweets she’s received have been encouraging and supportive of her choice to truly and unapologetically be herself.
This brave revelation comes just shortly after Time magazine named her one of the Most Influential Teens of 2015.
And just to prove she’s doing the absolute most, she has also been writing some really powerful essays lately, the most recent being an empowering essay titled “Sorry Not Sorry: How I Quit Apologizing for Existing.” To put it lightly, the girl is on fire.