“I think the word pansexual speaks to me more than bi does.”
Tess Holliday has come out as part of the LGBTQ community. The model and body-positivity activist – who boasts over two million followers on Instagram – spoke candidly about her sexuality for the first time in an interview with Nylon.
During her interview, she told the team about a recent encounter she had with a man in Mexico who seemingly asked her outright if she identifed as bisexual, to which she responded: “Thank you so much for asking.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about my relationship to my own queerness, and I think the word pansexual speaks to me more than bi does.” Tess hilariously added: “He said, ‘Thank you for telling me about that, but actually, I said, Are you buying?‘”
The 33-year-old model – who created #EffYourBeautyStandards, one of the most popular hashtags of all time – said she feels “a sense of relief” now that she knows she’s pansexual.
“I feel like a lot of stuff in my life now makes sense,” she explained further. “A lot of the things that I felt when I was younger make sense. A lot of the relationships that I had make sense.
“I can connect with people on a more intimate level than I was before, because I don’t have to pretend to be someone I’m not.”
When asked if she’d pursue a relationship with a woman (although she’s currently married to a man), she confidently said: “Yeah! I might not know, like, what to do. But I feel like I’d figure it out.”
Read Tess’ full interview with Nylon here.
Related: Here are all the celebrities who’ve come out as LGBTQ in 2019 (so far).