Sonya Deville: ‘Don’t Ever Apologize for Your Sexuality, Just be You’

WWE.com recently did an exclusive interview with Sonya Deville regarding pride month. Sonya is the first ever openly lesbian WWE Superstar and this interview talks about her coming-out experience, how her peers reacted and more. Below are some highlights.

Sonya Deville talks being a trailblazer as the first ever openly lesbian WWE Superstar:

“It definitely wasn’t my intention; it kind of snowballed and turned into that. I think back to when I was in high school, to 17-year old Daria, who was dating guys and thought that that was the only way of life. I was very confused, and it was definitely manifesting itself in other parts of my life that were unhealthy. To look at me then, and to look at me now, and to see how much I’ve grown, [it’s amazing] how much happier I am. To force something that was not organic to who I am was tough on me, and so I can relate to all those girls and guys out there going through the same thing.”

Sonya Deville on the relationship she has with her LGBTQ fans:

“It’s insane how many fans I have from the LGBTQ+ community. I would say the majority of my fanbase are young, gay women. Many of them were in tears telling me that my coming out inspired them to come out. Some of them haven’t come out yet and are asking me what they should do. I get those questions on Instagram and Twitter all the time, and honestly, I sit there and answer a lot of them. Imagine if I was a kid and my role model answered me back and gave me advice; I would have taken that for gold. If they see me like that, I could be such an influence on these kids. I would have loved someone to talk to about it.”

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Sonya Deville on one day having a customized LGBTQ Women’s Championship design one day:

“That is actually a dream of mine. That would be so cool to me, but also something so cool for the fans to see. I think that would mean a lot to the LGBTQ+ community, especially the youth. I just keep flashing back to when I was that age, and if that were prevalent, it would have meant so much to me.”

Sonya Deville gives advice to those concerned about coming out:

“I would say, I know how hard that is, and a lot of it is confusion. I know what it’s like to be confused, and as long as you’re safe and you have a place to sleep at night after you come out with people who love who you are, then do it. You aren’t living life to its fullest potential until you can love who you want to love. It’s not a good feeling to hide a huge part of your life. If you were meant to be somebody else, you’d be somebody else, so don’t change who you are. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be ashamed. Don’t ever apologize for your sexuality. Just be you.”