SmackDown Superstar Sonya Deville has said that WWE should incorporate LGBTQ+ characters naturally and not in a “forced inorganic” way.
Appearing on Tough Enough in 2015, Deville came out during the show and is WWE’s first openly lesbian performer.
Speaking to WKBN, Deville said she doesn’t think her sexuality is an inherent part of her character, saying:
“I mean, it’s not something that I ever think about like that, right? It’s always just like, ‘Yeah, I am who I am, and I’m a WWE Superstar. But obviously, I realize the effect and influence it has on other members of the LGBTQ community, and I love being a part of that. That change in that kind of power that I can give to them, like, ‘Hey, if I can do it, you can do it. And if I can be myself unapologetically, so can you. And you should never be ashamed or afraid of who you are or who you love. You should simply just be.”
Deville also gave an example of how LGBTQ+ characters could be used subtly on programming in a way similar to heterosexual and cisgender Superstars:
“Just as you would have a male Superstar on the phone with their wife in a backstage segment or interacting with another female, you just have two females or two males interacting,” Deville imagined. “You know, or maybe I’m on the phone with my girlfriend while you’re filming backstage, you know, something like that, that just allows the inclusivity to be there and not in a forced inorganic way, kind of just how it is in life.”
Deville recently returned to in-ring competition and has been feuding with Naomi on SmackDown.
