Reneé Rapp Felt She "Had To Be Bisexual" Before Coming Out As A Lesbian

The coming out process is different for everyone, but for Reneé Rapp, it was particularly tricky. The singer and actor first came out as bisexual in 2022, before she announced she’s a lesbian in early 2024. At the time, the revelation caused a stir, and now Rapp has some words for the detractors who didn’t like how she previously identified.

“I felt like, for so long, that I had to be bisexual because I had to assume closeness to a sexuality that could lead me to being with a man,” Rapp said in an Instagram Live on May 29. “That is something I struggled with for such a f*cking long time. So for you to get in my f*cking comments and say that it's not fair that I decided to start identifying as a lesbian because you didn't like the f*cking way I went about it; f*ck you. F*ck you.”

Rapp mentioned that growing up in North Carolina was part of the reason she didn’t feel comfortable identifying as a lesbian for a long time. “I grew up in the south, where you don't do that,” Rapp said. “I'm glad that you felt comfortable in your sexuality your entire life. Truly, I'm so glad. I wish that I had that when I was growing up, but I didn't.”

Rapp also called out the danger of people within the LGBTQ+ community policing how others identify. “You are the reason why people in our community don't feel safe coming out, and changing, and evolving,” Rapp said.

The speech came a couple days after Rapp opened up about her decision to publicly announce she’s a lesbian during an appearance on Saturday Night Live. “In private, I was talking with my girlfriend and a lot of my friends for the last maybe eight months before that, of being like, ‘I actually don't really feel very, like, bi at the moment. I feel very much like a lesbian,’” Rapp said on the May 27 episode of Amy Poehler’s Good Hang podcast. “That word feels amazing, and it feels very euphoric for me.”

During a sketch on the live comedy show, Rapp had her character rewritten from a “little bisexual intern” to a “little lesbian intern.” “Labeling yourself publicly is really, really, really empowering and also I think can be kind of intimidating,” Rapp said. “You're like, ‘Jesus f*cking Christ, this feels so good for me right now and I don't want to go by something that doesn't feel correct.’ But I'm also going to, what if in 10 years I don't like that identity either? What if in 10 years, I'm completely different in terms of my identity and sexuality or like my gender expression?”