“Matilda” star Mara Wilson recently confessed that she “often wishes” she hadn’t come out as bisexual when she did.
The “Mrs. Doubtfire” actress opened up about her sexuality the same day as the 2016 Pulse Nightclub shootings in Orlando, Florida and received backlash for her timing.
“I often wish that I hadn’t done it then because I got accused of taking advantage of a tragedy for personal attention,” she told the LGBTQ legal website, Lambda Legal, last week. “Now clearly I like attention, but I am not so callous as to make a tragedy about myself, my life and my story. That isn’t what I was going for.”
She also added:
“A lot of people like to tell women — and especially queer women — that they are doing things for attention. And it is strange to me that the worst thing a woman can do is do something for attention.”
On June 12, 2016, a gunman killed 49 people and injured 53 others when he opened fire at Pulse, a popular gay nightclub in Orlando. That same day, Wilson tweeted the following:
She continued in the thread of her post:
In a series of tweets over the next few days, Wilson eventually said she identifies as bisexual.
Wilson later told Vanity Fair that her decision to reveal her sexuality in that way was “an impulsive, emotional decision.”
Yet, Wilson told Lambda Legal she does not regret opening up about that part of her life.
“I think that if you’re in a place of security and privilege — which I can admit that I am — it’s important for you to [come out],” she told the site.
“I don’t see myself as anybody’s savior, but I’d rather it were me — who can afford therapy and afford this platform — getting harassed for being who I am than a young LGBTQ kid. I think it’s important.”
She also feels it’s important to speak about her sexuality, since bisexuality still carries a stigma.
“One of the reasons I didn’t come out for a very long time was because I grew up hearing that bisexual girls were ‘crazy’,” she said. “I heard that all the time. I heard that bisexual girls were ‘crazy,’ they were greedy, they were selfish and they caused drama. They were the worst. They wanted attention.”