Sonya Deville continues to open up about her sexuality.
SmackDown superstar Sonya Deville came out to the world on national television when she revealed she had a girlfriend when asked about her dating life on Tough Enough. Since then, Deville has been open and honest about her sexuality and has been a positive role model for those in the LGBTQ+ community.
Being Pride month, WWE sat down with Deville to discuss coming out on national television and using her influence for good.
"'Surprised' is an understatement," Deville said about being asked on Tough Enough to discuss her dating life. "I didn’t even know how to answer that question. I never publicly talked about having a girlfriend or even used that phrase before. But all that went through my head was, 'Well, that’s not fair to this woman that I love. It’s not fair to her, to keep her a secret.' And now I’m on a reality show, and Triple H asked me a question. What am I going to say, “No, I’m single?” I was thinking about her. I got nervous and awkward, and I said, 'Yeah, I have a girlfriend.' I remember calling my mom telling her I had just come out on national television! She was one of the only people that knew. It started this whole crazy turn of events [that changed] my life for the better."
When asked about representing the LGBTQ+ community, Deville revealed how she uses her influence and interacts with fans.
"With any minority group, it takes a strong presence in the public eye to make a change because everything nowadays is social media. I often use the platform I have with WWE to touch the GLAAD-coined “unlikely allies” that aren’t informed and be like, “Have you ever watched me wrestle? Did you know I was gay? Did you like me then? Now that you know I’m gay, do you like me now?” That’s the question I love to ask people," said Deville. "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."
Deville shows her support for the LGBTQ+ community every week on SmackDown Live, often wearing the rainbow flag on her gear.
