BY: DM
Published 4 days ago
“Star Wars” actress Kelly Marie Tran has publicly announced that she is queer, opening up about this part of her identity for the first time in late 2024. The admission came as she promoted “The Wedding Banquet,” a queer romantic comedy in which she plays a lesbian character. Tran said the project emboldened her to speak out.
“I haven’t said this publicly yet, but I’m a queer person,” Tran said during an interview with Vanity Fair. Adding, “The thing that really excited me about it was I got to play a person that I felt like I knew. I don’t feel like I’m acting at all in this movie… I’ve never been in a queer space before. I’ve never truly felt this accepted before.”
Tran’s decision to come out publicly appeared to be both impromptu and deeply personal. Since then, she has spoken openly about how that moment brought her a greater sense of freedom and community. Unfortunately, she has also faced a bit of hate. Let’s take a look at Tran’s journey.
Kelly Marie Tran is living her truth.
During a visit to the set of “The Wedding Banquet,” a Vanity Fair reporter asked what she was most excited about in the project, prompting Tran to reply, “I’m so excited to tell a queer story as a queer person.” Only afterward did she pause, realizing what she had said. “I didn’t really mean to come out initially,” Tran told Entertainment Weekly.
Ultimately, Tran chose to embrace the moment rather than retract her words. “At the end of the day, I think what’s really important to me is to remind myself that it’s bigger than me,” she told the outlet of deciding to share her identity with the world?
However, Tran’s journey has not been without hate. As the first woman of color to have a leading role in the “Star Wars” franchise, she endured a “deluge of racist and sexist harassment” from toxic corners of the fandom. “I was already being ridiculed. There were comments about my race or comments about me being a woman,” she said. “I already felt like I was being persecuted for those things.”
Kelly Marie Tran’s co-stars were overwhelmingly supportive.
When Tran came out, she shocked everyone, including her “The Wedding Banquet” co-stars. Thankfully, the positive environment on set, which featured a predominantly LGBTQIA+ cast and crew, helped Tran find the courage to live openly. The experience, she said, “really felt like a warm hug,” and she realized she wanted to be authentic about who she was.
Tran credited co-star Lily Gladstone with teaching her that “joy is an act of resistance.” Observing people experience joy even when “their communities [are] being persecuted” moved Tran deeply. “I don’t think that I could have done that without the support of my amazing cast and crew and friends,” she said.
Tran says she wants to “live in a world where there is a generation after me that does not have” the homophobia, misogyny, and racism she faced. By coming out publicly, Tran is contributing to that vision.
What do you think Hollywood — and fandoms — need to do better to protect queer actors like Kelly Marie Tran? Comment below!
