Cara Delevingne Opens Up About Pansexual Identity
“However one defines themselves, whether it’s ‘they’ or ‘he’ or ‘she,’ I fall in love with the person, and that’s that.”
British actor, model and singer Cara Delevingne spoke freely and in-depth about being pansexual in Variety’s latest, Pride-themed cover story.
The magazine features comes shortly after Delevingne split from Ashley Benson, her girlfriend of two years. The 27-year-old star of Amazon’s Carnival Row first began speaking openly about her sexual identity in a 2015 Vogue cover story. In 2018, she told her fans that she identified as sexually fluid. Now appears to be the first time she has identified as pansexual, or attracted to all genders.
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“I always will remain, I think, pansexual. However one defines themselves, whether it’s ‘they’ or ‘he’ or ‘she,’ I fall in love with the person, and that’s that. I’m attracted to the person.”
“I never thought I needed to come out,“ she added. “It was just kind of like, ‘This is who I am. Just so you know.’”
Delevinge, who is also an ambassador for Puma, is launching a rainbow-colored clothing line for the fashion brand in conjunction with Pride month in June, with a portion of the proceeds will go to LGBTQ+ foundations. She was also instrumental in facilitating a $1 million partnership between Puma and The Trevor Project, a nonprofit devoted to suicide prevention for queer and questioning young people.
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Those causes are naturally personal to her. Delevingne also opened up about growing up in what she describes as an “old-fashioned, repressed English family.”
“I used the word ‘gay’ to describe things which were s— all the time: ‘That’s so f—ing gay of you, man.’ Everyone used to talk about ‘Oh, my God, imagine going down on a woman.’ I’d be like, ‘That’s disgusting.’ I think that came from the fact that I just didn’t want to admit who I was. I didn’t want to upset my family. I was deeply unhappy and depressed. When you don’t accept a part of yourself or love yourself, it’s like you’re not there, almost.”
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Though she claims to have had many boyfriends throughout her youth, Delevingne pointed to a girl she had a relationship at age 11 as the first time she had non-heterosexual feelings.
“I had this best friend, who I really connected with on a level, because we spoke a lot about our families,” Delevingne said. “You know how trauma connects people? And I just remember being so in admiration of her strength. She also played the harp, which I really enjoyed to sit and watch.”
“I remember realizing, ‘I like her more than she likes me,’” she said of relationship. “And I remember she made friends with someone else and I was heartbroken. I felt like ‘This is the beginning.’”
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While she didn’t feel comfortable with her sexuality while growing up, Delevingne is now better equipped than ever to be prideful.
“Once I could talk about my sexuality freely, I wasn’t hiding anything anymore,” Delevingne said. “And the person I hid it from the most was myself.”
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