I know for many queer wrestling fans like myself, it’s been inspiring to see you really own yourself. What made you feel comfortable finally coming out publicly in 2019?
Everyone knew; I just never wanted it to be the focus of my career. Back in the day, you couldn’t be as open as you wanted to be because your bookings might get taken away whereas now, I can be a little more open and feel safe in the environment I’m in. The biggest thing is that I have to feel safe for my family. Now, in the last five years, is when I have felt safe to be able to be like, “Okay, I’m a wrestler, but let’s push this agenda a little bit more.”
Do you feel like since publicly coming out, there’s been a change in your fanbase?
I’ve always had the LGBTQ community behind me, but now that I’m actually out there and pushing the agenda more, the fanbase and the workers have really rallied behind me, because now they have a voice and I’m not shy to talk about anything, whereas maybe others are. I like to use my platform for those that don’t feel safe, to tell them we’re in this industry together. My voice is your voice, and if you don’t have it yet, let me be your voice. When you’re comfortable using your own voice, then I’m going to help you. It’s definitely a very close-knit community, and not just on TV, but on the indie scene as well, because we’re all just here on the same platform and we’re all just pushing each other and making sure that we all feel comfortable, because that’s all we have.
“My voice is your voice, and if you don’t have it yet, let me be your voice.”
What was it like for you coming up and cutting your teeth in an era when women’s wrestling was so sexualized?
It was very hard, to be honest. I’m not a sexualized person really at all; I can’t give you that. But I stuck to my guns and I was very consistent on what I wanted to present. The sexualization probably cost me a lot of bookings and a lot of friends, but it’s fine, because if those promoters didn’t believe in my work and they just wanted the sexual aspect, you know what, I wouldn’t wanna work for you anyways. I’m here to wrestle.
I never hid who I was; I just couldn’t say it publicly. I couldn’t say, “hey, I’m a lesbian wrestler too,” because I had to be safe from the fans and in the locker rooms. On the independent level, all you have is you and you don’t know how the crowd’s gonna react. The company can protect you during the show, but what happens after the show? What happens at intermission? Back then, you changed with the boys. It was a very open locker room. So am I gonna get backlash and feel safe around the boys? Some women don’t feel comfortable changing if they think that you’re gonna hit on them or wrestling-wise, if you touch a certain body part. So I kept it very under wraps. People knew, but I didn’t make it a big focal point. I kept it very professional. It was hard, but now it’s changed a lot where we’re all just comfortable. It doesn’t matter. This is what should have happened years and years ago.
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