Pride month may have officially ended as the month of July begins, but for those of us in the LGBTQ community it is something we stride for all year long. For Sonya Deville, the first openly lesbian wrestler in WWE, she has always been an advocate for equality. Deville started her wrestling career off being very open to who she is through the Tough Enough competition in 2015.
She spoke recently with Mirror where she explained that her coming out so publicly has not only helped others that may see her on this huge platform but it helped herself.
“The last five years, from the time I came out on Tough Enough to now, has really been a learning process for me and becoming more comfortable with myself.”
She continues, “So to know that I went through all those real scary emotions, and a lot of my fans are going through that same kind of stuff right now, and I can be sort of a positive influence or comfort to them knowing that I did it, and they can do it, it means a lot to me.”
With many movements that are going on currently, especially the #SpeakingOut movement which has rattled the wrestling industry, this leads to uncomfortable conversations. Conversations that Deville feels areas important in order to better ourselves as a society and move forward. This also applies to the LGBTQ community within the sports industry.
“Conversation is change and I’ve always said that,” says Sonya. “We have to start a conversation; we have to have the uncomfortable conversations to make any kind of change. Nobody grows by staying still, you know what I mean? You don’t get anywhere by staying still.”
Also in the interview, Deville explains how much Finn Balor has been an advocate for the LGBTQ community. This includes his memorable entrance at WrestleMania 34 entrance as a nod to the community.
For the full interview you can click here. All credit goes to Mirror.
