Quasi-Straight Rosie Perez Talks About Her Lesbian Romance At LGBT Event

On Monday, Rosie Perez talked about her own teenage lesbian experience during a speech at the TrevorLive event in New York City. Perez, who is famous for her role in White Men Can’t Jump and co-hosting The View, insists that she’s a “quasi-straight” person, but she went through a tough time figuring that out.

The event was hosted by The Trevor Project, a national organization dedicated to ending suicide among LGBT youth. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Rosie explained that she had feelings for another girl when she was in junior high school and could have used someone to talk to.

“Every human being, whether they want to admit it or not, went through a period of questioning. I know I did.”

Rosie Perez’s period of questioning centered around her friend named Michelle.

“All I wanted to do was hump her. And I suppressed the urge and suppressed the urge and suppressed the urge until Michelle one day started humping on me.”

Rosie Perez romance with Michelle didn’t last. When the two broke it off, they stopped being friends as well. Perez was left with no one to talk to about her feelings.

In the end, Perez, who is married to artist Eric Haze, figured out that she is not a lesbian – but not entirely straight.

“I know I’m not lesbian, gay or whatever — I’m a quasi-straight person — I still went through that period. And I thought I was all alone.”

Rosie Perez had a number of difficulties from her early childhood, according to the Daily Mail. The actress was in New York foster care from 3 to 12 years old, when her paternal aunt took custody.

Perez then struggled with a speech impediment and depression. She insisted that if there were someone who could have been there for her during her questioning phase it would have made a big difference.

“If I had other people, specifically adults, if I was just able to call up and they said, ‘Oh, I humped the Michelle-type person, too. You’re normal, don’t worry. You’re either gonna go here, there or in the middle. Don’t worry about it. It’ll pass. You’re just figuring it out,’ even that simple statement… that would have made all the difference in the world.”

Rosie Perez wasn’t the only star at the event. The Source reports that Sir Ian McKellan received the organization’s Trevor Hero Award presented to him by his friend Susan Sarandon.

[Image Credit: Getty Images]