Keke Palmer opened up about her sexual identity “confusion” while being honored with the Vanguard Award at the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Gala on Saturday.
“Sexuality and identity for me has always been confusion,” Keke said in an emotional acceptance speech, according to Variety. “I never felt straight enough. I never felt gay enough. And I never felt woman enough. I never felt man enough. You know, I always felt like I was a little bit of everything.”
Keke added that she is met with “disdain” because of her masculine energy.
“So often, I lead with masculinity. And as a woman, I’ve always been met with so much disdain. I think so much of that came from who I thought I had to be to get respect, admiration and love. I’ve always really wanted to be like my father… to want to be taken seriously and not diminish because I was a woman. That’s always been a source of pain and resentment.”
Fighting back tears, the first-time mommy said, “You know, since I was younger, I always questioned the boxes I was forced to be in and it starts with who you’re supposed to be as a child. You’re supposed to be as a black person or whatever the background you are from… Then those walls just try to cave you in from every damn angle, who you are as a creative, who you are as a friend.”
Afterwards, Keke took to Instagram and shared photos of herself posing with LGBT+ influencers such as Karamo Brown, who presented her with the award (right), and transvestite p0rn star Ts Madison (center).
