Raven-Symoné declined offer to make her Raven's Home character a lesbian
Raven-Symoné has revealed why she chose not to make her character, Raven Baxter, a lesbian.
Speaking to the Pride podcast, the actress recalled how executives at Disney Channel asked if she wanted her character, Raven Baxter, to identify as a lesbian in the reboot, which premiered in 2017.
“You know what, there was a conversation before the series started and I was asked the question, ‘Would you like Raven Baxter to be a lesbian?’” the 35-year-old explained. “And I said, no. I said no.”
Raven-Symoné said her decision didn’t come down to pride in who she was, but rather not wanting to make her character fit her life.
“And the reason I said no wasn’t because I wasn’t proud of who I was, or I didn’t want to represent the LGBTQ+ community in any way. It was because Raven Baxter is Raven Baxter is Raven Baxter,” she continued.
The star, known for her early performances on The Cosby Show and That’s So Raven, came out as a lesbian in 2013 after the national legalisation of same-sex marriage in the U.S. She married Miranda Maday last year.
“There was no reason for me to change the human that she was in order to fit the actress that played her,” Raven-Symoné shared.
Instead, her character in the reboot is a single mother who shares her Chicago apartment with her friend Chelsea, played by Anneliese van der Pol.
“Raven Baxter is a character that I was proud to play, even if she is straight, cisgender, I don’t mind,” she concluded. “Let her have her moment. She was divorced though, and I had no worries about saying, ‘No boyfriends.’”
