Actress Shay Mitchell has discussed how she’s constantly asked to label her sexuality after portraying lesbian character Emily Fields in the Pretty Little Liars series.
“People always ask me, ‘You play a gay character? Are you gay? Are you straight? Are you this? Are you that?’” she told Maxim in a recent interview.
“Look, Emily doesn't label herself, and I don't label myself either. I fall in love with the spirit of somebody.
“Love is love, and that's something that I'll keep saying,” Mitchell said.
“When I started, people were like, ‘What are you?’ I’m like, right now I’m dating a guy.
“I don’t know what it’s going to be in three years. You love who you love. Black, white, polka-dot, that’s what my dad always said.
“I’m never going to label myself. I could be 50 and dating a woman and then what? I said I was straight and now I’m not?’”
She also noted that she grew up in a progressive household where her parents didn’t use gender specific pronouns to refer to her or her brother.
“If I started dating a girl tomorrow, I could text my dad, ‘Bringing new girlfriend over.’ It wouldn’t even be deserving of a phone call,” she added.
