The former "Cosby Show" actress and star of "That's So Raven" recently sat down with Oprah and told her she knows exactly what she is and she refuses any label. She explained that she doesn't want to be boxed in a certain definition, whether gay or African-American for that matter, CNN reported.
Although she admitted that she is in "an amazing, happy relationship" with a woman, she also added that she doesn't want any categorizing statement for it.
She preferred to be called a "human who loves humans." "I don't want to be labeled gay."
In retrospect, the actress' sexuality has been the talk of the media after her tweet in August 2013 that she is happy about the legalization of gay marriage, as it means she could "finally get married!"
However, that statement of hers wasn't exactly about her personal love life, Raven-Symone told Oprah, "That was my way of saying I'm proud of the country. ... My mother and people in my family have taught me to keep my personal life to myself as much as possible. I try my best to hold the fence where I can. But I am proud to be who I am and what I am," wrote Huffingtonpost.
Raven recalled a time when she first realized that she didn't feel like the other girls. "When I was like 12; I was looking at everything," she said with a laugh.
When Oprah asked her if she had any label by then about what she felt, she said that she doesn't need language to explain whom she likes-or her race for that matter.
"I'm tired of being labeled," Raven-Symone told Winfrey. "I'm an American; I'm not an African-American. I'm an American."
This statement of hers obviously caught Winfrey off guard and took a little time to process what she just heard, then the billionaire host jokingly warned her, "don't set Twitter on fire!"
Realizing that she might have said the wrong way, she tried to explain her point. She said that she only knew that she's from Louisiana and didn't know exactly where in Africa her roots are from. "I'm an American, and that's a colorless person, because we're all people. I have lots of things running through my veins."
"I don't label myself. What I really mean by that is I'm an American," the actress continued. "I have darker skin. I have a nice, interesting grade of hair. I connect with Caucasian. I connect with Asian. I connect with black. ... I connect with each culture. Aren't we all (a melting pot)? Isn't that what America's supposed to be?"
ABC: After their sit-down, Winfrey posted an Instagram snap of her with the young star and wrote, "Olivia has grown up! Had such a fun conversation with @RavenSymoneCp on #WhereAreTheyNow. She's so self-aware and comfortable in her own skin. Love that! "
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