Amber Heard’s parents are proud of her for being an outspoken bisexual icon… but they weren’t always that way.
During a panel at SXSW over the weekend, the Aquaman actress recalled how hard it was opening up to her religious parents about the first time she was in love with a woman — and explaining to them that, just because she was into women, didn’t mean she was fully renouncing d*ck.
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Revealing how her parents were unable to comprehend that sexuality could be viewed outside a “binary system” of either positive or negative, the 32-year-old actress said:
“I am from Austin, Texas. My dad is out of central casting Texan. Good Southern man, and I was raised in a religious home. And being an outspoken lesbian, atheist, vegetarian, I remember when I told them about my relationship, that I was in love with this woman, and at the beginning of that it was just tears, tears.”
We know there are many out there who can relate. Coming out — especially to conservative minded loved ones — can be terrifying.
It’s also liberating AF!
Heard said at first, she “refused” to admit her family unrest was an issue and “didn’t display any negativity.” Thankfully, her parents evolved their thinking over the next few years and are now two of her biggest allies.
She continued:
“They didn’t know how to process it because, for them, it was being thrown into a binary system of processing it, negative or positive… Five years later, I was getting an award, and I asked my parents to drive out to Dallas. And I see them sitting front and center and here I am getting this ‘gay’ award… My parents in five years, look at the journey. Attitudes and hearts can change.”
She’s right: even the most close-minded people can change their thinking. But evolution doesn’t happen without education!
Related: Amber’s Testimony Will Play A Part In Another Defamation Case
Heard, who publicly came out in 2010 at a GLAAD event, has previously spoken up about biphobia in Hollywood, revealing that she was warned against coming out as sexually fluid because it might make her seem “unavailable” to some fans.
Which doesn’t really make sense, seeing as Heard’s bisexuality means any gender can thirst after her and not feel predatory about it.
But we bi-gress…
As for her romantic life, the actress dated girlfriend Tasya van Ree for four years before they broke up in 2012. She went on to marry Johnny Depp in 2015, in what would come to be a tumultuous and allegedly violent relationship.
[Image via Apega/WENN]