Feeling pride. While LGBT Pride Month has come to a close, Tess Holliday is opening up for the first time about identifying as pansexual.
Holliday, 33, spoke candidly about her sexuality in an interview for Nylon’s July issue. The plus-size model, who wed husband Nick Holliday in 2015, shared a story about how she first realized her pansexuality while speaking with a man during her recent vacation in Mexico.
The man asked her, “Are you bi?” The mother of two, as a result, decided to address her thoughts on her own queerness.
“I said, ‘Thank you so much for asking. I’ve been thinking a lot about my relationship to my own queerness, and I think the word pansexual speaks to me more than bi does,” she said in response.
Then, she shared that the man clarified his initial question. “He said, ‘Thank you for telling me about that, but actually, I said, ‘Are you buying?’”
Holliday admitted that coming to terms with her queer identity has allowed “a lot of stuff in my life to now [make] sense.”
“A lot of the things that I felt when I was younger make sense. A lot of the relationships that I had make sense,” she noted to Nylon. “I definitely have a sense of relief. I can connect with people on a more intimate level than I was before, because I don’t have to pretend to be someone I’m not.”
Holliday is not alone in her pansexuality, as many stars have opened up about identifying as such, including Miley Cyrus and Billions star Asia Kate Dillon.
Janelle Monáe recently opened up about her decision to reveal she is pansexual to Rolling Stone in 2018, telling The Daily Beast in June: “It’s a journey and I’m discovering things about myself all the time and I’m choosing to embrace it and not suppress it. And this is where I am. This is how I identify.”
Holliday is no stranger to being outspoken on issues beyond her sexuality, as she has always preached about the importance of body positivity. The model has often bared it all in nude snaps on Instagram, including when she posted a shot of herself bathing with now-3-year-old son Bowie in July 2018.
Holliday, at the time, noted in the revealing photo that she “might be fat, but I’m flexible AF.”
“This photo isn’t “flattering”, but I don’t care,” she continued. “I’m proud of my body, & what it’s capable of & how funny & ridiculous my life/motherhood is.”
