“Never Felt Straight Enough, Never Felt Gay Enough”: Keke Palmer Discusses Gender and Sexuality

Keke Palmer opens up about her feelings on gender and sexuality as she received the Vanguard award from Karamo Brown at the Los Angeles LGBT Centre last weekend. During her acceptance speech, she candidly discussed her feelings towards gender and sexuality.

The 29-year-old actress revealed that she has always questioned the boxes she has been forced to be in, stating that she never felt straight enough, gay enough, woman enough or man enough. She went on to say that sexuality and identity have always been a source of confusion for her.

In her words: “I’ve always been my own person. Sexuality and identity for me has always been confusion.”

The Akeelah and the Bee star, who does not define herself using labels, added that she felt seen during the event, compared to the confusing feelings she experienced while growing up. “I never felt straight enough. I never felt gay enough. And I never felt woman enough. I never felt man enough. You know, I always felt like I was a little bit of everything,” she stated.

Throughout her speech, the Hands Free singer emphasized the importance of accepting oneself and others for who they are, regardless of societal expectations. The speech was met with a standing ovation from the audience.

This would not be Keke’s first time to speak on gender and sexuality. In November 2022, she spoke about wanting to “exist and not be challenged” when it came to her sex and sexuality. “F**k gender,” she said in the interview in which she recounted the struggles she went through as a child star following her breakout role as spelling genius Akeelah in 2006 film Akeelah and the Bee.

Unlike some former child stars who caved to the price of attaining fame at a young age, Keke seems to have turned out fine. In February, she welcomed her first child, Leodis Andrellton, with her partner Darius Jackson.

In the picture she first shared of her baby boy, they appeared to be in the hospital as she cradled the little boy under Darius’ loving gaze. She also shared a hilarious video of her and Darius jamming out in the car as they took their child home for the first time. In the caption, the new mom joked, “I’m not hiding the world from my son, I’m hiding my son from the world.”