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While she identifies as “quasi-straight” rather than bisexual or lesbian, actress and talk show host Rosie Perez acknowledges she had a same-sex relationship in her youth, which she resisted until the other girl began “humping on” her.

Perez discussed the romance at a Trevor Project event in New York City Monday night, Entertainment Tonight reports. She also noted that when the relationship ended, she felt she could talk to no one about the pain of the breakup.

She met the girl, Michelle, in junior high school, she said. “All I wanted to do was hump her. … And I suppressed the urge and suppressed the urge and suppressed the urge until Michelle one day started humping on me,” Perez said.

When they broke up, Perez said, shame kept her silent. “If I had other people, specifically adults, if I was just able to call up and they said, ‘Oh, I humped the Michelle-type person too, you’re normal, don’t worry. You’re either gonna go here, there, or in the middle, don't worry about it, it’ll pass. You’re just figuring it out,’ even that simple statement, that simple conversation of someone else — an adult telling their story to a child -- would have made all the difference in the world,” she said. “Thank God we’re here in the 21st century and we have that with the Trevor Project.” The group assists LGBT and questioning youth, with a focus on suicide prevention.

“Every human being, whether they want to admit it or not, went through a period of questioning.” Perez added. “I know I did. … I know I’m not lesbian, gay, or whatever, I’m a quasi-straight person [but] I still went through that period. And I thought I was all alone.”

A cohost of The View and star of films including White Men Can’t Jump and Do the Right Thing, Perez is married to artist Eric Haze. Watch the ET segment below.

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