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OITNB

OITNB's Samira Wiley Supported a Fan's Coming Out, and Basically Melted Our Hearts

Simple, but so validating.

Rachel Charlene Lewis

Rachel Charlene Lewis is a writer, editor, and queer woman of color based in North Carolina. Her writing has most recently appeared in Ravishly, Hello Giggles, and elsewhere.

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Rachel Charlene Lewis

RachelCharleneL

June 02 2016 5:30 PM EST

May 31 2023 2:35 PM EST

Nothing gets our hearts melting like seeing celebs support LGBT fans struggling with their sexualities. Maybe it’s the simple kindness of the act, or the fact that they don’t have to speak up, but something about seeing such love from celebrities is so validating.

In a world where celebs are a huge part of our lives thanks largely to social media (I mean, you can Snapchat your favorite celebs. Not that they have to respond…), celebrities play a bigger role than ever in our everyday experiences. As soon as a major influencer does something big, we all know it, and we often have strong, emotional responses to it.

So that’s why it meant so much to me to see Samira Wiley of Orange Is the New Black say a few kind words to a fan struggling with coming out.

\u201c.@pbdoctor Keep your head up.\u201d
— Samira Wiley (@Samira Wiley) 1463977270

Samira’s response wasn’t anything extremely intense. It wasn’t a phone call, or an offer for a shoulder to cry on. But what it was was someone that this one person, and many people, look up to saying, You know what, I’ve got you. And sometimes that’s all you really need.

As a queer woman of color, I know the value of having role models who look like you. But I also know that this value doubles when they also identify how you do. The fact that Samira Wiley is an out, Black woman is *major* in a world where queerness is often whitewashed. It took ages for me to finally see queer women who looked like me, and I know that if I’d dared to put myself out there and tweet at an actress I really admired for support, and she responded, I would have been blown away by her kindness.