Coral Smith, best known as a cast member on The Real World: Back to New York, is “venturing toward her lesbian qualities.” Or at least that’s what told Outlook Magazine, in an interview that makes the mind boggle — and not just because (as she herself notes) Coral has “very big boobs.”
What is your sexual orientation? You dated men on Real World.
Oh, yeah. It’s very cloudy at this point in time. I’m definitely venturing toward my lesbian qualities. It’s been a long time coming. At that time, I was really unsure. That was not the proper venue, the proper platform. To come out to your parents on a f—ing reality show, I think that’s just mean, so I didn’t.
Your girlfriend is very beautiful.
She’s not my girlfriend. I’m attracted to beautiful women. Beautiful women tend to be attracted to me. It really seems to work out for me.
Gosh. What a lucky gal. But back to the “lesbian qualities” thing. “Lesbian tendencies” I’ve heard, but “qualities” is a new one to me. What are those, exactly? Does she mean her ring finger is longer than her index finger? Or perhaps she has a fondness for cats. Evidence definitely points to her not having much of a sense of humor.
But we can all learn a lot from Coral about homophobia, which she attributes to the aging population:
“I think that it’s mostly because there are so many old people. When they die off, we’ll be fine. In 20 years, 25 years, it will be no big deal. In other countries, Brazil, Australia, they don’t care about that type of stuff. I think we’re just kind of behind a little bit.”
This is exactly what I was telling the cabana girl in Rio last weekend! Interestingly, Coral calls herself “old” at 28. But she doesn’t like other labels:
Is there a division in the lesbian community…
Oh, you mean between the butch/femme, the andro…
Between the politicized and less political lesbian?
Yes, but I just live my life regular and have regular relationships. I’ve never been a “politics” person. I don’t fit in. I’m not really a Democrat, and I’m definitely not a Republican.
I guess for Coral, being “regular” means not doing anything crazy like questioning gender roles, speaking out against oppression or, uh, voting. She may not care whether the 2008 election yields a woman, a black man, a Mormon or a WASP as president, but she sure is supportive of her new community (because gay events “show we’re capable and can run s—“). And she hopes to get some support in exchange, because she’s a little nervous about coming out.
“It’s a little surreal. I’m not scared. I walk around holding hands. It’s not a problem for me, but I do fear backlash to some degree. Everyone has something negative to say, and I don’t really want to deal with it. Other than that, I don’t care.”
Coral, you’re not much for flowery language, but we’re still happy you decided to come out publicly. We’re all about visibility, even for has-been reality stars like you. Oops! That was mean. But, well, snarkiness is a lesbian quality, so I’m sure you understand.
