That sound you hear is lesbian everywhere going, “I knew it!” Former The X-Files star and perennial ladies who love ladies favorite Gillian Anderson told Out magazine in a recent interview that she has had same-sex relationships in the past, dating back to high school. Guess your gaydar was right all along.
The 43-year-old actress recounted her move from London to Michigan when she was 11. She also talked about her high school years where she was voted “Most Bizarre” and “Most Likely to Be Arrested.” She told Out those titles were:
Based on how I chose to look, dress, behave, you know-the relationships I was in at the time were freaking people out …. I was in a relationship with a girl for a long time when I was in high school, and then I was in a relationship with a punk rock drug addict who…
When asked to elaborate on her same-sex relationship she said:
Yeah, yeah, well it’s… You know, I’m old enough that I can talk about that …. If I had thought I was 100% gay, would it have been a different experience for me? Would it have been a bigger deal if shame had been attached to it and all those things that become huge life-altering issues for youngsters in that situation? It’s possible that my attitude around it came, on some level, from knowing that I still liked boys.
The article goes on to casually mention that Anderson says she “has had relationships with other women, but they have been the exception, not the rule.” But those are not elaborated on. So it’s unclear whether Anderson considers herself bisexual, or considers those relationships experimental. I’d interpret it as the former, but either way it is always nice when someone so famous comes out about having had same-sex relationships.
While United States audiences haven’t seen as much of Anderson since The X-Files ended in 2002, the actress has kept quite busy abroad in England where she now lives. She has worked on stage and screen — large and small — in the U.K. and some of her post-Scully projects include The House of Mirth, Bleak House and the new BBC adaptation of Great Expectations. That series will begin airing on PBS in the U.S. April 1 with Anderson in the pivotal role of perennially jilted bride Miss Havisham.
So, now that we’re all done high fiving, what do you think? I know one thing, my Agent Dana Scully fantasies will now be so much more interesting.
