BURBANK, CALIFORNIA - JULY 17: Raven-Symoné attends the 48th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards for Children's and Animation at Associated Television Int'l Studios on July 17, 2021 in Burbank, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
While Raven-Symone certainly gives life to the character Raven Baxter, she wants to make it clear that they are two separate people.
That’s why when Disney reportedly gave her the option to make Raven Baxter a lesbian for the “That’s So Raven” reboot “Raven’s Home,” she said she declined, according to People.
Raven-Symone, who came out as a lesbian in 2013 after the legalization of same-sex marriage, revealed during a recent appearance on the Pride podcast that Disney Channel executives asked whether she was interested in having her “Raven’s Home” character identify as a lesbian in the reboot.
“You know what, there was a conversation before the series started and I was asked the question, ‘Would you like Raven Baxter to be a lesbian?’ And I said, no. I said no,” Raven-Symone said. “And the reason I said no wasn’t because I wasn’t proud of who I was, or I didn’t want to represent the LGBTQ+ community in any way. It was because Raven Baxter is Raven Baxter is Raven Baxter.”
She added, “There was no reason for me to change the human that she was in order to fit the actress that played her. And Raven Baxter is a character that I was proud to play, even if she is straight, cisgender, I don’t mind. Let her have her moment. She was divorced though, and I had no worries about saying, ‘No boyfriends.'”
In the revival series, which premiered in 2017, Raven and her best friend Chelsea, played by Anneliese van der Pol, are both divorced single mothers raising their children together in the same Chicago home.
Raven’s son Booker also inherited her psychic abilities.
In real life, Raven married her wife Miranda Maday in a private ceremony in June 2020.
“Despite being someone who has kept my personal life private, I decided to share this moment because it’s one of the biggest and happiest of my life,” Raven previously told PEOPLE.
Raven is also planning on starting a family in real life with wife Miranda.
“I want four kids. I want a big family,” she told Entertainment Tonight in May. “I want to be able to make sure that the gatherings at the dinner table and the gatherings at holidays are full of excitement and fun.”
Want tea directly in your text inbox? Hit us up at 917-722-8057 or click here to join!
