For Pride Month, in celebration of the LGBTQ+ community, Supergirl‘s Chyler Leigh opened up about how she can related to her character’s journey.
Chyler Leigh plays Alex Danvers in Supergirl and it had a major and personal impact on her life.
For LGBTQ Pride Month, Leigh wrote a powerful essay on Create Change, a website she co-founded. Their goal is to be “your go-to source for encouragement and inspiration to help you become the change you want to see in the world.”
Chyler Leigh’s powerful message
In the piece, she shared how she relates to Alex’s journey of self-discovery — specifically her coming out story in season 2, which affected Leigh’s life in a surprising way.
In honor of LGBTQ Pride Month, Chyler is taking a moment to appreciate some similarities between her character’s life and her own, saying, “[Alex’s] journey of self discovery is something that I can personally relate to.”
“Wear Your Pride,” was the name of Leigh’s post. It was posted on her official website for Create Change.
“When I was told that my character was to come out in season 2, a flurry of thoughts and emotions flew through and around me because of the responsibility I felt to authentically represent Alex’s journey,” Leigh writes.
She explains she didn’t know how the scene would be where she finally confesses her truth. That it would leap off the pages of the script and genuinely become a variation of her own. Leigh said her heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest each take they filmed. She felt as if she was getting another opportunity to get those honest words out of her mouth.
Although it didn’t match her personal dialogue, “the heart behind it surely did,” Leigh writes. “From the director, the press, the media, the cast, and the fans, I’m still told that it was the most realistic coming out scene they’d ever witnessed. And to steal from Alex’s words, that’s because there’s some truth to what she said about me.”
Her ‘coming out’ on Supergirl
She then invites readers to relive Alex’s aforementioned coming out scenes from the Supergirl‘s second season:
In Season 2 Episode 6, Leigh’s Alex Danvers came out to her sister, Kara (Melissa Benoist). Alex was admitting she’d started developing feelings for Maggie (Floriana Lima). “I don’t know,” Alex said when Kara asked if she was gay. Watch the entire scene below.
She continues to share writing how her friends would no longer watch the show because Alex’s journey took a turn. Leigh goes on to write how they distanced themselves and eventually her family and her were outcast. However, she assures that she does not hold a grudge towards their negative response. Because she believes everybody has a hard time with acceptance “(whatever the subject may be) whether towards ourselves or others.”
After she shared her post, she wrote about the love and support she received.
“I’m grateful to see more clearly, breathe a little easier, and I’m proud to contribute to all that I believe in with an honest, open heart,” she added.
Leigh, who married Nathan West in 2002, says she and her husband are continuing to discover new “depths” of themselves together.
“It’s been a long and lonely road for both my husband and myself but I can wholeheartedly say that after all these years,” she explains.
“He and I are still discovering the depths of ourselves and each other, but throughout our journey we’ve learned to be proud of who we are, no matter the cost,” she said.
Supergirl airs Sundays (9 p.m. ET) on CW.
