Stephanie Beatriz Discusses Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s LGBTQ Impact

Stephanie Beatriz appeared on A Little Late With Lilly Singh to discuss how Brooklyn Nine-Nine is actually helping people start a conversation about LGBTQ issues.

Stephanie Beatriz plays Rosa Diaz, a bisexual Latina cop, who had to come out to her parents. Besides being a cop, Stephanie shares the same sexual orientation as her character. Even though Rosa Diaz is showed to be a tough and strong detective, her big moment was as emotional and sentimental as any.

Stephanie Beatriz on LGBTQ Impact

She revealed the show’s creator had been toying with the idea for a while before putting it in motion. And it ended up being one of the things people talk to her most about. Especially kids.

“A parent will come up to me and say, me and my kid had a whole discussion about it after the episode. And it was like an easy slide into talking about LGBTQ issues. And then a month later, my kid came out to me,” revealed Stephanie.

We can all agree with that. the TV has the power to bring about social change and raise awareness among people on how to tackle sensitive issues. Beatriz holds the same opinion. She realizes what kind of impact something as simple as a character on the show can have on its audience. She admits a character being bi on a network TV show is a big deal.

Lilly Singh Recalls Her Coming Out

Lilly Singh, a bisexual woman of color, agrees with Beatriz about it being a huge deal. Recalling her coming out from a year ago, she calls it a terrifying experience.

“It is really important to see people on screen where you feel like, oh that’s me. Like I’m seeing myself. It’s a feeling you can’t even describe,” says Lilly Singh.

Lilly then thanked Stephanie for highlighting such an important issue and creating awareness. We can tell by the impact it had on Lilly, it must’ve had on other people too. People who needed someone to relate to. Someone to give them the strength to come out like Stephanie’s character Rosa did.

Stephanie also appreciated Lilly for doing what she did on a sitcom, in real life. Lilly is the first bisexual woman of color to be on the platform she is.

The two extremely strong women of color then proceeded to hug it out.

Catch the entire interview here.