“I was really afraid it would hurt my career if I came out as bisexual, I was very aware of the bi antagonism that exists. But I’m really proud of what we put out in the world. It was definitely disrupting a narrative.” — Sara Ramirez
Today’s Gaydar Feature of the Month presents a charming and charismatic actor: Sara Ramirez (pronouns: They/Them).
Sara Elena Ramirez was born on August 31, 1975, in Mazatlan, Mexico. In 1982, Sara and their family moved to the United States. Sara was interested in music and acting while growing up and they eventually graduated from Julliard School with a degree in Fine Arts.
They have starred in many movies and TV shows since 1999, with their first appearance as a voice actor for a 1999 video game “UmJammer Lammy”. Other roles Sara acted in include playing a cop in the 2002 Spiderman movie and being part of the female ensemble in the movie Chicago. However, Sara had not come out as nonbinary to the world yet.
Sara’s biggest role to date was a role in Grey’s Anatomy, an ABC production medical drama based on stories set in a fictional hospital, Grey Sloan Hospital. They played the role of Dr. Calliope Iphegenia Torres, M.D. Sara portrayed a bisexual doctor who was first in a relationship with a male doctor but then married another female bisexual doctor in later episodes. Sara portrayed Calliope for six seasons, and eventually left the show at the conclusion of its twelfth season, after playing the character for a decade.
In 2016, the public was surprised with an Instagram post from Sara, who came out as gender nonbinary with a selfie. They captioned their post with “In me is the capacity to be a Girlish boy, Boyish girl, Boyish boy, Girlish girl.” Their post sparked positive reactions online, with some dubbing Sara as a “nonbinary queen”.
Sara also did voice acting for different characters, one being Queen Miranda in a Disney show Sofia the First. However, they received backlash from parents, who feared that their children would be exposed to homosexuality simply because Queen Miranda was voiced by a bisexual person. Sara stopped voicing the character in 2018. Sara is also a singer, they released their first single “Silent Night” in 2009. Their self-titled EP debuted at no. 37 on the Billboard 200 in 2011.
As a Hispanic nonbinary individual, Sara is a double minority. Yet, they continue to be adored by fans because of their courage to come out to the world and remain true to their identity. They won the Ally for Equality Award from the Human Rights Campaign Foundation in 2015 for their extensive advocacy work for the LGBTQ community and is a great influence for LGBT youths. Among other accolades, they have also been the recipient of a Tony Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Satellite Award.
Sara is truly an inspirational individual through everything they have accomplished! Tune in next time to learn more about other inspiring LGBT individuals!
