Raven-Symoné on the moment she knew she wanted to marry wife Miranda Pearman-Maday
Miranda Maday and wife Raven-Symoné. (Getty)
That’s So Raven legend Raven-Symoné has opened up about the moment she knew her wife Miranda Pearman-Maday was the one.
The actor originally came out in 2013 when same-sex marriage was legalised in California, after tweeting: “I can finally get married! Yay government! So proud of you.”
Soon after, the star met her wife, Miranda Pearman-Maday, who she married in June 2020 – much to the delight of her long-time fans.
In a new interview alongside her wife with ET, the pop culture icon opened up about the moment she knew Miranda was the love of her life.
“I was mad at you, but I wanted to hug you at the same time and I didn’t wanna, like, push you away,” she explained.
“I didn’t wanna kiss you ’cause I was still mad, but I did want you close to me even though I was mad at you, and I was like, ‘Oh, I can be mad at someone and not wanna ghost them. This is the person for me.’
“In my head… it’s a big deal if I’m mad at somebody and I don’t want to touch them, you’re not gonna be around, but I have to be around you for the rest of my life,” she added.
“I should be mad at you but still be like, ‘I love you, babes, but don’t talk to me for, like, 30 minutes. But I love you so much.'”
Given her impact on a generation of Disney Channel watchers playing the psychic teen Raven Baxter, the star was overwhelmed by the response to her Instagram wedding announcement.
“We weren’t prepared for how fast it took off,” she previously told ET, “and how many people showed love. We were not expecting it to be as big as it was for the quarantine life.
“We were pleasantly surprised, we were grateful and thankful for all the love that came our way and still comes our way.”
Raven, who has historically been private about her dating life, also shared how she knew they weren’t straight back when they were 12, well before filming started for That’s So Raven.
“In that topic of dating and in love, I knew when I was, like, 12. I was looking at everything,” she said. “I don’t want to be labeled gay. I want to be labeled a human who loves humans.”
The star has previously opened up about her experiences hiding her sexual orientation on set. “I had friends that I experimented with, but I never went far because I knew that this can’t be talked about,” she told charity LGBTQ charity It Gets Better.
“I never thought I would come out because my personal life didn’t matter, it was only what was supposed to be sold as the ‘Raven-Symoné’ brand.”
But now, as a queer icon, Raven hopes her story can help others young and old embrace themselves.
“There’s so many people in our community that benefit off of our authenticity,” she continued.
“It fulfils the want of the little girl inside of me because when I was younger, all of these thoughts that I had about myself liking the opposite sex or feeling different than my best friend and all her boyfriends, hopefully I can help someone else [come out at a younger age],” she added.
Miranda also noted that she’s heartened by the fan messages her wife receives describing “how impactful [Raven has] been to people.”
“Whether it’s like a young Black girl saying, ‘You gave me the confidence to do this or that because I loved Raven Baxter,’ or if it’s a grown gay man who is like, ‘Wow, I had the hardest time coming out, but seeing you two gives me such joy,’ it’s really cool,” she explained.
The power couple are not only hoping to start “a family”, but have also begun to explore directing and producing.
“I see content that we wished we had as kids, that we know we feel is missing in this industry now. And I feel like what we’re going to do will fill a void in a certain way,” Raven continued, who previously turned down the option to have her character as a lesbian in the spin-off series Raven’s Home.
“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,” she added. “It was because Raven Baxter is Raven Baxter.
“And there was no reason for me to change the human that she was in order to fit the actress that played her”.
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