Lauren Morelli, a writer on Orange in the New Black, came out today in a touching personal essay.
"While writing for Orange Is the New Black, I realized I am gay," reads the headline. What follows is the incredibly personal journey that began with Morelli's first day on set.
Morelli started writing for Season 1 only five months after her own wedding.
"Five months after my wedding, I flew to New York to start production on my first episode of Orange, and from that moment on my life fell into a parallel rhythm with Piper's story in a way that went from interesting to terrifying in a matter of months."
She started to realize she was unsure about her own sexuality as the writers developed Piper's sexuality on the show.
The pivotal "phone scene" between Larry and Piper was a scene she had written with words "shamelessly borrowed" from her own life.
Morelli not only had to mourn the loss of her own marriage, but the identity she had known all her life.
"After lugging around a basket full of shame and guilt for the last year, there was a lightness that came with realizing that I could choose to replace my negative framing with honesty and grace."