Grey's Anatomy alum and Broadway star Sara Ramirez came out as bisexual during her speech at the True Colors Fund's "40 to None" Summit in Los Angeles on Saturday.
"So many of our youth experiencing homelessness are youth whose lives touch on many intersections – whether they be gender identity, gender expression, race, class, sexual orientation, religion, citizenship status," she said on stage.
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She continued, noting that being a bisexual, multi-racial woman has pushed her to be deeply invested in projects that support those groups and narratives:
"Because of the intersections that exist in my own life — woman, multi-racial woman, woman of color, queer, bisexual, Mexican-Irish American, immigrant, and raised by families heavily rooted in Catholicism on both my Mexican & Irish sides — I am deeply invested in projects that allow our youth’s voices to be heard, and that support our youth in owning their own complex narratives so that we can show up for them in the ways they need us to."
The actor later shared the quote on Twitter with the hashtag #SpeakingMyTruth.
#40ToNoneSummit #SpeakingMyTruth! Will post full video of speech soon! #ThankYou @TrueColorsFund #WomanOfColor… https://t.co/qOHF6CgQfQ
Rameriz told The Huffington Post in an email that coming out during the speech was a "very organic and natural" decision.
“It made sense for me at this time as it was one piece of a larger context I was communicating,” she added. “Our most marginalized youth touch on many intersections, and in describing the concept of inter sectionalities, I decided to describe the ones that exist in my own life.”
Ramirez, who married husband Ryan DeBolt in 2012, is most well-known for her role as Dr. Callie Torres, a bisexual surgeon, on Grey's Anatomy.
Bisexual fans quickly began sharing just how much the actor's words have impacted them:
Let's not forget that #SaraRamirez played a Latinx bisexual woman on Grey's for TEN YEARS in which she addressed bi… https://t.co/k0YAo11p7Q
CALLIOPE TORRES, A BISEXUAL, PLAYED BY SARA RAMIREZ, ALSO BISEXUAL, DID NOT GET KILLED OFF #LEGENDSONLY
How did we get so lucky to live at the same time as Sara Ramirez
Sara Ramirez, inspiring people on and off screen. 👏 👏 👏
Random: how's your day me: on October 8, 2016 Sara Ramirez came out as a proud bisexual woc, she has changed so many lives & spreads love &
BuzzFeed News has reached out to Ramirez for comment.