Good Place star Jameela Jamil comes out as queer after Ballroom backlash

Good Place actress and model Jameela Jamil has come out as ‘queer’.

Jamil, 33, was defending herself after LGBT+ people attacked her for taking a role on a voguing and ballroom show based on queer black and Latino culture.

They said she had no business hosting HBO Max’s new show – titled Legendary – as a cisgender, heterosexual woman.

But now Jamil has said she is queer. And she explained she hadn’t come out earlier as it’s hard for LGBT+ people to find acceptance in south Asian communities.

‘This is not how I wanted to come out’

Writing on Twitter today, Jamil made it clear she was coming out in response to the social media backlash.

Her post is titled: ‘Twitter is brutal.’

And she added: ‘This is why I never officially came out as queer.

‘I added a rainbow to my name when I felt ready a few years ago, as it’s not easy within the south Asian community to be accepted, and I always answered honestly if ever straight-up asked about it on Twitter.’

Jamil explained she kept her sexuality ‘low’ because she was scared of being accused of jumping on a bandwagon over it.

And she added her sexuality ‘caused me a lot of confusion, fear and turmoil when I was a kid’.

She explained: ‘I didn’t come from a family with *anyone* openly out. It’s also scary as an actor to admit your sexuality, especially when you are already a brown female in your 30s.

‘This is absolutely not how I wanted it to come out. I am jumping off this app for a while because I don’t want to read mean comments dismissing this. You can keep your thoughts.

Voguing, ballroom and why Jamil is a controversial choice

HBO Max initially announced Jamil will be ‘MC and judge’ on its voguing competition series, Legendary.

But that proved controversial, due to the history of voguing and ballroom or ball culture.

Ball culture or ballroom are an underground LGBT+ subculture that started in 1920s New York City.

Ball participants are mainly young African-American and Latin American members of the LGBTQ community.

They ‘walk’ – slang for compete – for trophies and glory at ‘balls’. This is traditionally done in ‘Houses’ – groups who provide alternative families. And the judges make their choice on the basis of vogue dance skills, costumes, appearance and attitude.

Moreover, the culture runs far deeper than that. Houses have often served as alternative families.

They have provided shelter, safety and love, partiuclarly for black and Latino gay, gender-nonconforming, genderqueer and transgender people. Naturally they have been a lifeline for young people whose families have rejected them for being LGBT+.

Ballroom culture in turn inspired voguing in the 1980s. Again, African-American and Latino drag queens and gay men created this dance style.

To vogue, they strike a series of poses – likened to ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs but also to modern Vogue magazine photoshoots. Throwing ‘shade’ or subtle insults also impresses judges.

Voguing reached the mainstream via  Madonna’s song and video Vogue in 1990 and was showcased in the documentary Paris Is Burning of the same year. Paris Is Burning in turn is a major inspiration behind RuPaul’s Drag Race which has proved a major LGBT+ TV hit.

But because of this long culture, particularly of the most marginalized LGBT+ people, many felt the judges and show hosts of Legendary should come from the communities which inspired the art form.

Jamil promises to use her power to get show off the ground

Jamil used her Twitter post today to reply to address those critics directly.

She said: ‘I know that my being queer doesn’t qualify me as ballroom. But I have privilege and power and a large following to bring to this show, and its beautiful contestants and ballroom hosts.

‘Sometimes it takes those with more power to help a show get off the ground so we can elevate marginalized stars that deserve the limelight and give them a chance.’

She emphasized that, in fact, ‘I’m not the MC. I’m not the judge’.

But she said she is ‘lead judge’. She claimed this is due to her 11 years of hosting experience on TV and radio. And she said as a newcomer to ballroom should will provide a window in to the art form for the majority of Legendary’s audience who will be discovering it for the first time.

She also praised her fellow judges and hosts, some of whom are also controversial casting choices.

But Jamil said: ‘We start shooting tomorrow and I’m really excited to watch these stars shine and be celebrated.

‘It’s fucking hard to be asked to continue to be patient after so long waiting for what you want. I know that. South Asian stories are almost never told without white stars.

‘But I hope you don’t let a few castings designed to help the show get off the ground, stop you from supporting the tallent from Ballroom on this show. They really are fucking amazing and I’m really honored to work with them.’

More about Jameela Jamil

Jameela Jamil first came to fame hosting the TV pop culture show T4 on the UK’s Channel 4 from 2009 to 2012. She went on to host the Chart Show on BBC Radio 1, the UK’s top pop radio station.

But she reached new fame when cast as Tahani Al-Jamil in the NBC and Netflix fantasy comedy series The Good Place. Her character is a socialite name-dropper, desperate to win her parents’ love. And she became a favorite in the four season series, which has just ended.

Meanwhile Jamil is also a model, appearing in British and American fashion titles. And she is a campaigner against fad diets.

Mixed reaction to Jamil’s coming out

As Jamil herself predicted, Twitter is brutal.

While many welcomed her coming out, others responded angrily.

One of the comments came from reactionary, transgender, English newsreader India Willoughby. She seems to have forgotten that queer people are often bisexual and may have partners of any gender.

Willoughby attacked: ‘Here you go, Twitter falls for it. SHE’S GOT A BOYFRIEND. You don’t think it’s odd she comes out as “queer” after being criticised for possibly taking a gay person’s place on a show?’

Others are still angry that Jamil will be on Legendary.

Bobby James tweeted: ‘Girl bye! You never walked any balls, never did anything for the ballroom community so should NOT be judging a Voguing competition.’

But Twitter user Celine said: ‘And this is why I’m ALWAYS so weary of people hating on presumed “straight” people going on LGBT shows. No one should EVER have to come out to avoid hate. This is horrifying.’

Meanwhile, others questioned Jamil’s identity as queer. Research published last month shows that growing numbers of young LGBT+ people and women in particular now identify as queer.