Atypical star Brigette Lundy-Paine has come out as nonbinary and announced that they use they/them pronouns.
Lundy-Paine, who is already an out queer person, came out as nonbinary in a Friday Instagram post where they posted a picture of their cat with the caption, "I'm non-binary, always felt a lil bit boy, lil bit girl, lil bit neither. Using they/them as of late n it feels right." Congrats to them!
According to the 25-year-old actor, coming out as nonbinary was scary, but they felt like it was important to be visible and to help provide a platform for an underrepresented community. While estimates show that up to 35 percent of trans people identify as neither male nor female, there are very few nonbinary actors or public figures. Notable exceptions includeBillions star Asia Kate Dillon, The Politician's Theo Germaine, and singer Sam Smith.
To encourage nonbinary folks to be visible in their own lives, Lundy-Paine invited their followers to "comment and celebrate yourself."
"U r beautiful and u r whole," they said to their nonbinary fans.
Lundy-Paine's followers quickly answered the call. "I'm so happy to hear someone I admire is nonbinary like me," one said, while another wrote: "I'm nb myself and ah love you! It feels pretty great to have some visibility on here."
"I use they/them pronouns myself," a third responded. "Haven't quite had the courage to use them irl or come out but maybe one day, this definitely gives me a push."
Lundy-Paine had already come out as queer in a 2018 interview with The Advocate, in which they discussed not only to their own character in Atypical, Casey, but also the show's protagonist, Sam. Sam, played by Keir Gilchrist (It Follows), is an autistic teenager, and Lundy-Paine plays his younger sister.
"Sam feels like a deep part of myself that I am only now beginning to let out: the insecurities and the complete confusion with the system and the rules that have been laid out for him," Lundy-Paine said at the time.
Let's hope Atypical will use Lundy-Paine's coming out to further explore its LGBTQ+ storylines. One of the best parts of Season 3 of was the queer romance between Casey and Izzy, the latter of whom is played by Fivel Stewart. Their romance is slow and delicate and grabs you right by the heart.
Atypical is currently streaming on Netflix.
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