Stephanie Beatriz Reveals She Kept Bisexuality Hidden ‘For a Really Long Time’

It’s hard to imagine that an actress like Stephanie Beatriz, who killed it playing tough cop Detective Rosa Diaz on Brooklyn Nine-Nine for seven seasons (she played a detective in season eight), felt the need to keep her bisexuality quiet out of fear that it would derail her career. 

But she did. 

The “Encanto” and “In The Heights” actress attended the Tribeca Film Festival on June 10th, promoting her new movie, “Bucky F*kin’ Dent.” She confessed to Page Six that she kept her sexuality “hidden for a really long time.” 

Stephanie Beatriz feared what coming out would do to her career and friends 

“I thought, ‘Oh, it may affect my career; it might have an effect on some of my relationships,” the actress said. “And it did, and probably does.”

It’s hard to believe that in 2023, actresses and actors are still panicking that their sexuality will make them unemployable.  

It’s like living back in “The Sewing Circle” (1910-1950s), a group of Hollywood writers and actresses who were bisexual, lesbian, or simply experimenting. 

Among its members were Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, and Mercedes de Acosta, to name a few. The women met secretly at one another’s houses (including Mexican actress Dolores del Rio’s) for lunch, talk, or whatever else was on the menu. 

Beatriz, Argentinian by birth, came out as bisexual in college and in public in 2106

She wrote on Twitter, “Yup,” as she retweeted a quote from the Advocate interview with fellow Latina actress Aubrey Plaza which read: “I fall in love with girls and guys. I can’t help it.”

A year later, Stephani Beatriz’s character Rosa Diaz came out as bisexual in season five. Honoring her flinty personality, she did it with a few words: “I’m dating a woman. I’m bi.”

Today, Beatriz is married to Brad Hoss and is the mother of a one-year-old daughter, Rosaline.

She believes no one should be forced to come out, but she wanted to be clear about her identity. 

“I think as a bisexual woman who is currently married to a man, what was important to me was that the world knew that I wanted to be open about who I was,” she said to Page Six.

“[And] saying to the world, ‘This is me, all of me. Take it or leave it, baby,'” she said. “And, ‘I’m here, sharing the same space as you. So what’s up.'”

In a “GQ” essay in 2018, Beatriz wrote about her bisexuality and how nothing had changed just because she married a man — she was still proud as hell to be bi.  

“I’m choosing to get married because this particular person brings out the best in me. This person happens to be a man. I’m still bi,” she said. 

For Beatriz, this year’s Pride Month is about “being proud” of who you are.

Or, as Rosa would phrase it,” I’m bisexual. All right. I will now field one minute and zero seconds of questions pertaining to this. Go.”