Billy Dee Williams Opens Up About 'Gender Fluid' Identity

Hollywood icon Billy Dee Williams, in a recent interview with Esquire, revealed that he considers himself both masculine and feminine and is not afraid to express his femininity. His comment led readers to assume that he was describing himself as “gender fluid.” However, in his most recent interview, he clarified that he has no idea what the term means.

“I never tried to be anything except myself,” the Star Wars star said in his initial interview. “I think of myself as a relatively colorful character who doesn’t take himself or herself too seriously… I also see myself as feminine as well as masculine. I’m a very soft person. I’m not afraid to show that side of myself.”

In the wake of many commending the actor for opening up about his apparent “coming out” at 82 years old, Williams spoke with The Undefeated to clear some things up. He started out by admitting that he had never heard the term “gender fluid” before learning about it on social media, most recently.

“What the hell is ‘gender fluid?'” he asked. “What I was talking about was about men getting in touch with the softer side of themselves. There’s a phrase that was coined by Carl G. Jung… that’s ‘Anima animus.’ And anima means that is the female counterpart of the male self and the animus is the male counterpart of the female. So, that’s what I was referring to.”

He went a bit further, clarifying that he was not talking about sexuality in his initial comments.

“I was talking about men getting in touch with the female side of themselves,” he continued. “I wasn’t talking about sex. I wasn’t talking about gay or straight.”

To further drive his point in, he added, “I’m not gay — by any stretch of the imagination. Not that I have anything against gay people. But personally? [I am] not gay.”