
(Photo: John P Fleenor/FOX)
Just when you thought TV gold Brooklyn Nine-Nine couldn’t get any better, they give us another reason to love the show.
On Tuesday’s episode, super private cop Rosa Diaz—played by a hilarious Stephanie Beatriz—revealed that she’s dating a woman and is in fact bisexual. Diaz, who is often emotionally closed-off, told detective Charles Boyle (Joe Lo Truglio) that the woman he overheard her talking to on the phone and calling “babe” was her girlfriend.
Are you as happy as we are that the show has another LGBTQ storyline?!
We love Rosa.#BiVisibility #Brooklyn99 pic.twitter.com/9PowJaovfG
— Brooklyn Nine-Nine (@Brooklyn99FOX) December 6, 2017
While Beatriz herself nonchalantly came out last year, it’s the first time that her character, Diaz, has acknowledged her sexuality so openly. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Beatriz said that she “was really excited” about her character’s identity.
“There were things that we wanted and thought would be really important—like the word itself: bisexual. To me, that’s an important word in my coming out,” Beatriz said.
“It also would be really important to the bi community to have that word said aloud on TV. Not just a suggestion that she dates girls now, but a clarity on this character: This is who I am, and I’d like you to know it—and accept it.”
The 36-year-old actor also told the outlet that she “hadn’t really seen much [bisexual] representation in television” and that playing a character who is bi helps audiences understand bisexuality.
“Oftentimes bi characters are hypersexualized and sometimes duplicitous, and they’re playing both sides, or they’re simply defined by their sexuality and not by anything else,” she explained.
“Let’s say you live in a place that you don’t know very many bi people, or you haven’t had access to many people that identify as LGBTQ in your life, and you’re gathering information from television—or let’s say you’re a kid who’s still figuring stuff out about yourself and you haven’t come out, and you don’t even know who or what you are and you’re seeing images of parts of yourself reflected in TV—the way other characters respond to a mirror of yourself, those messages are big.”
So far, Diaz’s bisexuality is being celebrated by fans of the show.
Me: #Brooklyn99 can not get any better. Healthy relationships, no jokes that target marginalized communities, great POC & LGBT+ rep. How can they top that?
Rosa: I’m dating a woman. I’m bi.
Me: It got better.
— Zoe (@Zoe_writer_chic) December 6, 2017
ROSA ACTUALLY SAID THE WORD “BI” ON PRIMETIME TELEVISION AND SHE’S DATING A WOMAN AND THAT WOMAN CALLS HER “BABE” AND I’M CRYING #Brooklyn99 pic.twitter.com/CqsX8zhjXK
— Rachel (@BendItLikeTobin) December 6, 2017
One of my former students is bi and often talks about how hurt/frustrated he is by lack of representation. I teared up tonight and immediately messaged him to make sure he saw. Thank you, @iamstephbeatz and #Brooklyn99 team—this is still so important. We are grateful.
— Danielle Coombs (@daniellecoombs) December 6, 2017
Thanks for being so awesome, Diaz.
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