Raven-Symoné is known to many ‘90s babies for her psychic alter-ego Raven Baxter in the classic Disney Channel sitcom That’s So Raven, as well as Gabriella in The Cheetah Girls film franchise.
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In an interview on a recent episode of the Pride podcast, the actress revealed network execs approached with the option of making her Disney sitcom alter ego a member of the LGBTQ community, of which Raven declined.
As reported by E! Online, she explained, “You know what there was a conversation before the series started and I was asked the question, ‘Would you like Raven Baxter to be a lesbian?’ And I said, no. I said no.”
Raven currently portrays the character on the That’s So Raven spinoff Raven’s Home, which sees Raven Baxter as a divorced mother of two children, one of whom has inherited her psychic powers.
“The reason I said, no, wasn’t because I wasn’t proud of who I was, or I didn’t want to represent the LGBTQ+ community in any way,” she continued, “It was because Raven Baxter is Raven Baxter is Raven Baxter. There was no reason for me to change the human that she was in order to fit the actress that played her. And Raven Baxter is a character that I was proud to play. Even if she is straight, cisgender, I don’t mind, let her have her moment.”
It is unknown as of right now if Raven’s Home has been renewed for a fourth season at the network.
A spinoff of the iconic Disney Channel series, That’s So Raven, Raven’s Home also stars Anneliese van der Pol reprising her role as Chelsea, as well as Navia Robinson as Raven’s daughter and Booker’s twin sister, Nia. Jayson Maybaum plays Chelsea’s son, Levi, and Sky Katz plays Tess, the group’s next door neighbor and friend to Booker and Nia. The show focuses on Raven and Chelsea’s lives as single mothers raising their children in the same apartment, all the while contending with Raven and Booster’s visions of the future, which lead to classic sitcom shenanigans.
