Ruby Rose Shares Her Queer Icons

Ruby Rose shares her queer icons, including Annie Lennox, Angelina Jolie, Ellen DeGeneres, Oscar Wilde, and Laverne Cox.

Ruby stars in "Batwoman" on the CW.

- Hi, I'm Ruby Rose,and I'm here to talk about my queer icons.(pop music)So growing up,I feel like when it cameto fashion and expression,it was the musiciansthat really paved the wayfor me to feel accepted.So Bowie, Boy George,George Michael, Madonna,and Annie Lennox.Annie Lennox for me was the big onebecause she showed me what androgyny was,and how to be unapologeticabout the way you look,the way you act, the waythat you're just yourself.I thought she was a badass.When I used to work at MTV,("Sweet Dreams" by Eurythmics)we were told this storythat her first video to ever playwas kind of tossed around for a whilebecause they weren't sure ifshe was a male or a femaleand when she said, "I'm afemale and this is my song,"they didn't want to play itbecause they thought that she was lying.There was a rumorthat she had to show her birthcertificate or a passport,I'm not sure how true it is,MTV told us a lot of things.It was really fun working there.I have no idea what's true and what isn't.The other thing I love about Annie Lennoxis she has not stoppedfighting for LGBT rightsand trying to find cures forAIDS and different foundationsand she's very involved in the community.So growing up, therewasn't as many gay, queer,lesbian icons as there are today.And I'm so glad thatthere are so many more.Angelina Jolie came out bisexual.That was a great one!I was so stoked.She had won, I think,most beautiful human being on the planet,very surprisingly,clearly, unfortunate face.When she was asked,"What do you think about the fact"that a lot of women voted for you?"She laughed and said,"Well, I'm most likely tosleep with my female fans."Which was totally an in for me.I mean, I would've been like 12.But was I like, I tick both those boxes.I'm both a fan and a female,so clearly Angelina will be my wife.But I just love the way she said it,like it was nothing.And of course it was something to meand it was something to a lot of people.But for her it was justa throwaway comment.Angelina has always beenauthentic and true to herselfand on top of the amazingwork that she's doneas an actor and everythingshe's done in her lifeand an amazing mom, she'sa political activist,she has also fought for LGBT rights.She said that she wouldn't get marrieduntil that was a rightthat everybody shared.So there's so many things thatshe does for the community.Also she's just so good looking.Oh and Gia!Can we just talk about Gia for a minute?Like, did anyone watchthat movie and not be gay?In fact, all of her movies.All of them.Even if she was playing a straight personI'm like, "Still gay."She could play a penguinand I'd be like, "Gay."I am a gay penguin now."That is what I am for you."Right?Are any of them gay penguins?Next, I remember findingout at also a young age,a little bit after Angelina,that Ellen DeGeneres was an out gay woman.And this made me really really happybecause Angelina, total babe,Ellen, total babe, butEllen also super funny.So I'm like, great.Now I can try to be a babe,wear what I wanna wear'cause Annie Lennox told me that I can,I can have short hair,she told me that I can,and now I have to learn howto be funny really quickly'cause Ellen is amazing.Watching her over the manyyears that I've been a huge fanand then getting to beon her show last yearwas one of the highlights of my life.Getting to thank her, shake her hand,and tell her how much I admiredeverything that she's done,what a fantastic human she is.I think that a lot ofpeople in the communitycan remember the momentthat they saw Ellen come outon the show.- I'm gay.(audience cheers)- The amount of press around it,that she was the first gay womanto be on the cover of Time Magazine.There were so many thingsthat she did for otherpeople to be able to standin the position that they stand in now.I think that's how Willand Grace came about,I think that's how they startedadopting more gay charactersinto television shows andhaving more visibility.I think she knows that she's a superstarbut I don't think she could possibly knowhow much she's touchedevery single person's lives.Also obviously saying this'cause I wanna go her show again soon.So, Ellen if you're watching,I only put you on this listto get back on your show.Love you.Oscar Wilde, he has someof the most amazing quotesin the world that I always use.I would read his books andthen I would read his poemsand I would just search in the library,'cause that's how old Iam, and I fell in love.And when I found out that hewas prisoned for two years,for being gay, or for themdeciding that he was gay,it was unbelievable.I didn't even know that itwas illegal to be homosexualand I couldn't believethat somebody so infamousand so successful and sotalented and brilliantcould be treated like that.And it really kinda openedup my eyes to how lucky I waseven just at that age,I was probably 14 or 15.And I realized that we'dalready grown a lot.And now to fast forward at my age now,I realize we've made huge progress.Oscar Wilde was one ofthe most talented writersthat I've ever fallen in love with.One of my favorite women in the world,I was lucky enough to work with heron Orange is the New Black, Laverne Cox.Woo!Can you put some soundeffects in where it's like,"Woo, yeah!"Make some noise!"Laverne!"Or you can just mine butthat was kind of annoying.Laverne is a babe.I love Laverne.She was a big fan of my shortfilm that I did, Break Free,and as soon as I got on set, you know,I was already so grateful toJen Euston and Jenji Kohan,who write and cast Orange,but to cast Laverneas a trans character, as a trans woman,she put me in a characteras a gender fluid person,I just, what they did was amazing,but the way that Laverneembodied that characterand how many people changedtheir idea or their mentalityor what they thoughtthey knew about trans,and really it was a conversation starterfor the whole transgender movement.And I think that's, I mean,Laverne is just a hero.I wouldn't want to stand hereand say that kids being born nowor being born five, 10 years ago,are not going to encounter a struggle.Because even though I've watchedthings grow exponentiallysince I was a kid,to literally being bullied in school,but by the time I wasready to finish in year 12,being gay became popular.Damn you L Word!Where were you five years earlier?And then I've also seen,depending on where you're in the worldand what county and whatstate and what city,what your family is like,what the dynamic is like,I don't think that it'sgonna be erased entirelyin the next five years,10 years, 20 years.I think we're on the right pathand I think that it'samazing and I feel blessedbecause I haven't been throughwhat people went through before me.And I know the people afterme will say the same thingand it's just going to keepbeing a work in progress.