Naya Rivera praised by 'Glee' fans for lesbian character amid disappearance: 'She saved my life'
While the search for Naya Rivera continues two days after her disappearance, fans are in mourning, as the former Glee star is presumed dead from a tragic drowning accident. The 33-year-old actress shot to fame in 2009 playing cheerleader Santana Lopez on the Fox hit for the show’s six-season run. While her sharp one-liners made Santana a fan favorite, the character represented so much more to many viewers around the world.
One of the most memorable episodes of Glee was “I Kissed a Girl” from Season 3, known to Gleeks as Santana's coming-out party. It also happens to be one of Rivera’s strongest acting performances as, in one scene, Santana tells her religious grandmother she’s gay and in love with Brittany (played by Heather Morris.)
“I love girls the way that I’m supposed to feel about boys. It’s something that’s always been inside of me and I really want to share it with you because I love you so much and I want you to know me — who I really am,” she says. “When I’m with Brittany, I finally understand what people are talking about when they talk about love. I’ve tried so hard to push this feeling away and keep it locked inside but every day feels like a war. I walk around so mad at the world but I’m really just fighting with myself and I don’t want to fight anymore. I’m just too tired. I have to just be me.”
Rivera’s disappearance has many in the LGBTQ community expressing how much her portrayal of Santana Lopez meant to them personally. For some, it was the first lesbian character they saw on TV. For others, she was the first lesbian Latina, or the first gay character to have a real storyline.
One woman credited Rivera’s Santana with awakening “a generation repressed.”
“In high school, I desperately grasped for anything that could help me understand who I was and what my feelings meant. Santana Lopez gave me something to hold onto, tightly,” another woman added.
One Twitter user shared a screenshot of a touching conversation she had with her brother over why Rivera’s disappearance is so devastating.
Many others expressed similar sentiments.
Rivera was last seen on a dock at Lake Piru, Calif. around 1 p.m. PT on Wednesday. She rented a pontoon boat with her 4-year-old son, Josey Dorsey. Rivera never returned from a swimming excursion with her boy, who was found alone on the boat shortly after 4 p.m. PT. He had been wearing a life vest, but investigators don’t believe Rivera was wearing one as a second life vest was found inside the boat.
While an investigation is ongoing, Captain Eric Buschow from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office told reporters they have enough information to conclude Rivera “never made it out of the water.” He added “that the focus of our search efforts are in the water at this time.”
It wasn’t just Rivera’s character that made such an impact on the LGBTQ community, as she was an ally in real life, too, having hosted the GLAAD Media Awards and even auctioned off “sweet lady kisses.”
Below, in honor of the actress, is the Glee performance of Rivera singing “Songbird,” when Santana tells Brittany she loves her for the first time.
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