Rowan Blanchard, 14, Reflects on Opening Up About Her Sexuality

But many responses were positive. After her first remarks about her sexuality, some called her inspiring and a role model for her generation. A fan also tweeted, "BisexualRileyMatthews2k16," citing the name of her character.

"It's vvv important to me, being queer, that there is representation on our show," she responded, adding, "Being queer to me just means not putting a label on sexuality- just existing."

Rowan has more than 360,000 followers on Twitter and more than 3.6 million on Instagram. She told Wonderland that her mother started posting on her behalf when she was about 9 and then she began to share posts herself at age 12.

"The downside to social media is it's another place for girls to be made fun of and another way for girls to be degraded," she told Wonderland. "The upside is that it's also a way for girls—especially girls of color, for example to speak out and to take back some control."

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