Betty White is turning 100 and here’s why the Bears love her!

20th December 2021 BWM Staff

In less than a month, the iconic TV legend will celebrate her centenary. Here are some of her LGBTQ+ highlights.

Betty White won our hearts arguably when she appeared as Rose Nylund on The Golden Girls. “Gays love old ladies,” she once said. Just being a part of that ensemble gives a thespian lifetime queer cred! But there are myriad other reasons White is possibly the longest-serving LGBTQ ally in the history of allyship.

In 2010 she told Parade magazine: “I don’t care who anybody sleeps with. If a couple has been together all that time — and there are gay relationships that are more solid than some heterosexual ones — I think it’s fine if they want to get married. I don’t know how people can get so anti-something. Mind your own business, take care of your affairs, and don’t worry about other people so much.”

In 2011 she told Frontiers magazine she tried to guess why she was a favorite with the gays: “Throughout my career, I’ve always portrayed characters that were humorous, but also weren’t afraid to speak their minds, especially when it came to racy or controversial topics… I think this struck a chord with the LGBT community. We both also share a very strong love for animals. When you combine the two, it’s a very strong match.”

In 2013 she took part in a promotional video for Spirit Day, GLAAD’s anti-bullying initiative that asks people to wear purple to show support for LGBT youth.

In 2014 she defended the gay community to Larry King when she said she didn’t understand why people had a problem with gay people.

Her step-daughter, Sarah Ludden, with whom she is reportedly close, is a lesbian.

Always upbeat and modest, when asked what she thought of being a gay icon, White told The Huffington Post in June 2012:

“Oh! I didn’t know I was a gay icon. I get a lot of mail — but I don’t get many bad letters — but I got a woman the other day that was so upset with me because they said, ‘How do you feel about the gay marriage thing?’ and my answer to that is, ‘I really don’t care with whom you sleep, I just care what kind of a decent human being you are.’ I figure all the rest of it is your business and not mine. And not hers, incidentally.”