'Stranger Things' star Shannon Purser wants to help bisexual young people 'feel less alone'

“I just always think about what would I have needed as a kid, what would have meant a lot to me?”

Shannon Purser

Source: Getty Images

Actress Shannon Purser has opened up about wanting to help bisexual young people "feel less alone".

Purser, who became an internet sensation after starring as the ill-fated Barb in the first season of Stranger Things, came out as bisexual on Twitter last year.

“I don’t normally do this, but I figure now is as good a time as any to get personal. I’ve only just recently come out as bisexual to my family and friends,” she wrote at the time.

She added: “It’s something I am still processing and trying to understand and I don’t like talking about it too much. I’m very very new to the LGBT community."
A year later, the young star has reflected on her decision to come out, admitting that she feels motivated to help those who were in her position.

“I would love for us to get to a point in society where it doesn’t really matter what your sexuality is, but right now there is a lot of turmoil around that issue, a lot of controversy where there shouldn’t be,” Purser told .

While admitting that she isn't a perfect role model, Purser, 21, said she wanted to “try to encourage young people and be somebody that they can look up to."

She continued: “I just always think about what would I have needed as a kid, what would have meant a lot to me?”

“If somebody can see me and feel less alone and more understood, than that’s it.”

Purser plays the titular role in the upcoming Netflix film Sierra Burgess Is a Loser.

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Published 3 September 2018 9:34am
By Samuel Leighton-Dore


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