Lauren Morelli, a writer for Netflix’s hit female prison series, Orange Is the New Black, has recently filed for divorce from her husband, to pursue a lesbian relationship with one of the show’s stars. While working on the series, Morelli discovered she was gay and is now in a relationship with Poussey actress Samira Wiley.
Back in May, Lauren Morelli posted about her self discover via an Identities.Mic essay. In the essay, Morelli opened up about how her fellow writers were able to help her find out she was gay:
"’You're so gay!’ people exclaimed gleefully and often in the writers’ room those first few months. It was my first professional writing job, and I quickly discovered that the writers' room was a remarkably intimate place: We shared details of fights with our significant others or childhood family secrets that might be cloaked in shame otherwise, and at the end of the day, all of it could be distilled into material that made the show richer.”
Morelli went on to add that writing for the show’s characters help her to realize who she really was:
“As we started to shape our characters and debate fictional Piper's "true" sexuality that first season, we engaged in long discussions about sex, gender and our own experiences. I eagerly shared details of innocent, ‘above-the-waist’ flirtations with girls when I'd been younger. I'd even excitedly blurted out, "I would totally sleep with her," about an actress who had auditioned for Alex (now played brilliantly by Laura Prepon, who shares the role with a pair of glasses). I went to therapy that night and casually mentioned that perhaps I was higher on the Kinsey Scale than I previously thought.”
