“We love each other deeply, we’re so close” – Tessa Thompson on her Relationship with Janelle Monae

Actress Tessa Thompson is the cover girl for PorterEdit‘s new issue. The 33-year old star is styled in a high-fashion Richard Quinn dress on the cover.

She opens up to the magazine about her rumored relationship with Janelle Monae, the LGBTQ community, being private about her sexuality, her family’s support of her relationships and more.

Read excerpts below.

On her relationship with Janelle: “We love each other deeply, we’re so close. We vibrate on the same frequency. If people want to speculate about what we are, that’s okay. It doesn’t bother me.”

On why Monae’s Dirty Computer album is important for the LGBTQ community: “I get text messages from friends which are like, ‘Would you please let Janelle know I came out to my family because of her?’ I think that work is really helping people and probably saving some lives.”

On her struggle with wanting to protect her privacy and be outspoken about her sexuality: “It’s tricky because Janelle and I are just really private people and we’re both trying to navigate how you reconcile wanting to have that privacy and space and also wanting to use your platform and influence.”

On her family’s support of her relationships: “I can take things for granted because of my family – it’s so free and you can be anything that you want to be. I’m attracted to men and also to women. If I bring a woman home, [or] a man, we don’t even have to have the discussion. That was something I was conscientious of in terms of this declaration around Janelle and myself. I want everyone else to have that freedom and support that I have from my loved ones. But so many people don’t. So, do I have a responsibility to talk about that? Do I have a responsibility to say in a public space that this is my person?”

For more from Tessa, visit Net-a-Porter.com!