Sonya Deville Outlines How WWE Can Introduce LGBTQ Superstars

In a recent interview with WKBN, Sonya Deville said she hopes to see WWE introduce LGBTQ Superstars in subtle ways going forward.

"I mean, it's not something that I ever think about like that, right? It's always just like, 'Yeah, I am who I am, and I'm a WWE Superstar,'" Deville said. "But obviously, I realize the effect and influence it has on other members of the LGBTQ community, and I love being a part of that. That change in that kind of power that I can give to them, like, 'Hey, if I can do it, you can do it. And if I can be myself unapologetically, so can you. And you should never be ashamed or afraid of who you are or who you love. You should simply just be."

Deville, WWE's first openly-gay female wrestler, outlined a possible backstage segment to introduce viewers to a LGBTQ Superstar.

"Just as you would have a male Superstar on the phone with their wife in a backstage segment or interacting with another female, you just have two females or two males interacting," Deville imagined. "You know, or maybe I'm on the phone with my girlfriend while you're filming backstage, you know, something like that, that just allows the inclusivity to be there and not in a forced inorganic way, kind of just how it is in life."

Sonya Deville and SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair teamed up in a loss to Ronda Rousey and Naomi at the Elimination Chamber event in Saudi Arabia earlier this month. Reflecting on the match, Deville stated how proud she was of WWE to break down social barriers by featuring three female matches on the card.

"We were there a couple of years ago having one woman's match," Deville said. "Then we were there this past weekend having three, one of them being an Elimination Chamber-style match, which is a more intense, hardcore style match. So it's incredible. It's incredible to be able to go into a country that doesn't see wrestling every week locally like the United States does, too, to hear and feel a different fan base, and it's just really cool. It seemed like they were really grateful to have us there, and we were super grateful to be there."