Comedian Ilana Glazer Comes Out as Nonbinary
The star of "Babes" talks about how their 2021 pregnancy informed a journey of nonbinary self-discovery.
Ilana Glazer has shared that becoming pregnant helped them embrace their nonbinary identity.
Speaking with the British newspaper The Independent while promoting the movie Babes, Glazer — who uses they/she pronouns — revealed how their pregnancy led them to embrace personality aspects not stereotypically feminine.
“Being pregnant on paper was the most female thing I could ever do, but it actually highlighted both the masculine and feminine inside of me,” said Glazer, who gave birth in July 2021.
“For so long, my masculinity felt like something I had to hide or make a joke of, and my femininity was something that felt like drag. There was always this element of comedy to it that was limiting my genuine personal experience. Then this gift of being pregnant made space for me to be real with myself.”
The former Broad City co-creator and star previously made similar comments about how pregnancy informed their identity in an interview with USA Today in late May, telling the newspaper that they were able to accept aspects of their gender-nonconformity.
“It was something that I thought was cool and hot and a part of me. That was an interesting aspect of being a queer, birthing person.”
For Glazer, who has undergone psychoanalysis to more fully understand herself — especially when distinguishing between Ilana Wexler, the Broad City character whose characteristics were informed by parts of Glazer’s personality, and their own personal identity — being able to put a name to their feelings of being nonbinary is part of a “long journey of self-actualization.”
“I’m moving through the world in a way that’s truer,” Glazer told The Independent.
Glazer said the pregnancy also gave them a frame of reference and a set of experiences that they could easily use and incorporate in their comedy writing.
Glazer noted that pregnancy brings with it not only a host of physical changes, but strange experiences or alterations in mood or behavior, such as becoming horny at the sight of raw chicken — a joke that made it into the on-screen final version of Glazer’s latest movie, Babes.
In it, Glazer plays Eden, a hapless, single 30-something who becomes pregnant and ultimately decides to carry the pregnancy to term following a one-night stand — despite the fact that she is utterly unprepared for becoming a parent.
The buddy comedy, about two woke female best friends, walks viewers through the ins and outs of pregnancy, including the smaller, more intimate moments that one might encounter while expecting.
“People are so surprised. They call the film ‘raunchy,’ but this is how women talk to each other and share information,” says Glazer. “The cold hard facts? That’s the punchline. The setup is your entire life of never being told something, and then the punchline is hearing the truth.”
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