British Supermodel Lily Cole Comes Out As Queer

British model and actor Lily Cole has come out as queer while promoting her new book, Who Cares Wins: How to Protect the Planet You Love.

In the book, Cole discusses how her queerness, and her daughter's heritage -- Cole shares a five-year-old daughter with boyfriend Kwame Ferreira -- would be considered a crime in some countries.

"Just as we do not choose the circumstances and ancestral patterns we are born into, none of us choose the cultural norms and laws we inherit," she wrote. "Had my mixed-race daughter been born in a different country, she would have been a crime. If I were living in another country today, my queerness would be a crime."

In an interview with the Sunday Times, Cole explained why she prefers the label of queer. "I like that word [queer] because of its openness, because I think all those boundaries are quite rigid. I have lots of friends who identify as bisexual, lesbian, or whatever, who also identify as queer," Cole said.

"I've always been quite private about my private life, consciously, and I want to continue to be, so I don't feel the need to be explicit. At the same time I feel the need to acknowledge that I am not straight."

Who Cares Wins: How to Protect the Planet You Love is available now.