Elvira, the Mistress of the Dark. In the 80s she was an icon of all things black and spooky. But last year fans got to know a different side to the queen, and it was a scary time indeed for her alter ego Cassandra Peterson. Now in 2022, she’s willing to be more open about her sexuality and how coming out changed her life.

Peterson, who continues to don the black dress, revealed in her 2021 memoir Yours Cruelly, Elvira, her 20-year relationship with a woman. Peterson also labeled herself as sexually fluid. According to Peterson’s words in the memoir, the main wall that was keeping her from coming out was her friendships. Over her career, she had befriended many people who had come out and sadly suffered the consequences of a(n arguably) more prejudiced time. She did not name names, but she was there to witness their careers go up in smoke due to the backlash. According to her, they were all men, and she feared the worse possibilities of backlash against a woman.

Per Variety, Peterson is very protective over her career and the character of Elvira. According to an interview, Peterson was very cautious about opening up on the details of her personal life, fearing possible backlash and fans connecting her own life with her character. But being so secretive of her personal life took a toll on her self-esteem.

“It made my personal life not fun. I felt like a hypocrite. You’re hiding something, and it certainly didn’t make ‘T,’ my partner, feel good.”

“T” is Teresa Wierson, Peterson’s partner. The two met and began dating around the time of Peterson’s divorce from singer and manager Mark Pierson in 2003. During that time, she would introduce Wierson as her assistant, but it wasn’t the same.

“People would ignore her and it was awful.”

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Letting Her Freak Flag Fly

When Peterson celebrated her 70th birthday last year, she decided it was time to stop hiding.

“If I don’t do it now, when the hell am I going to do it? Who cares if people hate my character as Elvira and it goes down the tubes?”

Peterson admitted that writing that particular chapter of her life was difficult. She was worried of making her queerness come off as trendy, like she was doing it to be hip. In her own words, she wanted to ‘make sure it came out the right way’.

Since her coming out, Peterson admitted that she lost 11,000 followers on social media. But she took it in stride. On the podcast Behind the Velvet Rope, she detailed that they probably were following her for the wrong reasons.

“I knew that there were going to be some horny old men out there who were just not going to like the fact that they didn’t have a chance with me anymore. And I hate to tell them they already didn’t have a chance with me anyway.”

She went on to note how for every loss, there were plenty of new followers to take their place. She detailed how fans have come forward to tell her she inspired them to come out and be proud of themselves. Ultimately, coming out was not only good for her, but it was good for her fans as well. The two positives go hand in hand, and it has opened up a whole new world for the actress, writer and singer. She spoke fondly of how being out has changed how she can be with her partner in public.

“It feels good to be able to introduce her as my partner, and to be able to hold hands. We just went to Hawaii on a vacation, and to walk down the beach and hold hands and act like we’re together was cool.”