The actor identifies as pansexual.

Last month, Outer Banks star Madison Bailey came out as pansexual, according to E! News, and she’s slowly been opening up about her personal life since then. Per the outlet, Bailey has confirmed she’s dating University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill basketball player Mariah Linney (see a photo of them, below). And now the 21-year-old actor is getting very candid about her sexuality.

“I have very accepting friends, a very accepting family, an industry that’s very welcoming and very accepting,” she said on Lacy Hartselle’s Mental Health Q&A Instagram chat on Wednesday, June 17, according to Us Weekly. “Being open and honest feels so good! To be so transparent, especially in an industry when a lot of people want to be in my personal life, it’s nice that I can be like, ‘Here’s my personal life. You can have it. It’s fine.’”

Bailey, who plays Kiara on Outer Banks, has zero shame about who she is. “Nobody’s ever really shamed me for it, and I know a lot of people have had lot of hate and lack of support,” she said during the IG chat. “I know so many, countless stories of queer people that did not have support. But if you’re asking me personally, that’s just my experience with it. It was worth it. I feel lighter, I feel happier that I can just be so open and honest. It feels nice.”

And she’s hoping her story will encourage others to come out, as well, and embrace who they are. “If you’re gay, tell everybody that you’re gay. It’s worth it,” she said. “I was saying this the other day. I was like, to be honest, I don’t believe in straight people. They’re as real as unicorns to me.”