'Tiger King' Star Carole Baskin Reveals She's Bisexual, Opens Up About Discovering Her Sexuality

KEY POINTS

Carole Baskin said she "could just as easily have a wife as a husband"
She said she became familiar with the LGBTQ community in the '80s
Baskin rose to fame on Netflix's "Tiger King"

“Tiger King” star Carole Baskin has revealed that she is bisexual, explaining that she “could just as easily have a wife as a husband.”

The 59-year-old came out to Pink News, saying that she has always “considered” herself to be bisexual. Baskin said that she began to discover her sexuality in the ‘80s when she was in a relationship with a psychologist who worked with the LGBTQ community.

Growing up, she had always been “very male-oriented in the things I did” and claimed that she never “had any mothering instincts or anything, you know, I never played with dolls.” This alone was the reason she knew there was something “off,” but she couldn’t seem to identify it.

“But it was during the ’80s that I discovered that through dealing with the LGBT+ community that I [realized] I had just as equal feelings for women as I did for men," Baskin said.

"As far as the way I feel about us, I think we are all one and I just don’t see us as being different genders or different colors or anything," the Big Cat Rescue founder added.

Apart from coming out, Baskin also lambasted openly gay Joseph Maldonado-Passage, more commonly known as Joe Exotic, for being an “embarrassment to the human community."

"It’s not a matter of what your sexuality is, this man is just a deviant in the way that he treats human life and animal life," Baskin said.

Baskin became famous after her name got dragged into Netflix’s hit documentary “Tiger King” and got linked to the disappearance of her former husband, Don Lewis.

Lewis, who vanished in August 1997, was eventually declared dead. His family aired a commercial asking for information about his disappearance during Baskin’s time on “Dancing with the Stars.” They even offered $100,000 to those who can give tips about his whereabouts.

Even Maldonado-Passage felt that Baskin had a hand in Lewis’ disappearance, accusing her of feeding the man’s body to tigers.

Meanwhile, she has previously expressed disappointment over her portrayal in the documentary.

"I am not the money grubbing, gold-digging, murderous person that they portrayed. I am the type of person who will come after any person who is abusing animals,” Baskin said.