Playing Santana Lopez, an openly lesbian teen in high school. is not an easy role. Yet, the part sure has granted actress Naya Rivera a lot of praise and has been an inspiration to the show's fans.
This past Friday during a chat with Craig Ferguson on "The Late Late Show," the host asked Rivera if she found "herself to have a huge gay following?"
"I do yes, I have a lot of lovely ladies that love me, so I'm pretty excited about that," she responded.
Throughout the show, Rivera's character Santana has grown from the minor role of Quinn Fabray's sidekick to a major character in the story that develops a romantic relationship with her friend Brittany Pierce. In a scandalous season four Valentine's Day episode, she even hooks up with Quinn.
Although Santana is exploring other possibilities during season four, Rivera has said publicly various times that Brittany is the one for Santana.
"I think that Brittany is her soul mate, I think that they should end up together," the actress said in an interview with E! News back in 2010. More recently, this past October, she confessed to the The Hollywood Reporter, "Long-term? My fingers are crossed for [Brittany and Santana.]"
During March of last year, the half Puerto Rican singer and actress had the honor of hosting the GLAAD Awards in New York City.
During an interview with the Huffington Post, Rivera commented on why she and Sara Ramirez are the only two Latinas that play lesbian characters on primetime television.
"I'm not really sure, I can't really speak on why there isn't more I can only speak on the fact that we need more," she told the publication. "I have definitely seen that this is something that is important to a lot of people and I think that the more that we can get these types of characters on air the more that it will help, honestly, save lives."
'Glee' airs on Thursdays at 9:30 p.m. EST on FOX.