'Orange is the New Black' writer divorces husband for 'Poussey'

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One of the writers for the hit Netflix series Orange is the New Black, Lauren Morelli, has filed for divorce just months after coming out as gay.

Morelli is now dating Samira Wiley, the actress who plays the role of gay inmate Poussey.

TMZ reports that Morelli, who writes about gay characters on OITNB, filed for divorce from her husband of two years, Steve Basilone.

According to Lauren, as she began writing about the lead character’s blossoming lesbian relationship with her ex-girlfriend, “I found a mouthpiece for my own desires and a glimmer of what my future could look like.”

In May, Morelli wrote an essay on Identities.Mic about how she realized she was gay while writing for OITNB.

“I realized I was gay in fall 2012, one of my first days on the set,” Morelli writes. “I went through it all on set: I fell in love with a woman, and I watched my life play out on screen.”

“I am now out to my family, my friends and most of my co-workers on Orange. Now, when I am in the writers’ room or on set, I no longer feel like I am stuck in the middle of two truths. I belong because my own narrative fits in alongside the fictional stories that we are telling on the show: stories of people finding themselves, of difficult paths and of redemption.”

Follow theGrio.com’s Entertainment Editor Chris Witherspoon on Twitter @WitherspoonC.