Taylor Schilling may have played a woman with all kinds of romantic entanglements for seven seasons on
Orange is the New Black, but she's always kept her real life relationships more private. So the fact that she made things with girlfriend Emily Ritz Instagram official is a kind of a big deal for her.On June 29 Schilling revealed her new romance while celebrating Pride by re-posting a photo of her and Ritz in
her Instagram Stories. “I couldn’t be more happy to be by your side @TaylorSchilling,” Ritz wrote over the image of them hugging and staring into each other’s eyes while standing at an overlook. “Happy Pride!”According to
Just Jared, Schilling and Ritz—a visual artist and musician—have been dating since last year when they met through mutual friends. Schilling has spoken in the past about how she's always just wanted someone for the long-haul. “It takes a lot for me to be into somebody. By default I’m a monogamist,”
she told People in 2016.A year later Schilling revealed to the
Evening Standard that she has had romantic relationships in the past, but she prefers to be private when it comes to her personal life. “I think it’s pretty invasive”
she said in the interview. “I've had very serious relationships with lots of people, and I'm a very expansive human. There's no part of me that can be put under a label. I really don’t fit into a box — that’s too reductive.” At the time the actress added that she was also probably too busy for a relationship given her hectic filming schedule. “I’m working all the time — I don’t really have anything else going on,’ she added. “But I’ve had wonderful relationships. I’ve had a lot of love, and I don’t have any qualms about where it comes from.”The
People article reveals that Ritz has worked in visual arts for nearly a decade and describes her various paintings, drawings, ceramics and murals as “Lumplands.” Meanwhile she released her first solo album,
Pattern Recess, in 2018 and is currently working towards the release of her second album,
Love Alone, later this year.As the leading lady on
OITNB, Schilling has been a part of many important conversations about LGBTQ+ rights, the current prison system in the United States, and mental health, among other topics. Schilling also recently shared an Instagram post paying tribute to Marsha P. Johnson, a gay liberation activist and an important voice in the Stonewall uprising in 1969. "Here because of women like you,”
Schilling wrote. “Happy Pride my friends #happypride #marshapjohnson #blacklivesmatter #blacktranslivesmatter #loveislove."[video_embed id='1985831']Before you go: How Pride is being celebrated during the pandemic[/video_embed]
