Following her recent elimination from Love Island USA Season 8, American Paralympic track-and-field athlete Beatriz Hatz is officially clearing the air regarding online rumors about her sexual orientation. Since the season premiered, viewers across X and Reddit have aggressively speculated that Hatz was a closeted lesbian, frequently pointing to her athletic build, deeper tone of voice, and San Diego Chicana background as supposed evidence of her sexuality.
The discourse reached the athlete directly after she left the villa around Episode 9. On June 14, 2026, a friend caught Hatz up on the outside gossip, explaining that social media users simply assumed that female athletes are probably gay. Hatz reacted with absolute shock to the speculation and immediately shut down the rumors.
“I’m just a tomboy,” Hatz stated firmly, setting the record straight as detailed by entertainment reporters. “Let me live my life. I love d–k, please!”
The frustrating reality of being stereotyped based on physical presence was already a recurring theme for Hatz during her time on the reality dating series. Prior to her elimination, she expressed her exhaustion with the situation during a candid conversation with fellow Islander Melanie, admitting she felt consistently misunderstood, overlooked, and unfairly put in a box purely because of her profession.
The viral discourse surrounding her time on the show shows an ongoing issue with how audiences project sexual labels onto women who do not strictly adhere to conventional standards of femininity. Cultural commentators have recently pointed out that this invasive behavior sparks serious conversations regarding identity policing, proving that audiences still feel entitled to dissect and categorize a woman’s sexuality based on outdated physical stereotypes, even within modern queer-friendly spaces.