In a deleted scene from last season released this week, Naya Rivera's closeted character on the Fox musical-comedy Glee comes out gay.

Rivera's Santana Lopez was outed to the entire school in the show's third season. But by then most of her inner circle was aware – and accepting – of her sexuality.

The one-minute-nineteen-second scene was deleted from the I Kissed a Girl episode.

In the scene, Santana addresses her fellow Cheerios, which includes girlfriend Brittany.

“It's no secret that Brittany and I are together,” Santana says. “At first I thought it was a phase. You know, just a fun thing that would eventually go away. But I guess what I've realized is that I am gay. It's who I am.” (The video is embedded on this page.)

Writing at lesbian entertainment blog AfterEllen.com, Dorothy Snarker lamented the scene's deletion.

“[I]ncluding this short one minute and 19 seconds scene could have made a world of difference,” Snarker wrote. “Instead of being the passive passenger in her own coming out, Santana could have been the assertive captain of her own destiny who has no problem cutting a bitch.”