Actress-turned-politician Cynthia Nixon prefers to be identified as a queer instead of labelling herself as a lesbian.

The "Sex and the City" star is currently running to become the Governor of New York, and if she succeeds, she will become the state's first woman and first openly-gay leader to take on the role, reports aceshowbiz.com.

However, Nixon does not quite agree with the language frequently used to tout the possibility of her history-making campaign, as she considers herself queer, according to her campaign spokeswoman Lauren Hitt.

The term is one of the descriptions used in the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning) community by gender-fluid individuals who don't want to choose specific labels for their sexuality.

Hitt doesn't explain Nixon's reasons for the change of heart, after previously identifying as bisexual in 2012, but says "it's personal."

Nixon, who has made LGBTQ rights central to her campaign, was previously in a longterm relationship with teacher Danny Mozes, the father of her two elder kids, before falling in love with Christine Marinoni. 

The couple, which shares a seven-year-old son named Max, wed in 2012.

Hitt's comments emerge weeks after the 52-year-old candidate said that her first child is transgender.

The 21-year-old, born Samantha, now goes by the name Samuel Joseph Mozes, nicknamed Seph, and Nixon went public with the news in June, as she heaped praise on her kid in honour of the annual Trans Day of Action (TDOA).

Nixon and Mozes are also parents to a 15-year-old son named Charles.

(Story by IANS)