As last night’s episode of the hit TLC reality series Sister Wives started to wind down, one of the stars, daughter Mariah Brown, came out as a lesbian when she told her moms and father that she had an important announcement to make. Brown called a family meeting, and after a few tense moments where she said “You guys are freaking out, which is making me freak out,” she came out by saying “I’m gay.”
Sister Wives is a reality show that has been airing since 2010 about a Fundamentalist Mormon man who is married to four wives, in keeping with the tradition of polygamy. While the family does have a lot of “traditional” beliefs and “strong family values” they have been known to support marriage equality in the past, saying that all people should be free to live their lives however they want.
Coming out to your parents is often a really hard thing, and I can’t even imagine what it would be like to come out to five parents, but Mariah showed plenty of courage and strength when she told her truth to her entire family not knowing how they’d react. Because the episode ended right after the announcement, we don’t fully know how they reacted either, but it did show several of the wives smiling while others looked confused or even worried.
In the previews for next week’s episode, we got to see Mariah talking with her biological mother, Meri, about the coming out. Meri seemed most upset about the news and said to her husband and her sister wives that she was concerned about their happiness with Mariah’s announcement. “You were, like, smiling and happy and saying you were so happy for her. And I’m just… I don’t…” she said. Kody Brown, her husband replied that, “We’re not happy Mariah’s gay; we’re happy Mariah knows herself.” She also says, “I thought I knew my daughter; I didn’t,” and that she’s worried about saying the wrong thing, but also wants to say what she believes is right.
Still, the internet was supportive of Mariah and she tweeted in response a thank you message to her fans.
https://twitter.com/mariahlian/status/815761622077755393
In a classic lesbian move, Mariah appears in the next episode with her hair down, no makeup, a backwards baseball cap and a nose ring. Congratulations Mariah, we’re so incredibly happy for you and we hope you have the happiest present and future you can imagine.
