Sister Wives star comes out as gay
One of the stars of Mormon reality show Sister Wives has come out as gay.
The TLC reality series, which has aired since 2010, follows a polygamist family who follow a fringe Mormon belief system that permits men to wed multiple women.
In an episode that aired this week, one member of the family revealed that she is a lesbian.
Mariah Brown, the daughter of four-times wedded dad Kody Brown and first wife Meri, gathered her family on-camera to share the news.
After the show repeatedly teased her announcement, her family began to speculate. Gathering them at the end of the episode, she says: “You guys are freaking out, which is making me freak out
“This feels so awkward. I’m freaking out… I’m gay.”
The episode left the announcement as a cliffhanger, so the reaction of her parents is not clear – but her mum seems happy enough.
She tweeted: “Thanks for joining us for this shocking episode. Join us next week for more! For now, the family is off to a movie.”
Mariah Brown tweeted to supportive fans: “Wow okay y’all making me cry with your support. thank you thank you thank you thank you.”
The family, who have been vocal about their support for equal marriage, previously filed a court case fighting for their polygamist union to be recognised.
Their lawyer contended: “From the rejection of morality legislation in [striking down sodomy laws] to the expansion of the protections of liberty interests in [the case of same-sex marriage] it is clear that states can no longer use criminal codes to coerce or punish those who choose to live in consensual but unpopular unions.”
Lawsuits have gone on for several years as the family insist that they should be allowed to legally marry.
Following from a groundbreaking same-sex marriage ruling by the US Supreme Court, the family insisted they should be granted polyamorous marriage rights.
But this year the case was rejected by the US Supreme Court.
Leaked Mormon Church training documents last month detail the church’s key role in the anti-gay marriage movement during the passage of Prop 8.
