New York governor Andrew Cuomo’s daughter comes out as bisexual with seething attack on Instagram
Michaela Kennedy-Cuomo comes out as bisexual in candid post on Instagram, celebrating the beginning of Pride Month. (Instagram/@michaelakennedycuomo)
New York governor Andrew Cuomo’s youngest daughter, Michaela Kennedy-Cuomo, has come out as bisexual online and claims she could’ve accessed info about queer identities if not for Instagram’s ‘censorship’.
Kennedy-Cuomo shared two pictures of herself. One of her posed in front of a colourful background that includes a rainbow, an LGBT+ Pride flag and a pansexual flag. In the other picture, she wore a blue baseball cap that emblazoned with the words “gay for you”.
The pictures are accompanied by a lengthy caption where Kennedy-Cuomo opens up about her sexuality in honour of Pride Month. She started the caption by simply stating she “is queer” before saying she stands by her “queer identity with pride” and in “memory of those who came before me”.
“To those who are contending with the compulsive heterosexuality our society force feeds us [an] innate attraction beyond cis het folks, please know that you are not alone,” Kennedy-Cuomo wrote.
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She continued: “To those who have yet to claim their sexual identity due to fear of physical, psychological, or financial safety, please know that you are unconditionally worthy of love and support.
“To the questioning folks, know that we all reserve the right to change our minds or evolve at anytime.”
Michaela Kennedy-Cuomo added there is “nothing wrong with you for not fitting into a limiting, socially constructed box”.
The Brown University graduate also hit out at Instagram for “censoring the LGBTQ community” and “words such as lesbian and bi”. She said that such censorship condemns “sexual identities to vulgar fetishes and porn niches”.
“When you strip my ability to find queer content and community, you damn sexual minorities to exist on the internet only as fringe groups to objectify,” she wrote.
Kennedy-Cuomo continued: “If #bi weren’t censored, maybe I could have accessed the information and tools that as a bisexual person I would need to protect myself from increased rates of sexual victimisation, homelessness, hunger, unemployment, hate crimes, and mental health challenges.”
Michaela Kennedy-Cuomo also shared her advice for allies of the LGBT+ community. She said that allies should be “mindful that we don’t know who around us is questioning or struggling to embrace their sexual identity”.
“Being pro gay marriage is not enough to assure queer folks that we will not be ostracised for our sexuality,” Kennedy-Cuomo said. “Support your friends by speaking up against homophobia and by actively reaching out to the members of your community [whose] sexual expression may be isolating.”
She also said that she stands with a “helping hand outreached to those finding their way from under socially constructed boxes to emerge from the closet”. Her post ended with a helpline and a link to the Trevor Project if any of her followers need help or support.
