Mo’Nique comes out in Netflix special and slams religion for ‘ripping apart motherf**king families’

American comedian Mo’Nique has shared the experience of having a gender non-conforming relative and her own struggle with her sexuality in a new Netflix special, My Name is Mo’Nique.

Described as “personal” by the comedian herself, My Name is Mo’Nique dropped on the streaming service on Tuesday (4 April) and contains stories that Mo’Nique says “I thought I would take to my grave”.

One of those stories centres around her ‘Uncle’ Tina, who she describes as her grandmother’s daughter, and how their presence helped her come out swinging for the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals everywhere.

Towards the end of the special, she tells the audience about her relationship with her grandmother, and subsequently, her grandmother’s relationship with her daughter, Uncle Tina.

“My grandmother has a daughter. But we call her daughter Uncle Tina… My Uncle Tina, if she walked in here right now, you would think you were looking at a whole man,” Mo’Nique says.

She describes her uncle as having a”full beard”, wearing something to “smash her breasts down” and having “something in her pants to make it look like she could possibly have a d**k”.

“Everything about my Uncle Tina is a man. So for you babies in the LGBTQ+ community, I want y’all to hear me. I respect every-motherf**kin’-body in here free enough to be their goddamn selves.”

Mo’Nique goes on to say that although Uncle Tina was much loved by her grandmother, “she could only love her privately” because the “church had my grandmother f**ked up”.

After slamming religion for “ripping apart motherf**kin’ families“, Mo’Nique recounts how seeing her grandmother and uncle drift apart fuelled her fear over her own sexuality – and how she never told her grandmother “who she was” before she died.

“I felt cowardly when my grandmother left. Because I couldn’t tell my grandmother who her granddaughter really was. ‘Cause I didn’t want to be loved privately. I adored how she adored me… So I couldn’t tell my grandmother my secret thoughts. And my fantasies.

“‘Cause I didn’t want her to love me privately, and I did not want her to leave this Earth thinking she was a failure. ‘Cause had I told her, my secret thoughts, she would’ve left thinking that she failed.”

Prior to her Netflix special, Mo’Nique – who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in 2009 drama Precious – had not come out as bisexual.

During a typically straight-up (no pun intended) reveal, Mo’Nique recounts the experience: “I said, ‘daddy, I want to be with another woman sexually.’ And he looked at me, so beautifully and so patient and so loving, and he said, ‘B***h, me too!’”

In My Name is Mo’Nique, the comedian says that her queer desires were buried under the weight of having to be with men. She clarifies that she’s not a lesbian, as such, but sits somewhere in between.

Mo’Nique is married to Sidney Hicks, with whom she shares twin sons Jonathan and David.

“Now I know y’all are looking at me, saying, ‘Wait a minute, bitch. Are you a motherf**kin’ d**e?’ No, I’m not… all the way.

“But when you’re born with that, there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it. Nothing. And please understand that I tried.”

My Name is Mo’Nique is streaming now on Netflix.