Clutch magazine's Kimberley McLeod chronicles a revelation about her sexual orientation and an evolving relationship with her mother.
My relationship with my mother has evolved over the last few decades. We have grown close to grow apart again to become best friends. As our relationship has morphed and matured, so have her views on me being a lesbian. I grew up in a Catholic household in the Caribbean and many of those traditions and ideologies traveled with us across the Atlantic when we moved to the States.
In honor of Mother's Day, we had an eye-opening (and at times awkward) chat about my coming out journey, her process of acceptance and even her burning questions about "lesbian sex." I hope this conversation with my mom, a 52-year-old Christian and native of Trinidad and Tobago, inspires more open and honest dialogue among all of us.
KIMBERLEY: Ma, what were your initial thoughts when I first came out? I was 21; it was the summer after my junior year in college. Do you remember that day?
MOM: Yes, I remember it well. You came to my room and we were on my bed. It was right after the New York Gay Pride Parade and you told me that you didn't just go to support your gay friends. You went for you.
Read Kimberley McLeod's entire piece at Clutch magazine.
The Root aims to foster and advance conversations about issues relevant to the black Diaspora by presenting a variety of opinions from all perspectives, whether or not those opinions are shared by our editorial staff.
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