Good Morning America's Robin Roberts has opened up about why she came out so late in life, and it's an all-too-common story for many LGBTQ+ people.
Roberts recently appeared on the podcast The Jamie Kern Lima Show, where she told the host of the same name that she agonized for years about coming out because she feared how it would impact her coworkers.
But Roberts, a Christian, also admitted that she was deeply afraid she would be shunned by her faith community, as so many queer people are.
Robin Roberts Reveals All: Make Your Mess Your Message, Step into Your Purpose and Love Who You Are!youtu.be
Roberts has been a part of Good Morning America since 2005, but did not come out until 2013, in part because she was afraid the attention her coming out would bring would negatively impact her colleagues.
She told Kern Lima:
“It’s not the Robin Roberts show, it’s 'Good Morning America.'"
"There are so many people whose livelihoods depend on the success of our show. So, if I do something that hurts the show, that hurts them."
"I thought about that. I didn’t want to do anything to hurt those people who I’ve been working with and absolutely adore."
Roberts became involved with her partner Amber Laign around the same time she joined GMA. She never hid the relationship when asked, but wasn't out publicly.
But it wasn't just her concerns about her career that kept her publicly closeted. Roberts admitted to Kern Lima that she had never discussed publicly how her coming out intersected with her faith.
She said:
“I've never said this before... I was afraid."
"People think you can’t be gay and a Christian. And I am. I was so fearful that I would be shunned.”
Thankfully, her faith community are real Christians, and sent her an affirming letter when she did finally come out publicly in 2013.
She told Kern Lima:
“I received a letter, a beautiful letter from the National Office at the Presbyterian Church after I announced about Amber, fully supportive, and I think about all those years I wasted, worried, needless worry.”
On YouTube, people were deeply moved by Roberts' coming out story.
Roberts and Laign married in 2023, and she told Kern Lima that even after a total of nearly 19 years together, they still "feel like newlyweds." Precisely the happy ending she deserves.
@IrnaEnglish/X
