Cookie Johnson, wife of basketball great Magic Johnson, opens up to Oprah Winfrey, in a preview clip from an upcoming episode of Super Soul Sunday, about her struggled to accept her son EJ Johnson coming out as gay.
“You’re Christian, you believe in the word, you live by the word. How did you reconcile what Christianity says about being gay with your loving of your son, and still remaining Christian?” Winfrey asks Johnson.
Related: NCAA College Star Derrick Gordon Says NBA Didn’t Give Him A Shot Because He’s Gay
“That was a very hard thing for me,” she admits. “That was a very, very hard thing for me. I tried everything, but finally I just said to myself, ‘This child is innocent. He was like this when he was a baby. It can’t be wrong. It can’t be wrong.”
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“I had to pray about it,” she adds. “This was one of those moments where I had to go directly to God and I prayed…and the answer I got back was love. And He said, ‘I give you all great gifts and the greatest of that gift is love.’ And so, that’s when I knew I could love my son and support him on who he was, and I was okay with it…I made peace with God with it. So I’m good.”
Related: Cookie Johnson Says It Was Important For Gay Son To Know He Had His Parents’ Support
Super Soul Sunday airs Sundays, 11 a.m. ET, on OWN. Watch video previews below.
In 2014, EJ presented his parents with the HRC Upstander Award:
Xzamilloh
The fact of the matter is, the more people apply their own personal morality to Christianity, the less like Christianity the religion is. I applaud the religious evolution because it just strips away the horrible parts of the religion and keeps the feelgood parts. It’s hypocritical, but it’s beneficial.
truckproductions
it amazes me how many people willingly choose some ancient dogma to live their lives by.. even to the point of questioning whether to love their own child or not. It’s complete madness.. the only difference between cults and christianity is christianity is popular.
Kieran
“You’re Christian, you believe in the word, you live by the word. How did you reconcile what Christianity says about being gay with your loving of your son, and still remaining Christian?” Winfrey asks Johnson.
Last I checked Jesus Christ NEVER says a word about homosexuality. He was very specific in warning about divorce however, which most contemporary Christians conveniently ignore.
corktownboy
Perhaps the fact that EJ is just so feminine made it more difficult. Worried about his well being, safety, etc. We don’t accept ourselves overnight when discovering we are gay. It’s the same for parents i would think. For me, my parents took some time to adjust.
Baba Booey Fafa Fooey
These religious kooks are just too much.
Brian
The Bible doesn’t say anything about the gay identity. It simply says that a man shall not lie with a man. Huge difference.
The gay identity is an invention of the last 50 years. Don’t confuse it with what the Bible says.
BigG
The fact that she had to pray to love her son is disgusting it should come natural.