File this coming out story under ‘unlikely happy endings.’
After fifteen years of marriage, a couple sat down for a serious conversation in 2016. Jenni Barrett listened as her partner, who formerly went by Sean, revealed that she’s transgender and wanted to be called Sarah moving forward.
Jenni’s response? “That’s ok – I think I’m gay.”
The couple, both teachers in the Phoenix area, are now speaking openly about their experience navigating life and love. Jenni says their openness even helped pave the way for their eldest son, Morgan, to come out as gay in 2018.
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As Jenni told it:
“Sarah rolled over one evening in bed in 2016 and told me, ‘I really need to talk to you – I think I’m trans.’
“I’d come to realize why I’d always been so drawn to her, it was because of who she was on the inside – a woman – and not her shell.
I turned around and said, ‘That’s ok – I think I’m gay.'”
She continued:
“Sarah has always had a strong desire to wear women’s clothing, but that she felt ashamed.
“She would try on her mum’s bikini or her sister’s clothes, but always in secret.
“After she came to college, she suppressed those desires.”
After the couple were married, Sarah slowly started buying women’s clothing, maintaining the items were gifts for Jenni. Eventually, she’d amassed an entire second wardrobe.
“We look back and laugh about it now. It was like we both just agreed to pretend it didn’t exist.
“It was the elephant in the room that we didn’t talk about.
“I was looking up, ‘Is my partner transgender?’ and Sarah was Googling, ‘Am I transgender?”‘
As Sarah continued to struggle with her identity, inspiration to face her truth came from Morgan, whom the couple suspected was gay.
“We’d suspected Morgan was gay since he was about two,” said Jenni.
“If she couldn’t be honest with Morgan, how could she expect him to be honest with himself?”
The family is now stronger than ever, having bravely moved through all the difficult conversations.
The end result is summed up in this comment from Jenni: “We’re so proud of our LGBT family.”
controversial2019
“We’d suspected Morgan was gay since he was about two,” said Jenni.
How?!
I completely agree that someone is born gay and that it’s nature not nurture, but when you’re two you can barely talk – so that makes me wonder how they could possibly have suspected it OTHER than if he was expressing stereotypical traits (playing with dolls; caring more about being Elsa than Kristoff) in which case SHAME on them for assuming based on stereotypes. I bet Jenni wouldn’t like it is someone said “I always suspected you were gay anyway because you have short hair, like football, and drink beer”. She’d be outraged that someone assumed based on stereotypes. Yet I see NO way they could have assumed without stereotyping “gay” interests/actions.
Brian-E
I think we should put detection of future sexual orientation in young children into the category “some anecdotal evidence, but so far no clue what’s going on”. I don’t think the couple would have been acting on tangible stereotypes. Some parents simply get the “feeling” about their child. But we’re far from confirming the accuracy of such feelings or understanding how they work.
RyanMBecker
When you go read the original Daily Mail article, make sure to upvote the pro-LGBT comments and downvote the LGBT-phobic ones. Unfortunately, there are a lot of negative comments and they are getting BY FAR MORE upvotes. In fact, the pro-LGBT comments have more downvotes than upvotes. Lots of comments asking why LGBT people need to shove this in people’s faces. Or how insurance shouldn’t have to pay for the immoral choices of trans people to transition. I found the comments and anti-LGBT upvotes to be especially surprising given that the Daily Mail is visited mostly by Brits. Europeans are generally more sexually progressive than Americans.
Anyway, go read the Daily Mail article (by clicking on “As Jenni told it:” above) and vote!
RyanMBecker
Everyone should go to the original source and read the original Daily Mail story. Lots of photos and lots of smiles. Jenni was exactly my type in college. Sean was kinda cute too, and Sarah is coming along well. 13 y/o Morgan definitely gives off gay vibes even though I don’t have a GayDar. For those who think I’m an idiot for saying that, a landmark study on GayDar showed that photos were enough to accurately trigger the GayDar of some gays. 11 y/o presumably cis and hetero Toby seems happiest of all to be surrounded by such a Motley Crew. The article states that he actually accepted his father’s revelation easily whereas gay-but-still-closeted Morgan cried.
You can read the original Daily Mail article by clicking om “As Jenni told it” in the above article.
mailliw110
This is almost just like my backyard neighbors. Moved in as a lesbian couple. Both had babies, then one decided she was a he! Had his boobs removed and grew a beard. Now he’s moved out and they are getting divorced.