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Maria Bello Comes Out About Her 'Modern Family' in New York Times Column
Acclaimed actress Maria Bello came out in a column entitled “Coming Out as a Modern Family” in a column in the New York Times Friday. Bello, star of Prisoners, A History of Violence, Prime Suspect and ER, wrote in her column about coming out to her 12-year-old son Jackson, who had begun to suspect that she was in a relationship with someone. That someone turned out to be a woman Jackson knew quite well, Bello’s best friend.
"I was with someone romantically and I hadn't told him," Bello wrote. "I had become involved with a woman who was my best friend, and, as it happens, a person who is like a godmother to my son."
In conjunction with the column Bello Tweeted the above photo of her with Jackson, Jackson's dad Dan, and Clare
Bello wrote openly in her column about leafing through old journals. “I read about the handful of men and the one woman I had been in romantic relationships with, passages rife with pain and angst,” Bello wrote. “It seemed when I was physically attracted to someone, I would put them in the box of being my “soul mate” and then be crushed when things didn’t turn out as I had hoped.”
She went on to write that she came across an old photo of her with her best friend Clare on a New Year’s Eve back in the day.
“We looked so happy, I couldn’t help but smile,” Bello wrote. “I remembered how we had met two years before; she was sitting in a bar wearing a fedora and speaking in her Zimbabwean accent.”
Bello continued to tell the story of reuniting with Clare and confessing her “confusing” feelings. Eventually they entered into a romantic relationship.
“My feelings for Clare aren’t the same as the butterflies-in-the-stomach, angst-ridden love I have felt before; they are much deeper than that,” Bello wrote. “As we grew closer, my desire for her grew stronger until, after a few months, I decided to share the truth of our relationship with my large, Italian-Polish, “traditional” Philadelphia family.”
Bello wrote that her son was wholly supportive when she came out to him. "Love is love," he said, according to his mom.
To end her column Bello wrote, “So I would like to consider myself a “whatever,” as Jackson said. Whomever I love, however I love them, whether they sleep in my bed or not, or whether I do homework with them or share a child with them, “love is love.” And I love our modern family.”
Photo via Maria Bello's Twitter Account.
Tracy E. Gilchrist is the VP, Executive Producer of Entertainment for the Advocate Channel. A media veteran, she writes about the intersections of LGBTQ+ equality and pop culture. Previously, she was the editor-in-chief of The Advocate and the first feminism editor for the 55-year-old brand. In 2017, she launched the company's first podcast, The Advocates. She is an experienced broadcast interviewer, panel moderator, and public speaker who has delivered her talk, "Pandora's Box to Pose: Game-changing Visibility in Film and TV," at universities throughout the country.
Tracy E. Gilchrist is the VP, Executive Producer of Entertainment for the Advocate Channel. A media veteran, she writes about the intersections of LGBTQ+ equality and pop culture. Previously, she was the editor-in-chief of The Advocate and the first feminism editor for the 55-year-old brand. In 2017, she launched the company's first podcast, The Advocates. She is an experienced broadcast interviewer, panel moderator, and public speaker who has delivered her talk, "Pandora's Box to Pose: Game-changing Visibility in Film and TV," at universities throughout the country.
