Coming Out Stories

In this episode, we meet a dynamic woman who comes out to her mother, who has a fatal brain disease and about one year to live, and her sister as well. The touching scene where the young woman comes out to her sister goes unedited for about two minutes, very unusual for an MTV station or for that matter, any broadcast documentary.

Christopher Cabaldon is the mayor of West Sacramento. Early in his career, he forfeited a personal life in order to enter politics. Now a respected mayor at age 40, Chris is unwilling to continue living a lie. Fueled by a desire to create positive change in community attitudes, Chris comes out at his annual State of the City address. The events depicted in the program were front page news in Sacramento.

Xavior is a counselor at a gay rights organization in Harlem, helping young men come out to their families. But his Jamaican heritage keeps him in fear of his own coming out. Realizing his hypocrisy, Xavior decides to practice what he preaches, and comes out to his father in Florida. Venturing further still, he then travels to Jamaica to confront his heritage and Jamaica's homophobic attitudes.

Tom, a public speaking professor at a Kansas community college, encounters traditional Bible Belt values everywhere, including within his own family. Even his sister Gina, his closest relative and best friend, does not know he is gay. Despite the homophobia that surrounds him, Gina's struggle with breast cancer forces Tom to come out so that he can share his life -- and what remains of hers -- openly.

Scott and his wife Tracy were married for 11 years and had 3 kids. Now divorced, they share joint custody of the children and maintain a rocky relationship. Scott's decided to finally tell Tracy who he is on the day he receives his final divorce papers, whether she wants to hear it or not.

For years, Van has hidden the fact that she is gay from her identical twin sister. Van is a liberal and a lesbian; her sister is conservative and straight. Van has tried a number of times to come out to her sister, "the other half of my egg," but has never been able to get the words out. Now that she is a host for Boise Pride and the leader of a drag king band, she feels it's time to tell her twin.

JP is very close to her traditional Korean mother - she even has her mom's name tattooed down her arm. But she's terrified to come out to her -- so much so that she won't hold hands with her girlfriend if there are any Asians within sight in case word gets back home. Now she feels it's time to conquer her fears and tell her mom who she really is, even if it means losing the bond they share.

Trish (aka Feloni) is a rising performer in the Detroit hip-hop scene. Although she is already out in the male dominated world of hip-hop and in her songs writes openly about her sexuality; her family remains in the dark. She needs to drop the news before the release of her debut album. Feloni's songs can be found on iTunes.