On TLC’s Sister Wives, the kids have become as much a draw as Kody Brown and his four wives. While one of those marriages recently ended in divorce after nearly three decades, the series marches on as fans invest in the lives of the spouses and kids alike.
At this point, though, fans may be more interested in what happens off the cameras. Many of the children who have now grown and flown from the Brown’s nest remain in the spotlight. In particular, a few Brown kids have publicly come out as LGBTQ.
This is especially interesting given their rather strict conservative upbringing as members of a fundamentalist Mormon sect. So, which Brown kids are challenging their parents’ views and bucking tradition to be themselves?
Mariah came out as transgender, changing their name to Leon
In 2017, one of the Sister Wives kids announced to the family that they were gay. Mariah Brown, daughter of Kody and Meri Brown, revealed the news to the wives during a family meeting.
Then in 2022, Mariah revealed they were transgender. An Instagram post stated Mariah’s name had changed to Leon and they self-identified as “queer” and transgender. Leon remains in a relationship with Audrey Kriss as of 2023.
Gwendlyn Brown has come out as bisexual
Another of the Sister Wives kids came out as LGBTQ. Gwendlyn Brown announced she is a “raging bisexual.” An Instagram post from 2022 features Gwendlyn with her girlfriend and received lots of support from fans.
When Sister Wives aired over 10 years ago, it was groundbreaking because of the Brown family breaking the status quo around love and marriage.
Now, more than a decade later, the conversation around all kinds of love has shifted. Kody, Meri, Janelle, Christine, Robyn, and their children have become a representation of many different ways of living and loving.
What has Kody Brown said about LGBTQ rights?
As someone who worked to champion their own marriage rights, the Browns’ reaction to their daughter Mariah coming out was interesting to observe, according to many viewers. It took some time to get there.
Mariah’s mother Meri Brown now admits she handled it wrong at first. But Kody does see parallels between his fight for marriage freedom and the LGBTQ battle for marriage equality:
“That kind of treatment, where they’re like, ‘Well, I love you, but I sure think your lifestyle and your religion are dumb,’ because we dealt with that, that may very well have been something that helped me personally develop a high level of acceptance of people who are gay. I know what it’s like to be picked on.”
In light of that acceptance, Sister Wives kids come out. In December 2021, Mariah’s fiancee Audrey Kriss took to Instagram to announce that they are transgender.
Kody Brown has fought for marriage equality … for polyamorous marriages
On one hand, Kody Brown has been a staunch defender of marriage rights regarding polygamy. Brown and his four wives were at the center of a legal spectacle when they sued the state of Utah. The family claimed their anti-bigamy laws were unconstitutional and violated their rights.
While the case saw an early win, it was later overturned on appeal with the explanation that the local municipality had a policy of not enforcing the law unless there were additional crimes, such as abuse. So there was no standing to bring the case.
Later, though, the law was changed as a response to the suit in an attempt to avoid future litigation. Where it had previously defined bigamy as cohabitation or “spiritual” marriage to multiple partners, it now only addresses legal unions.
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