Star Jones’ ex-husband comes clean about his sexuality
Star Jones' ex husband, Al Reynolds, has come out as bisexual just days after she announced her engagement to another man.
Star Jones‘ ex husband, Al Reynolds, has come out as bisexual just days after she announced her engagement to another man.
Reynolds opened up about his sexuality and the difficulties he had coming to terms with it in a recently-penned open letter, calling out people who tried to label him or shame him.
“Today. I accept myself as a bisexual man. Ever since I have been in the public eye, people have been speculating on my sexuality. And ‘speculating’ is a kind word for how it actually played out. With anger and disdain, people have been calling me out as gay, closeted, a sham and even nastier; much nastier,” Reynolds wrote, adding, “I have come to a point in my life where I am ready to discuss my truth. I wasn’t ready to do this then — I wasn’t even ready to think about it, let alone process it.”
–Star Jones is engaged to boyfriend Ricardo Lugo–
Reynolds also said serious challenges reconciling his faith and culture with his truth: “As a black man, that message and the hate and homophobia were multiplied to the nth degree. I saw no path out that would resolve my personal feelings with my deeply held and ingrained religious beliefs.”
“This internal dissonance was a powerful thing, like a cancer eating at one’s soul. This resulted in some tough times — homelessness, unemployment, dependence on drugs and alcohol, public assistance, and, at the center of it all, a deep, deep shame and a feeling of unworthiness of the love of God. I didn’t believe I deserved to live a good life, and I clearly didn’t,” Reynolds wrote.
But, Reynolds wrote, he was finally able to find his truth, and he wanted to share his story to encourage others who are struggling.
“Today I accept myself as a bisexual man. I have learned that sexual orientation is not binary, at least for me. I am capable of loving both sexes, and I have done both. My relationships, all of them, have been honest and based on my attraction to the other person. When I am in love I don’t equivocate, nor do I waver,” he wrote.
“I tell this story to both encourage my personal path, as well as give some small measure of hope to others that no matter your beginnings, no matter the obstacles, there is nothing so fulfilling and Godlike as living the life that was destined.”
Reynold and Jones were married from 2004 to 2008. In the years after, rumors around Reynold’s sexuality were ever constant, though the record was never set straight until now.
