Love Wins! A Lesbian Mother and Her Fierce Advocate Daughter

This show is being rebroadcast because of the importance of recognizing and respecting the LGBTQ+ community during these unprecedented times.  The culture wars, with vitriolic rhetoric and attacks on LGBTQ+ individuals and families, are taking their toll. Sue Borrego and Kelsey Bunker Roberston are mother and daughter.  They share their journey of love, hope, and resilience. This show first aired in 2023, and its message of love and hope is timeless and much needed in today’s world. 

 

Resilience is sometimes the outcome of some of the darkest moments in one’s life. My guests had very different experiences following Sue’s coming out when Kelsey was 9. Sue was occupied by the fear of losing her children and job and moving through the generational shame of her sexuality. Kelsey became a fierce advocate, proud of her parents and much less touched by the shame her mom felt. Sue gave birth to her children, Kelsey and Bryce in the 1980s. When they were toddlers, it became clear to Sue that she was a Lesbian. Nothing about her life and work had space for her truth. She was married to a man and working successfully at a Christian University. She chose to live closeted until she could no longer live so incongruously. Sue needed to find a different job and initiate divorce proceedings. Initially, Sue was not public about her sexual orientation. Ironically, Kelsey’s dad came out several months later. 

 

Together, they lived as a “non-traditional” family in a traditional town. Sue, consumed by the worldview of sexual orientation she grew up with, was terrified of costing her kids a “normal” life and losing the world she had carefully built. As an “emancipated minor” she had carefully constructed a world that she thought would protect her future. Kelsey continued to develop her sense of justice and love. She was a guest on panels, an advocate at school and an educator in her life. Today, Kelsey is a mom of 6, and Bryce is a father of three. Both of their parents are married to their partners and have lives filled with joy and love.