Karine Jean-Pierre, the first openly gay White House press secretary, marked National Coming Out Day by sharing her coming out story with her followers. On Tuesday, Jean-Pierre -- who was born in Martinique in the Caribbean and then raised in New York -- shared a series of tweets in which she reflected on her family who grew to accept her.
"Like so many in the LGBTQ+ community, coming out wasn’t an easy thing to do. My family was traditional and conservative. Being gay in my family wasn’t something that you mentioned out loud or celebrated," she wrote. "But my family, like many families, grew to accept who I was. Who I loved didn’t change who I was as a person. It didn’t change the things I liked to do, and it didn’t change the goals I had for my life."
"Don’t feel discouraged if you come out and your family doesn’t embrace you right away," she ended her tweets. "Love always wins!"
Jean-Pierre also took a moment during Tuesday's press briefing to echo the sentiments of her tweets, noting that she wanted to mark her own identity "particularly as we continue to see a wave of anti-LGBTQ legislation across the country."
"We [the White House staff] are thinking about those who are coming out or those who are thinking about coming out," she concluded. "We are here for you, and we will continue to support you."
In May 2021, when she was serving as a deputy press secretary, Jean-Pierre became the first openly gay person and the first Black woman in 30 years to brief reporters on behalf of the president while stepping in for her predecessor, Jen Psaki. She became the first Black and first openly gay White House press secretary nearly a year later.
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