Daughter of Christian radio host comes out as bisexual and slams father’s ‘hurtful’ anti-gay teaching
Alabama-based Rick Burgess runs the successful radio talk show, Rick and Bubba which often includes anti-gay remarks.
His daughter, Brandi Burgess, recently penned penned a column, coming out as bisexual and opening up about her relationship with her father.
In the column for Al.com, Brandi explains that while she was often a character in his tales growing up, the stories took a different turn when she came out as bisexual.
Now, she says her father uses her as a warning to others, she writes:
“The story my father tells is one of a lost lamb, covered in shame. In his public musings, he speaks of my sin. Without my consent, he uses me as a cautionary tale.”
“For the past three years, my father and I have been debating God’s stance on homosexuality. it started with my Instagram post at a Pride parade: a picture of a mother holding a sign saying, ‘I love my gay son.’ I got a text demanding its removal: ‘How are you compromise my platform?!’,’ Remember who you represent’, ‘Are you a gay?’
“I have been praying, researching and meditating on the many emails, sermons, and verses my dad has sent me. I always come back to the same conclusion. Love is love.”
Brandi, who lives in Philadelphia with her long-term partner, revealed the tolls her father’s stance has taken on her.
After coming out, she was allegedly told to chose her sexuality, or her family.
“I believe that my father’s actions were intended with love. I believe he can’t know how powerfully he hurt me.”
“My story is not that of all queer people from an evangelical home. I have the privilege of now belonging to a safe community. Yet, I let my father’s message of shame define me. I hated my body, sabotaged relationships, believed I was unworthy of love.”
“So now, I am writing to the young women who feel like they don’t belong in their bodies, to the boys who want to kiss boys, and those on the spectrum between: Perhaps you have heard my father on the radio and it makes you want to go to sleep and never wake up.”
“I love you. Your worth is uncontrollable. Find a good friend. Invest in therapy. Dance in the middle of the night and hold yourself accountable to the life you’ve always wanted. At the root of all this hate speech is fear. This is not your fear to carry. Release it.”
She adds, “I am praying for my father. I am holding onto hope and it is outstretching toward him. Perhaps we will find we were holding the same cord.”
Mr. Burgess has not yet commented on the column.
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