Trans actress Angelica Ross shares how Oprah helped her mother accept her

Pose star Angelica Ross is sharing her coming out story which includes a surprising tidbit about how talk show host Oprah Winfrey inadvertently helped heal her relationship with her mom.

In a recent episode of Black Women OWN the Conversation, the actress opened up about how coming out as trans at 17 transformed her relationship with her devout Christian mother who was, “definitely not accepting at all in the beginning.” 

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“My mom had her ideas that were fueled from the Bible and what the Bible says,” she explained during the show which according to a press release, is meant to give Black women of varying backgrounds a chance to speak with each other on “love and relationships, motherhood, beauty, and mind, body and soul.”

Ross’ mother — who was seated in the audience — was teary eyed as she explained how she struggled with the thought that her child would go to hell and fell into a deep depression. At one point, things were so precarious, she even advised her Ross to commit suicide, threatening that if she didn’t do it, she would take her own life instead.

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“Me and my mother have a very loving, healed relationship.” – @angelicaross

Did you catch the last episode of #BlackWomenOWN the Conversation? This week, we are centering our conversation on Mind, Body and Soul. Be sure to catch the newest episode this Saturday, 10|9c on OWN. pic.twitter.com/AhxWncJfAu

— Black Women OWN the Conversation (@BlackWomenOWN) September 9, 2019

“It’s always preached: ‘You’re going to hell for this, you’re going to hell for that,’”  Ross’ mother confessed. “I wasn’t knowledgeable. I didn’t know… And I hate that I missed so many years out of her life.”

Despite that initial visceral reaction, after years of tension Ross’ mother says her turning point happening unexpectedly came while watching an episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show in which a mother who had recently lost her LGBTQ son spoke of having an epiphany while at a Pride event.

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“I gotta do something,” she thought to herself while watching Winfrey’s show, “because that could be my kid.”

“My mother and I have a very loving and healed relationship,” Ross said of their current relationship. And her mother also now sees her as her daughter and not her son.

This latest episode of Black Women OWN the Conversation airs on Sunday at 10 p.m. ET / 9 p.m. CT.