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Paris Jackson says homosexuality is ‘not really accepted’ in Jackson family

23-year-old daughter of Michael Jackson said she is ‘still figuring it out’

Adam White
Thursday 17 June 2021 12:58 BST
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Paris Jackson discusses her family's reaction to her sexuality

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Paris Jackson has revealed that opening up to some of her family about her sexuality was difficult due to their religion.

The 23-year-old daughter of the late Michael Jackson revealed on the Facebook Watch show Red Table Talk that she told her family at age 14 that she is queer, but that some found it harder to accept than others. Most of the Jackson family are Jehovah’s Witness.

“I’ve reached a point right now where I have love and respect for my family, their beliefs, their culture, their religion and if I’m to expect them to set that aside just so I can feel accepted, expectations lead to resentments for me,” Jackson said.

She added: “As long as I’m living a life of love and being of service and honesty and I’m not hurting other people, I think I’ll be alright.

“I’m still kind of figuring it out. My family is very religious and a lot of homosexuality is very taboo, so they don’t like to talk about it, it’s not really accepted.”

Jackson said that her brothers, Prince and Prince Michael II, had offered enormous support as she discovered herself.

“They’ve always been super-supportive,” she said, noting that to better connect with his sister, Prince Jackson joined a student-run club in high school that unites LGBTQ+ and allied youth. “Not a lot of people can say they have siblings that support them like that.”

Jackson was speaking to long-time friend Willow Smith for an episode of the hit show, in one of the first editions of the Facebook series to feature Smith speaking to a guest one-on-one.

Smith explained that she had met Jackson on the set of Hawthorne, a medical drama series that starred Smith’s mother Jada Pinkett Smith.

Jackson’s episode of Red Table Talk is available to stream on Facebook Watch now.

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