Many people were surprised when Niecy Nash announced her marriage to singer Jessica Betts—including her daughter. The actress recently shared the conversation she had with her daughter ahead of her marriage to Betts regarding her sexuality and identity.
Nash’s Response To Daughter Asking ‘How Do You Identify?’
Nash recently shared a clip of her and Betts appearing on The Tamron Hall Show where she recalled a conversation she had with her daughter before she tied the knot. “Dia, your youngest, really wanted you to label things,” Tamron Hall started. “We talk so much about LGBTQ+, binary, non-binary, and I know people were asking, ‘Well what is Niecy Nash? Is she bisexual?’ You were getting these questions.”
Hall continued, “How did you discuss it with the kids who were trying to understand?” Nash replied, “My daughter was like, ‘How do you identify?’ I said, ‘Huh?’” The actress said she even had the 22-year-old ask the question again. Nash then joked that she told her daughter she identified as “Black and your mama.”
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“And [Dia] was like, ‘No, you gotta know, Mom,’” Nash continued. “She made me watch a show, all about what are all the labels, all the names, and after it was over, my head was spinning.” After finishing the video, the actress said her daughter asked again how she identified.
“And I was like, ‘Girl, I’m more confused now than I was before this,’” Nash laughed. “I don’t know. If I have to coin it in the moment, I would say I’m Jess-sexual. I’ve never looked at anyone, male or female, and seen them the way I see her. So I don’t know. But right now I know I’m happy, I said, ‘Write that down.’”
Nash: ‘I Love Who I Love’
Nash, who was previously married to minister Don Nash and electrical engineer Jay Tucker, married Betts in 2020. The actress has been very open about the fact that she doesn’t view their relationship as “coming out,” but rather as “going into [her]self.”
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“[My marriage] has absolutely nothing to do with gender and it has everything to do with her soul,” Nash told People. “She is the most beautiful soul I have ever met in my life. I was not suppressing my sexuality my whole life. I love who I love. At one point in my life, I married twice and I love those people. And today I love this person.”
Nash’s openness about how she views her sexuality, as well as her response to her daughter’s question about her identity, is inspiring for many who might be faced with the same pressure. Her answer goes to show that we don’t have to put labels on ourselves if we’re not sure what fits; we can always continue to evolve and discover more about our own identities.