Robin Roberts On The Fears That Kept Her From Coming Out

"Good Morning America" anchor Robin Roberts is opening up about her sexuality and why she was "afraid" to come out.

The American broadcaster started a romantic relationship with massage therapist Amber Laign in 2005. Although her friends and co-workers were aware of her sexuality, Roberts publicly acknowledged that she was gay for the first time in late December 2013.

Years later, Robin Roberts is revealing what made her skeptical of telling the world about her sexual relations.

Robin Roberts, who revealed she was part of the LGBTQ community in 2013, said she told her sister when she was in her 20s.

"I decided to tell my sister Dorothy [when] I was in my 20s. I knew I had to tell her," she said, per People Magazine. "We went out to lunch. I'll never forget it. We're sitting down, I'm working up the nerve, over sweet tea, to spill the tea. And right when I say to her, just like out of the movies, 'Dorothy, I'm gay,' the server put down our lunch. Then he fiddled around for what felt like five minutes."

She continued, "And so I've just told my sister I'm gay, and she's crying, and we have to wait for the server. Finally, the server walked away. And I look at her and she goes, 'Oh, oh, I'm not crying because you told me you're gay. I'm crying because you love me enough to tell me that.'"

When speaking with social media personality Jamie Kern Lima on her podcast, Robin Roberts revealed that although her "Good Morning America" colleagues knew she was gay before she came out, she was afraid that publicly disclosing her sexuality would negatively impact the show.

"It’s not the 'Robin Roberts Show,' it’s 'Good Morning America,' and there are so many people whose livelihoods depend on the success of our show," the 63-year-old said. "And so, if I do something that hurts the show, that hurts them."

The anchor mentioned that she was always open about introducing her wife, Amber Laign, to people in her daily life, but she "wasn't ready" at that time to "fully" come out.

Robin Roberts went on to say she "wasn't trying to hide" her wife or the fact that she was gay, but she was "afraid."

"I would walk down the street with Amber and if somebody saw us, I would introduce her," she said on the podcast. "I wasn’t trying to hide." The biggest issue with coming out was because of her religion, which made her "afraid" to come out. "People, they think you can’t be gay and a Christian, and I am. I was so fearful that I would be shunned," she admitted.

Much to her surprise, after coming out, the National Office of the Presbyterian Church sent her "a beautiful letter" expressing that they are "fully supportive."

"And then I think about all those years I wasted, worried — needless worry. And we all are guilty of this," Roberts added. "Think about all these things that we worry about that never come to fruition. And we just spend all of this energy on that."

"But also I had to believe this was right on time. This was the time in my life that was right. It felt good," she continued. "And I can't even imagine now people not knowing everything about me. And you know what's so freeing about it also? It's like, 'Bring it on. You know everything about me. And I have nothing to hide.' And to still be embraced, I am blessed and highly favored. I'm so grateful.”

Before telling the world that she was part of the LGBTQ community, Robin Roberts said her ABC coworker Sam Champion, who has also come out as gay, inspired her.

"I was so inspired by my dear, dear friend, and 'GMA' colleague Sam Champion. I knew he was gay," she said per People, in 2022. "He knew I was gay. Our colleagues, our bosses, they all knew."

She thought back to when Champion married Rubem Robierb and how the network handled it. "They never said, 'Hey, should you rethink this.' They embraced it," she said. "And then to see how the public was so supportive, that really opened my eyes."