Before the explosive confrontation between Heather Dubrow and Taylor Armstrong, the latter shared that she was the furthest thing from “anti-woman.”
The Housewives sat around, sharing information about themselves. New information.
Taylor Armstrong had something to share: she is bisexual. It was not news to everyone, but it was to most!
A fitting revelation for the final RHOC episode to air during Pride Month 2023!
While on this week’s excursion to a less than authentic “cowboy” experience, the ladies sat down for a bite.
They had worked up an appetite while riding a mechanical bull. Well, some of them had. Also, the spread of food? Absolutely mouth-watering.
Anyway, they decided to share things about themselves that others did not know. When it was Taylor Armstrong’s turn, she came out with an easy answer. By coming out.
“I’m bisexual,” Taylor told her castmates. “Now are you nervous about me being in the bunk house with you?” (We’ll address that second part in a moment)
Tamra Judge, Shannon Beador, Heather Dubrow, Jennifer Pedrantic, and Gina Kirschenheiter were present.
Emily Simpson, unfortunately, could not make the trip.
Tamra quickly acknowledged that this information was not “a shock” to her.
Remember, she and Jennifer Armstrong became good buds while filming Ultimate Girls Trip.
She knew. In fact, Tamra also knew that her friend had once “had a full-blown relationship with a woman.”
“Correct,” Taylo confirmed. She detailed that this 5-year relationship happened before her marriage to Russel Armstrong.
There was a bit of a stir of surprise at the duration, with Taylor joking: “Hell, I know marriages that don’t last that long.”
And there are even marriages that last exactly that long. Meghan King knows that, right Vicki?
“Most people are surprised to find out that I’m bisexual,” Taylor acknowledged to the confessional camera.
She acknowledged that this was “Probably because just like stereotypes.”
A lot of people think that they know what bi folks look like, and it makes that sprawling and diverse community even more invisible than they already are.
“It’s not something I broadcast,” Taylor then admitted.
“But,” she described, “I’m open to all people that have great souls and you can love.”
That’s beautiful! Congratulations to Taylor (not that this is new information to her, but it’s great that she came out).
Why did Taylor make such a chill joke about a potential bigot in their midst?
We mentioned that we were going to talk about Taylor’s joking question about if anyone felt “nervous.”
Obviously, she was kidding. And no one expressed any misgivings about sharing a roof with her.
Just for the record, there are almost no circumstances where “I don’t want to share a house with someone who is in a marginalized community” is not decidedly bigoted. So, thankfully, nobody got weird about it.
But why make the joke it all? In part, we’re sure, to ease tensions.
Also, we suspect, for generational reasons. Taylor was born in the very early 1970s, making her part of the older half of Gen X.
And bi folks (and others in the LGBTQ+ communities) sometimes have different ways of engaging with straight people in their fifties than, say, Millennials in their twenties or thirties.
Simply put, some older folks in the LGBTQ+ community — those in their fifties or sixties — might have different standards for acceptance.
If you grew up in a time when “this person will not disown or literally kill me” qualified as acceptance, you might not think of someone saying something ignorant or derogatory as a dealbreaker.
It is possible that Taylor might have merely winced and moved on if one of her castmates had said something biphobic.
But that would not have made it acceptable if she had.
It would simply mean that she had decided to put up with something that no one should have to endure.
Meanwhile, generally speaking, a lot of younger LGBTQ+ are less likely to entertain microaggressions and ignorance in any voluntary relationship.
If we had to guess, we’d say that Heather Dubrow’s kids could weigh in on this. Not that they need to.
Max is bi. Kat is a lesbian. Ace is trans. The Dubrow kids know that they have a loving and accepting family who will not only embrace who they are, but fight to defend them when needed.
It’s likely that Taylor has had experiences in her life when she was not around people to whom she could safely come out. We’re glad that her RHOC castmates were more welcoming.
