Star Jones' ex-husband Al Reynolds comes out as Bisexual amid gay rumors

Al Reynolds, an ex-husband of former co-host of 'The View' Star Jones has come out as Bisexual after years of speculation about his sexual orientation.

Reynolds who split from the TV personality in 2008 after four years of marriage, dropped the bombshell in a lengthy statement to RadarOnline on Thursday.
 

Today, I accept myself as a bisexual man,' he declared. 'I am capable of loving both sexes, and I have done both.

'Ever since I have been in the public eye, people have been speculating on my sexuality. And 'speculating' is a kind word for how it actually played out,' he said.

'With anger and disdain, people have been calling me out as gay, closeted, a sham and even nastier; much nastier. 

'I have come to a point in my life where I am ready to discuss my truth. I wasn’t ready to do this then — I wasn’t even ready to think about it, let alone process it. '

Explaining his upbringing in Southern Baptist family in a mobile home in Virginia, he said:

'Life was not nuanced or frivolous, nor did it allow any time for introspection. It was clear and proscribed, black and white, angels or sinners,' he revealed. 'And people who were intimate with others of their own gender were the worst of all with no chance of redemption, or the glorious afterlife that I was taught awaited us all.

'As a black man, that message and the hate and homophobia were multiplied to the nth degree. I saw no path out that would resolve my personal feelings with my deeply held and ingrained religious beliefs.'

According to him,  this internal dissonance lead to homelessness, unemployment, dependence on drugs and alcohol, public assistance, and 'a deep, deep shame and a feeling of unworthiness of the love of God'. 

Throwing himself into education, he became a 'classic overachiever' as well as a Wall Street exec, a banker, an academic and a consultant — while only then encountering 'people from all walks of life, with multi-dimensional points of views and lifestyles I could only imagine'.

'I have learned that sexual orientation is not binary, at least for me. My relationships, all of them, have been honest and based on my attraction to the other person,' he added. 'When I am in love I don’t equivocate, nor do I waver.

'I will not live in fear or shame any longer,' he concluded.

His ex-wife, Star Jones is now engaged to Illinois assistant state's attorney Ricardo Lugo