Season 2 of Love in Paradise: The Caribbean is making 90 Day Fiance history. Many fans would love to see the flagship series follow suit.
With viewers praising the show for its authenticity, we’re seeing multiple LGBTQ+ relationships for the first time in the franchise.
For Carlos and VaLentine, this isn’t just vital screen time for an underrepresented minority — it’s their real lives.
But Carlos isn’t out to his deeply conservative family. And he’s anxious to open up to his sister.
In a better world, Carlos wouldn’t have to be nervous to come out as gay to anyone.
Then again, in a perfect world, coming out wouldn’t be a big deal — because people wouldn’t be assumed to be straight by “default.”
Carlos isn’t dealing with run-of-the-mill pre-outing jitters about telling his sister, however. He’s afraid of losing his whole family.
“This is a big deal for me,” Carlos Jimenez says of introducing VaLentine to his sister in this sneak peek clip.
This is huge “because I’m planning to tell my sister that I’m homosexual.”
Carlos explains: “I have never talked about my sexual preference with members of my family.”
This season, Carlos and De Juan VaLentine met for the first time in Colombia.
The couple come from very different backgrounds in terms of their relationships with their own sexualities.
Carlos fears that his family will respond with bigotry. VaLentine’s bigger issue, as far as viewers go, is his bad hairpiece.
“I mean, I hope we don’t get to that point where we have an argument,” Carlos expresses to VaLentine.
“I don’t want her to leave us in the table without talking to us,” he admits.
Unfortunately, given his family, that is not something that he is comfortable ruling out.
“My family has always been conservative and close-minded,” Carlos explains sadly to the camera.
“That’s why I never told them that I am gay,” he adds.
According to Carlos, coming out to his sister could result in tension … or in a dramatic, painful fight.
Carlos also has a lot riding on how his sister accepts — or rejects — him over who he is.
His mother passed away 11 years ago. His grandmother died just one year ago.
This means that his sister is his only remaining family. He does not want to lose her to bigotry … but it’s possible.
“I love them both so much,” Carlos says of his late mother and grandmother.
“They were the most important persons in my life,” he affirms, “and I regret that I didn’t show them my true colors.”
Carlos emphasizes: “My sister is literally all that I have left now, and I don’t want any more regrets.”
“The main point here is 100 percent to be honest,” Carlos then says to VaLantine as they sit down outside.
“And what best way to show myself as I am,” he suggests, “than with my boyfriend.”
We are of course all rooting for Carlos as he comes out to his family. No matter how this goes, living as his authentic self is the right call.
