Former Seattle City Councilwoman Cheryl
Chow came out gay as she faces terminal brain cancer.
“Parents and kids, don't be afraid of
saying that you're gay,” she told King 5 News. “I was afraid for
over 60 years and those 60 years were wasted.”
Chow, 66, and her partner of 10 years,
Sarah Morningstar, are raising 4-year-old Liliana.
She said she kept her sexual
orientation a secret because she feared the reaction of the Chinese
community and her mother, King County Councilwoman Ruby Chow.
After coaching the Seattle Chinese
Community Girls Drill team for nearly 50 years, Chow last month came
out to them.
“I wanted them to feel good about
themselves and I wanted them to have a role model that wasn't afraid
to say anymore, 'I'm gay and that's okay,'” Chow
said.
“If I can save one child from feeling
bad or even committing suicide because they felt terrible because
they were gay, then I would have succeeded in my last crusade.”