“Yeah, my mom is not, like, jumping for joy,” Da Brat said to Variety when discussing her decision to come out as gay in March. The rapper (born Shawntae Harris) went public with her relationship with girlfriend Jesseca Dupart, 37, and millions flocked to shower her with love and support her decision. Her mother, as it turns out, wasn’t one of them. While Da Brat says her mom is struggling with the fact that her daughter is gay, it doesn’t mean the end of their relationship. “She’s not going to condone it,” Brat told Variety, “but she loves me unconditionally. No one in my family has said anything bad or degrading.”
Actually, Da Brat has said that the reaction has been overwhelmingly uplifting. “Oh, my God, the reaction made me feel like, ‘Why didn’t I do this shit years ago?’” she tells Variety. “I got so many positive messages, phone calls, and I had at least 1,500 texts. My DMs were flooded too.” She also noted that some of the comments came with a playful level of snark. There were some people saying, ‘We knew it,’” says Brat. “Well, good for you! Now I know it, and I’m able to say it. I did this on my own terms.”
“I had boyfriends in high school, and then I dated guys and girls, so I guess for a long time I was bisexual,” she said of her sexual history. Da Brat confirmed that she was happily dating Jesseca on March 26 with an Instagram post. Never have I EVER. Needless to say… I’ve always been a kind of private person until I met my heart’s match who handles some things differently than I do,” she captioned an IG video of her gushing over her new Bentley, an early birthday present from her girlfriend. “Thank you, baby @darealbbjudy, for far more than this incredible birthday gift. I have never experienced this feeling. It’s so overwhelming that often I find myself in a daze hoping to never get pinched to see if it’s real so I can live in this dream forever.”
We just complement each other,” Da Brat said of her girlfriend when talking to Variety, who dubbed the couple “Atlanta’s answer to Ellen and Portia.” “Some of my exes wouldn’t be able to take how social media drags people — the hate and the trolls. But this one that I got now? She’s built for it. She teaches me! So I’m learning, and when you have a partner that you can learn from, grow with, who inspires you? I love that.”
This June also marks the first time that Da Brat will be able to celebrate Pride. “To me, Pride is loving myself and not making excuses for anything: Live in your truth,” she says. “If I can inspire someone or help somebody to deal with their issues and their sexuality, then I’m here for it…It feels like a weight has been lifted.”