- Dad, I am lesbian.
(classical music)
- [Producer] Hi.
- Hey. I'm Savon.
- My name is Mikayla,
and I'm here to play "Truth or Drink" with my uncle.
- [Producer] Why did you decide to bring your uncle?
- Both of my parents have passed away,
and he's the closest that I have to my dad.
- I brought my mom here to tell her that I am gay.
I think she has a little bit of a idea,
but I don't know how much.
- [Producer] Does he have any idea why he's here?
- No, he does not,
and that is very dangerous for me to move like that,
you would think.
But (laughs) no, he don't.
He don't know.
- [Host] How do you think he's gonna respond?
- I think just 'cause of like cultural background and stuff,
maybe he'll be like a little bit uncomfortable.
- Backhands, curse words,
the Bible and some holy water.
- [Producer] Okay.
Are you ready for me to grab her?
- Yep.
- My hands are literally sweating.
I don't know why I'm this nervous.
- Ah-huh. (chair scraping)
(crew chattering)
What's up, baby?
- You look nice.
(chair scraping)
- [Producer] What's your dynamic
between you and your daughter?
- Very musical.
We watch our tones,
we inspire each other through our tones.
- We have a good relationship.
I've always been real open with him
and we communicate well.
- Mm-hm.
(mum laughing)
- Obviously like any parent-daughter relationship,
has gone through its ups and downs.
There's always love.
There's always been love and there's more understanding.
- [Producer] Do you wanna start with a shot?
- Yes.
- I already did.
- You already?
Okay, that's alright.
(producer laughs)
- I wanna start with a blunt.
That's what I wanna start with.
- (laughs) We could have arranged that earlier.
(laughs)
- Cheers! (drink thuds)
Oh. (laughs) (drink thuds)
(Father speaks in foreign language)
(drinks clinking)
(classical music)
Alright.
(laughs)
- [Producer] Already.
- Already. (laughs)
This is off to a great start.
Let's take turns telling each other
how we lost our virginity or take a shots and then-
- Yeah, I'll take a shot.
I'll definitely,
I'll most definitely take a shot.
(father laughs)
- [Producer] How about you take a shot and just say the age?
- I was old, I was 19.
- Really?
- Mm-hm.
- Oh, I thought she was still a virgin. (laughs)
- [Producer] Wait, for real?
Oh wow.
- 15, at school.
- 15, too.
- [Producer] Okay.
- It was at home
when my mom went to church. - (laughs) Sneaky.
- It was an older lady.
Her friend. (Savon laughs)
- [Producer] Her friend?
- My nanna's friend?
- My mom's friend.
- See, they out here moving crazy. (laughs)
- Yeah.
- Let's take turns telling each other
how we lost our virginity or take a shot.
- Oh, yeah- - We'll be taking shots.
- Yeah.
- Because we're not going there.
We're not that open.
- Woo. - Oof.
(drinks clinking)
(classical music)
- What do you think my type is?
- Well, I think it's somebody who has an interest in you,
who looks, you know, in your eyes, not at you.
- Well... - Okay.
- I know that's (fingers clicking).
(laughs) I know that's right.
Okay.
- That's a hard one because
I don't think I've ever met anybody
that you're interested in.
- No. I don't keep nobody around.
- Except from like elementary school.
- You remember when you asked me,
"Could you go to the prom?"
- Mm.
- And then you said, "My boyfriend wants to meet you."
He was tall, dark, and handsome
and he just looked like he had a future.
I don't know if he was the decoy.
- (laughs) Dad. He's gay.
(Savon's father laughs)
(Savon's foot stomping)
- Give-
- Mm-mm.
- Give me some sex advice.
(both laughing)
- Maybe we should take a shot for that. (laughs)
Yeah, I mean, I'll give you some.
But we should take a shot because... (laughs)
- Excuse me, but I don't think I need any, so.
- Oh, well.
- Sajana, can you give me some sex advice?
(laughs)
- I try not to think about you and Mom's sex life,
as much as possible,
that doesn't pop into my mind.
Just like that you love my mom
and give her love and attention.
- [Producer] What do you mean by give her love?
- (laughs) I just hope that like you guys do
whatever you need to do to stay healthy.
But like keep it to yourself,
and keep it private
and I never want to know anything about it.
But just like hope my mom is happy.
- Well, she's been married to me for 32 years,
she's pretty happy.
(father laughs) - Okay.
- I would say pay attention.
Pay attention to her.
Because a lot of times with guys, it can get really selfish.
- I've never been selfish,
I wish. - Okay. Okay.
- You know, I think that's one of my downfalls.
That I am too giving.
- Okay.
- Oh my goodness, let's see.
When was the last time you were disappointed in me?
- Oh, when I was in high school,
it was my uncle cheated.
And I just remember thinking like, I get that,
I get that he cheated, I get that it's bad.
I get that this is not awesome
but like he shows up for all of us like 1000 times over.
- You may be disappointed in my politics once in a while.
- I'm very disappointed in his politics, but yeah,
that is what it is.
- [Sajana's Father] Yeah.
- When I get a call like the day after my birthday.
It just makes me feel some type of way.
My issue with holidays is just feeling unaccounted for.
I want you to be excited about it.
- What is something that I could do
that would make you disown me?
- Well that's easy, nothing. (laughs)
- Oh, good. - (laughs) Yeah, nothing.
I'm gonna find a way
to talk with you,
or figure it out, or work through it or something.
- What's something I could do that would make you disown me?
- Vote for Trump, that's about it.
(both laughing)
- I'll never disown you.
- Okay. That's good to know.
- You're always mine. - Okay, that's good to know.
- Oh.
- What does it say?
- Um.
Dad... I'm lesbian.
- Let me drink again.
(Savon laughs)
- It's not something that I didn't know.
It's just something that I had never heard from you.
- Whoa.
- The reason why I did bring you here today
is to tell you that I am gay.
- Really?
Okay.
- How does that make you feel?
- It's not something I expected.
- I have mostly been dating,
like mostly girls.
- Mm-hm.
- And I think that it's possible that those are likely
the relationships I will pursue for a lot of my life.
- Hm.
- I'm dating a person.
And we've been together almost a year now.
They're 10 out of 10
and it's like the healthiest relationship
that I've ever had.
- He's a serial killer.
- She is an aquarius
and her name is Carmen.
I just wasn't sure how you would take that.
And because I don't have my parents,
I just don't have the capacity to lose one of my adults.
And so, yeah.
- I'm not happy for you, I'm ecstatic for you.
- Oh.
- You should be able to enjoy your life
with anyone you want to be with.
Can't wait to meet her.
(Mikayla laughs)
- Are you happy? (laughs)
- I mean, yeah.
- I guess so. - I mean I am happy.
Yeah. - Oh, that's good.
- I mean, it took a little bit to get to the happy,
but yeah.
- Okay. Well that's good, that's good.
- I want you to be happy.
Can I take a shot? (laughs)
- [Producer] Yes, you can take a shot.
- I want you to be happy.
It's not about me.
It's not about my aspirations on my part,
it's about your happiness.
I just want you to be happy.
- What did you think my reaction to you coming out would be?
(both laughing)
- I was very, very nervous.
Like I said, I've lost my mom and my dad.
And I just didn't want to lose you,
so I got really, really nervous,
like the closer we got to it.
- Wow. - Yeah, I know.
Anyways.
- I'm glad that is relieved.
- I thought I was definitely due for a
(mimics slapping sound).
- When you grown, you choose what you do.
Whatever you can pack in your bag and carry in your life,
that load, if it don't weigh you down,
I say carry on.
But, you know, to each his reach.
- I think it was something that I think I knew
would be like disappointing to you
and maybe the way that you envisioned my life turning out.
- If I truly love you,
then why should I not be happy for you?
That's it. (classical music)
- (laughs) Did you suspect I was queer?
- No, I did not.
(Mikayla laughs)
- I wouldn't say that I did.
But I know that your sister did.
I wouldn't say that like I suspected it or whatever.
- Did I have signs?
'Cause I have been gay for a very long time.
- Of course you had signs.
Way back in high school.
- [Producer] Can you kinda talk about prom?
- So I took a girl to prom.
- So he was the decoy! - And so I thought-
(Savon laughs)
- So I thought that was gonna be
like a thing. - Drink up.
- I felt like you would knew. You know?
And that's the thing, in the African American community,
that we expect people to know things
like without talking about it.
At all.
- So now that you like know this information about me,
do you have like any advice for me?
- It's not going to be an easy road.
But I'm there for you, throughout.
But you take your time
and feel, whenever it's important,
whenever it's necessary,
your home, it's your home.
Whoever you wanna bring, we trust you.
- (laughs) What advice do you have for me,
now that I've come out?
- To talk, to communicate.
Pay your taxes.
(Mikayla laughs)
- Don't let society
or a cultural norm
or something like that
dictate how you think you should be,
just, you know, be yourself.
- Do you still love me?
(Savon laughs)
- I love you.
- Yes.
- I'll drink to that. (Savon laughs)
(Mikayla laughs)
- Do you still love me, Uncle Norris?
- Yes, I do.
- I love you so much,
thank you so much. - I love you too.
- [Mikayla] You're the best.
- Do you still love me?
- Aw. Yes, honey, I still love you.
(laughs)
- Do you still love me?
(father sighs)
(lips smacking)
(father sniffs)
- You know, at the end of the day, just be the kindest,
nicest human being you can be.
Don't let this drag you down,
from being a complete person who can give love to everybody.
Let's take a shot together. (laughs)
(Sajana sniffs)
(sighs) Cheers.
I love you.
(classical music)
(drink scraping)
- [Producer] How do you two feel
after having that discussion?
- At this point in my life it was something necessary.
I'm glad that I was like able to tell my dad
and we're able to have this conversation
because I would want to like be involved in my family
the way that my brother gets to be involved.
- [Producer] Well thank you both so much for being here,
sharing with us, being open and honest.
- [Sajana] Thank you.
- Thank you.