'I cry myself to sleep': Bride's heartache as parents don't approve of same-sex marriage

A bride trying to convince her parents to attend her wedding has had a public spat with her mum, revealing just how much she takes her parents’ disapproval to heart.

JoJo and her fiance Jess have been seeking counselling with JoJo’s conservative and religious parents Lody and Sid, on reality TV show Bride and Prejudice, but tensions were high when the four of them were asked to spend a night on a houseboat together after a heated therapy session in which Lody declared they would not be present at the wedding next week.

Confronting her mum on camera, JoJo snapped and confessed she’s been crying herself to sleep because of the disagreement with her parents who she is otherwise very close to.

“You always want me to be the better person. I’m tired of this,” she vented, “Do you know how I’m feeling? Do you know how I’m feeling right now? That I have to cry myself to sleep?”

“Up until now, I act like everything is fine. I act like it doesn’t hurt me, okay? But you don’t understand how much it hurts me, and so yes, unfortunately I’m upset.”

“No more than us,” Lody shot back, in reference to the fact that her and her husband’s church is strongly against same-sex marriage.

“I’ve been upset for three years mum,” JoJo replied.

While they failed to break the impasse, both decided to continue with their therapist’s idea of spending a night together on a houseboat, with JoJo in tears as she drove her parents and fiance Jess down to the jetty.

Things got better as the day progressed however, with Lody finally agreeing she would attend the wedding, even if her husband was still refusing to.

Trying to compromise

JoJo had initially wanted her dad to walk her down the aisle, but after he revealed his church would rather see him slit his throat than sin, she backed off and begged her parents to simply attend.

“Up until now, I really wanted my father to walk me down the aisle and give me away, but not I’m looking at ways to make it easy for them,” JoJo said.

“The invitation is open for you to be there and I want you to be there.”

Last week, Lody and Sid had said they were ashamed to have a gay daughter, and JoJo argued that she should be the one ashamed of having parents who wouldn’t accept her for who she is.

“I’m actually embarrassed and ashamed that you are my parents right now,” she said.

“Youse don’t have enough courage, and enough guts or enough balls to stand up for your child, and you’re going to let people run us down,” she said, pointing out they were happy to attend weddings of people who had sex before marriage, something the church also teaches against.

And on social media, many sympathised with JoJo.

“It is NOT ok to tell your homosexual child that you are embarrassed or ashamed of them. You parents should be ashamed and embarrassed,” one person tweeted.

“Support your daughter, unconditional love!” another wrote, while a third said, “They would rather have no further contact with their daughter than accept she is gay!?!? That will do me. Bloody religion.”

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