New York, Dec 2 (THAINDIAN NEWS) The hippie mom in the 1980s sitcom “Family Ties” Meredith Baxter Birney has finally come out of the closet on the ‘Today Show’ and has revealed that she is a lesbian, and she has been keeping her sexual preference a secret for seven years. She is currently in a relationship with Nancy Locke.

The much loved and beloved television mom Elise Keaton from “Family Ties” and the former wife of her “Bridget Loves Bernie” co-star David Birney came on the Today show this morning, speaking with Matt Lauer about her late-in-life discovery. She said that it was a late awakening in life and it explained her difficult relationships with the men in her life.

Meredith Baxter has five children from three separate marriages. She had two children with husband Ted Bush, and later had three more with David Birney. When she told her children about her sexual leanings then they surprised her by telling her that they already knew that she was a lesbian.

“Some people would say, well, you’re living a lie and, you know, the truth is — not at all,” she told Lauer. “This has only been for the past seven years.” She was forced to admit after a National Enquirer report about her that she was spotted “traveling with a female friend” on a Caribbean cruise sponsored by lesbian travel company Sweet.

“I don’t want to be worried all the time,” she said. “I knew I was pushing it.” She said referring to the relationship with the men in her life. She revealed that it took her decades to understand why her relationships and her marriages didn’t work out.