Entertainment

How 'Return to Amish' May Handle Her Announcement

by Laura Rosenfeld

In a year already filled with changes for Return to Amish castmember Sabrina, she recently alerted fans to one more. In a post written on her Facebook page July 2, Sabrina announced that she had been "casually seeing various beautiful women." She began by dashing any hopes that she and the father of her newborn daughter, Harry, were still together by saying that she doesn't have a boyfriend anymore. Sabrina wrote that she was inspired by Pride Week to "be honest with everyone." "Judge me all you want, but you will not ruin my happiness," Sabrina wrote. "I've learned to look at people as souls instead of whether they are male or female."

This news might come as bit of a surprise for some, since Sabrina had been seeing Harry on-and-off for a couple of years now, and he is the father of her daughter, Oakley. But perhaps more noticeably, because Sabrina was raised Mennonite, and according to the Mennonite Church USA's Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective, those of the Mennonite faith generally believe "God intends marriage to be a covenant between one man and one woman for life." Even though Sabrina has left the Mennonite Church and her Mennonite family, her family's approval of her lifestyle, such as having a baby without being married, is still important to her.

This isn't the first time questions of sexuality have popped up for Breaking Amish cast members. Being raised in strict Mennonite and Amish families hasn't been the most welcoming arena for some members of the group to explore their sexuality. Here's how the series have shown other castmembers' same-sex relationships and issues of sexuality.

Kate, Breaking Amish: Brave New World

During the first spinoff series to follow the Breaking Amish cast in their new, English lives, Jeremiah showed the gang a video of Kate making out with another woman. Jeremiah said that the Amish believe she would go to Hell for doing that, and Sabrina added that the Amish would send Kate to a reform camp if they found out she had kissed a woman. However, Kate's Breaking Amish castmates were accepting. Kate told cameras that she's not a lesbian and doesn't care what anyone thinks about her behavior. Some also suspected that a young woman Kate was spending a lot of time with in Florida, including on Valentine's Day, was her girlfriend. However, this mostly just provided a lot of gossip for the group.

Rebecca, Breaking Amish: Brave New World

During the Breaking Amish: Brave New World reunion show, Rebecca also admitted that she had kissed a woman, although she was very quick to assure everyone she's not a lesbian. Her mother-in-law Mary, who is still Amish, probably didn't approve of this, but let's face it, she doesn't really approve of most of what Rebecca does.

Matt, Breaking Amish: Los Angeles

Fans thankfully got more Matt in their lives when he appeared on Return to Amish during last Sunday's episode for Andrew's suit fitting. He seems to be happy now living out his dreams of being a fashion designer, but it wasn't an easy road to get there. When we first met Matt, we learned that his family had sent him to Shepherd's Fold, a Mennonite reform camp "for youths who have strayed from God," because in his words, he had "done something bad." Matt didn't reveal what he had done, but many speculated that he had been sent there for something relating to his sexuality, which was a major topic of discussion among his castmates throughout the season.

Iva and Betsy, Breaking Amish: Los Angeles

One night, Iva, Betsy, and Devon were having a lot of fun with each other, which turned into a threesome. After the incident, Iva regretted what had happened, and she accused Betsy of molesting her, forcing Iva to make out with her and put her hand down her pants. Iva even filed a police report on Betsy, which was later dropped. Needless to say, Betsy was pretty upset over this whole thing, saying Iva was consensual in what went down. The footage of the night told that story as well. During the reunion at the end of the season, Iva felt remorse over what she had done saying, "I was mad at her when I should have been mad at myself."

Even if Sabrina doesn't receive approval from her family, it seems that her Return to Amish castmates are more accepting of same-sex relationships than the Mennonite community, and hopefully will continue to support Sabrina and her new relationships just as they supported her when she gave birth to her daughter.

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