Family Ties Mom Meredith Baxter Comes Out of The Closet

Meredith Baxter, famous for playing Elyse Keaton on Family Ties, officially came out of the closet on the Today show with Matt Lauer on Wednesday, and revealed that she has been dating women for the past seven years. "It was a later-in-life recognition," she explained.

The National Enquirer recently published photos of Baxter on a lesbian cruise through the Caribbean with a "female friend," and so she decided to tell her fans herself instead of having all sorts of rumors swirl around.

"I didn't want some tabloid to take the story and make it up," Baxter said in the interview. "I wanted it to be in my own words."

The 62-year-old actress also said that the people who care about her, such as her friends and family, already know and it's not a secret around the house. "It's no secret that I'm gay, but it has been to the greater world. The reason I'm here [on the show] is because I'm saying, yes, I'm a lesbian."

Baxter's five children are all extremely supportive of her choices. Her 25-year-old son Peter told People Magazine that after he heard the news, he "just couldn't stop smiling, because she finally figured it out."

Baxter also told People that she has been in a relationship with Nancy Locke, a building contractor, for the past four years. "I've been married three times, and I have a slew of children, but I've never felt that kind of connection before in that kind of awakening. It was very profound for me," Baxter revealed.