Who is Michaela Cuomo? Andrew Cuomo's daughter silent as she meets scandal-hit dad
Michaela Kennedy-Cuomo, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's youngest daughter, arrived at the governor's mansion in Albany on Friday, August 6. Michaela had earlier declared herself to be demisexual in an Instagram live stream conversation, only weeks after coming out as queer, news outlets reported on Saturday, July 4.
The New York governor, who was earlier under fire for his handling of the Covid-19 situation in his state, has been in hot water in recent months again amid a string of sexual assault allegations. This led to speculations on whether or not he would be impeached.
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Cuomo's daughter Michaela took to Instagram on July 1 to reveal: “Today, I stand in my queer identity with pride, and in memory of those who came before me. I stand indebted to the activists who fought for my right to love and happiness. I stand with a helping hand outreached to those finding their way from under socially constructed boxes to emerge from the closet. I’m standing with you."
Who is Michaela Cuomo?
Michaela Kennedy-Cuomo is the youngest of Andrew Cuomo and wife Kerry Kennedy's three daughters, the other two being Cara and Mariah. The 23-year-old Brown University graduate studied education and human development and specialized in social inequality, according to her LinkedIn profile. She has worked as a sexual assault peer educator, a staff writer for the Brown Political Review and served as Chapter Officer for Best Buddies International, an organization which Michaela says "creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships and integrated employment and leadership development for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities".
She is also the founder and president of the CUSP (Cultivating Upstanders for Sexual Assault Prevention) initiative at Brown University. She was also co-producer at How Are You, Really? which collaborates on talking about the mental health of interpersonal violence survivors. Michaela also serves as the CMO of The Woke Mystix, a podcast and platform created to amplify diverse voices in wellness, spirituality, self-care and astrology. Her profile describes that she is "skilled in Mindfulness-based Psychotherapy and motivated by the potential to create positive change".
'Demisexuality resonates with the most'
According to Daily Mail, WebMD describes demisexual people as those "who only feel sexually attracted to someone when they have an emotional bond". Michaela said during a live stream with former CEO of Tivity Health Donato Tramuto: "When I was in elementary school, I feared that I was lesbian. When I was in middle school, I came out to my family and close friends as bisexual. When I was in high school, I discovered pansexuality and thought, "That's the flag for me." And I've recently learned more about demisexuality, and have believed that that identity resonates with me most."
Michaela added that she "always dreamed of a world in which nobody will have to come out, because everybody's sexuality will be assumed fluid... but in a world that force-feeds cisgender heterosexuality, coming out of the closet is a lifelong process of unpacking internalized social constructions and stigmas". She also expressed concern that coming out as 'queer' would be perceived as 'attention-seeking' because it's 'hip or cool to not be hetero in my liberal bubble'.
In honor of Pride Month, Michaela posted a photo of herself about four weeks ago, wearing a 'gay for you' baseball cap, with the rainbow Pride flag and the Pansexual flag in the backdrop in one of the photos. "Michaela Kennedy-Cuomo is queer," she began the post, adding: "Today I stand in my queer identity with pride."