'Family Ties' Star Meredith Baxter Comes Out

The beloved star tells People.com that she started dating women seven years ago, but before that the idea of being gay "had never crossed my mind," she says. "I was never comfortable with myself, [but] that doesn't mean I was questioning."

Now, she says, "I feel like I'm being honest for the first time." Meredith has been happily involved with building contractor Nancy Locke for the past four years, they've lived together for two.

According to People, all five of her children support her new-found identity. "I just couldn't stop smiling," her son Peter tells the mag, "because she finally figured it out."

Published 12/2/09 by