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"Actress Maria Bello has come out as gay. The 46-year-old Prisoners star revealed that she has been in a long-term relationship with her best friend Clare in a column that was published in The New York Times on Friday (November 29).  In the article titled &amp;#039;Coming Out as a Modern Family&amp;#039;, Bello explained the first time she opened up about her sexuality to her 12-year-old son Jackson. &amp;quot;This was the moment I had been anticipating and dreading for months,&amp;quot; she wrote. &amp;quot;I took a deep breath, knowing that my answer, and his response, would have an impact on our lives for a very long time. &amp;quot;I was with someone romantically and I hadn&amp;#039;t told him. I had become involved with a woman who was my best friend, and, as it happens, a person who is like a godmother to my son.&amp;quot; Bello - who has also appeared in movies Coyote Ugly and A History of Violence, and TV shows ER and Touch - disclosed that she came across the realisation when reading through her old diaries. &amp;quot;I read about the handful of men and the one woman I had been in romantic relationships with, passages rife with pain and angst. It seemed when I was physically attracted to someone, I would put them in the box of being my &amp;#039;soul mate&amp;#039; and then be crushed when things didn&amp;#039;t turn out as I had hoped,&amp;quot; she wrote.   &amp;quot;As I continued to look through photos, I came across a black-and-white one of my best friend and me taken on New Year&amp;#039;s Eve. We looked so happy, I couldn&amp;#039;t help but smile. It didn&amp;#039;t occur to me, until that soul-searching moment in my garden, that we could perhaps choose to love each other romantically.&amp;quot; Bello, who was previously in a long-time relationship with Jackson&amp;#039;s father, TV executive Dan McDermott, added that her parents were supportive of her new love. &amp;quot;Jack&amp;#039;s father, Dan, will always be my partner because we share Jack. Dan is the best father and the most wonderful man I&amp;#039;ve known,&amp;quot; she continued. &amp;quot;Just because our relationship is nonsexual doesn&amp;#039;t make him any less of a partner. We share the same core values, including putting our son first. My more recent ex, Bryn, remains my partner because we share our activism. And Clare will always be my partner because she is also my best friend.&amp;quot; "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/showbiz/news/a535096/prisoners-actress-maria-bello-comes-out-as-gay/>