'Sister Wives' Daughter Has Come Out as Lesbian

The Browns - the starring polygamist family of the show 'Sister Wives' - were in for a surprise when their daughter came out of the closet on last week's episode.

The episode aired on January 1, and ended with Mariah Brown, 21, telling her family that she was a lesbian.

The Browns are Mormon Fundamentalists - strictly adhering to the Church of the Latter Day Saints, even though the mainstream Mormon church has explicitly rejected polygamy.

The church has also established strict policies stating that anyone who practices same-sex relationships or marriage would be regarded as having abandoned the religion.

"While [The Church of Latter Day Saints] respects the law of the land, and acknowledges the right of others to think and act differently, it does not perform or accept same-sex marriage within its membership," reads a statement issued by the Mormon Church on the subject of homosexuality.

The Browns appeared to be shocked after Mariah's coming out, but their thoughts on the issue have been saved until this Sunday's episode (January 8).

However, in 2013 the family claimed to support marriage equality, according to a HuffPost Live Interview.

"We have established our family the way we've chosen to, we've organized it the way we wanted to," Kody Brown told HuffPost. "We believe that all people should be allowed to have that right."

Robyn Brown, one of Kody's wives, added that she had close LGBT friends, and said that "All adults should be able to choose who they love, and how they structure their family."

Since her coming out, Mariah took to Twitter to thank viewers for their support, signing off with a pride flag.

"Wow okay y'all making me cry with your support," she wrote. "Thank you thank you thank you thank you."