Atlanta power couple Juan and Gee Smalls kicked their transparency up a notch on Tuesday evening during the final installment of Black Enough Man Enough Live, a virtual conversation in support of Gee Smalls' new memoir Black Enough Man Enough. You can watch our interview with Smalls about his new release here.
The couple was joined by openly gay relationship and sex therapist Machel Hunt as they discussed their journey navigating what Hunt describes as "consensual non-monogamy" or the more frequently used term 'open relationship.'
After being married for 12 years and doing the work to liberate themselves from heteronormativity and societal rules, the couple says they realized that neither of them was responsible for the other's happiness and that they individually wouldn't be able to fulfill all of their partner's needs one-hundred percent of the time.
As a highly visible Black SGL couple, the pair have been #couplegoals for many folks who desire to achieve the kind of solid (and wrongly assumed monogamous) relationship the Smalls' have been able to maintain.
Living Out Loud 2.0 spoke with Gee Smalls via text about whether or not the couple was concerned about any potential backlash they might face from people in the community who view any relationship arrangement outside of monogamy as counterfeit.
"We are not concerned with any backlash we may receive. Any preconceived notion that someone may have had about our union are their own projections. We have always lived in the truth of our relationship. With that being said, I will say, we had to be completely secure with who we are, and what we have before being able to share this piece of us with everyone. We had to be strong enough for any non-favorable feedback, and we have made it there. People are always going to have an opinion and judgment about you, the question is are you OK with you? We are and that’s all that matters."
Watch Black Enough Man Enough Live below: