Sister Wives cast member Leon Brown has been sharing their transition journey after coming out as transgender with their social media followers. Leon is the only child of the reality TV show’s patriarch, Kody Brown, and his first wife, Meri Brown. They have 17 half-siblings and are Kody’s oldest child. Leon was born on July 29, 1995. They were born as female and their name was Mariah Brown. Leon identified as female until 2022 when they changed their pronouns. Leon’s mom, Meri, was legally married to Kody from 1990 to 2014 and remained married spiritually until they confirmed their split in January 2023.
Leon, then known as Mariah, had come out as a lesbian to the Brown family in an episode of Sister Wives in 2017. Leon was a 21-year-old college student in Utah. They’d admitted they were feeling awkward when they told Kody, Meri, as well as Kody’s other wives Janelle, Christine, and Robin that they were gay. Meri had struggled to accept the news. Kody and Robyn appeared happy about Leon’s decision. Back in 2013, Kody and his wives had said that they personally supported same-sex marriage even though they believed in Fundamental Mormonism, which does not support homosexuality.
Leon Brown Came Out As Transgender In June 2022
Leon Confirmed Their New Pronouns
Leon came out as transgender in June 2022 by sharing a heartfelt Instagram update. They revealed that they had known since a young age that they were not a girl. “Someone recently told me that i didn’t have to have all of my s**t figured out for me to share myself with the world,” they wrote in their caption. Leon admitted that they “definitely” did not have almost any of their “s**t figured out” while making the post, but they wanted their followers to know that they were trans. They confirmed their name was Leon or Leo because they loved both names and that their pronouns were “they/them.”
Leon shared a photo of them standing in a doorframe wearing brown shorts with brown sandals and a loose white shirt while playing with their hair. Leon wrote about the “first time” they knew they weren’t a girl. They were pretty young and “unfortunately” grew up in a context that was “incredibly gendered and restrictive.” They admitted that they continued to socialize as a girl and later a woman. Now, they were finally ready to share their “favorite self” with the world. This self of Leon was “incredibly genderqueer, trans, and unapologetic.” Leon wrote that being queer and trans were definitely some of their favorite parts of themselves.
Still, there were “so many things” they were learning in the process, such as loving themselves. “Here’s to me getting to know myself, share myself,” they added in the caption. Leon hoped to continually evolve to be the person they were meant to be and be their favorite self “in all contexts.” Leon also warned that those who were unwilling to use their new name or address them by their correct pronouns did not need to speak to or about them. Leon’s mom, Meri, reacted to their coming out message by posting Leon’s picture on her IG story and writing, “You are my sunshine.”
Leon Brown Debuted Gender-Affirming Top Surgery In January 2023
Leon Revealed Surgery Results
In January 2023, Leon posted a TikTok video to reveal they had undergone gender-affirming top surgery. Leon shared their morning routine with fans on the social media platform. Leon was shirtless in the video as they talked about enjoying the quiet moments in life while preparing some coffee. They admitted that they had watched Click for the first time as a child and were mortified to see Adam Sandler’s Michael Newman fast-forwarding through the little moments in his life. In their voiceover for the video, Leon mentioned that “it is the little moments that become the big moments.”
Leon explained that missing these little moments is like missing one’s whole life. Leon did not mention any further details about their gender-affirming surgery, such as the surgical procedure or when they underwent the operation. The video also saw Leon revealing their new hairstyle. Leon, then 27, wore a stylish mullet hairdo while making their coffee using a French press. Things like blooming the coffee or putting some butter on a slice of sourdough had now become rituals for them. They had started to notice how there is beauty and divinity even in the mundane.
Leon Revealed Never-Before-Seen Pics Before & After Transition
Leon Joked About Birkenstock Obsession
In December 2023, Sister Wives star Leon shared photos of their transition journey while following a trend on Instagram. They have come a long way since their debut in Sister Wives and have gone through several physical changes so far, apart from kickstarting a brand-new career. In November 2023, Leon announced that they had recently performed in front of a live audience at an open mic night. They were proud of themselves for doing the big and scary thing and exclaimed how grateful their inner child was. Then came the “6 year evolution of you” update as reposted by Reddit user u/QuietlyLoud-Shh.
Leon created a collage using photos starting from the year 2018 to post as a part of the Instagram story. The collage followed Leon’s journey across six years to show how their style, body, and overall personality evolved at various stages in their transition. In the first picture, Leon wore a beige jacket with a black shirt and black leggings while sporting thick glasses and a broad smile. While they had long, straightened, brown hair in 2018, 2020s Leon flaunted a short hairdo with dark, luscious curls for a stylish selfie. By 2023, Leon was rocking a very short cut with lighter hair, a black t-shirt, and khaki pants.
Leon also happened to observe that they were wearing Birkenstock sandals in all of the photos that they’d shared. They laughed that they did not do that on purpose. Reddit user Agnestika_noine noted that Leon looked like Kody and Janelle Brown’s son Hunter Brown in the 2023 photo. blondie64862 thought that Leon looked like Kody and Christine Brown’s daughter Mykelti back in 2018.
How Was Leon’s Relationship With Meri & Kody Brown In 2023?
Leon met Audrey while attending Westminster College. Leon had a huge crush on Audrey for over a year before they started dating. They knew that Audrey was going to be the one. Leon got married to Audrey in October 2022. The wedding took place at a courthouse in Colorado Springs. Leon and Audrey had been engaged since January 2019 at the Women’s March in Washington, D.C. They had just started dating when they came to the event for the first time in 2017, and it was a special occasion for Leon to propose to Audrey there. According to InTouch, neither Kody nor Meri attended Leon’s wedding.
Meri was visiting Disneyland on October 29, 2022. Kody and Leon were estranged because Kody had claimed, “Leon, Paedon, Dayton, Aurora, Breanna, they don’t fit in well with the rest of the family,” while adding that not all of his kids were cohesive with the family. In August 2023, a source told UsSun that Kody did not support Leon’s transition and that he was “actually disgusted by it.” According to them, Kody was telling his close friends that Leon was a “new person” and he didn’t know who the person was. Kody allegedly declared, “This is not the little girl that I raised”
Kody did not want to have a relationship with Leon anymore. This also affected Kody’s relationship with Meri since, Leon being her only child, Meri was going to pick Leon over Kody “every day.” Meanwhile, the Sister Wives star reunited with Leon at Gwendlyn Brown’s wedding to Beatriz Queiroz in July 2023. The mom and her only child had posed for a sweet selfie together which Meri posted on Instagram.
