‘Suddenly Amish’ Cast Member Judah Comes Out as Bisexual

Judah, 22, the sole Black cast member from TLC’s new show Suddenly Amish, has come out as bisexual.

Before revealing his sexuality to his fellow cast members, Judah discussed his plans in a confessional.

“I’ve always felt and been different. It can just feel like sometimes I have a mask everywhere I go. I kind of just want to take the mask off and be free,” Judah says. 

“I feel like my sexuality, in the Black community, especially for Black men, isn’t really talked about. Anything other than straight is filled with shame…I don’t know if I want to tell my Amish family because I don’t know if the same cycle will happen,” Judah continues. 

The moment Judah decides to come out takes everyone by surprise. During a lighthearted game of “Shabooya Roll Call”, Judah casually declares, “My name is Judah…and I am bi.”

Immediately following the declaration, Judah elaborates on his decision in a subsequent confessional, “I decided to tell my English folks about my sexuality. I don’t want to start off with a lie or hiding things. It’s time for me to be who I am for real.” 

One of Judah’s fellow cast members, Billie Jo, expresses concern, sharing that the Amish’s “views on homosexuality is no no”. 

Set in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Suddenly Amish follows six non-Amish individuals as they adapt to life within the Amish community, ultimately working toward passing “The Day of Reckoning”, a challenge designed to test how fully they have integrated into Amish society.

The Amish arrived in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in the 1730s, which is now home to America’s oldest and largest Amish community, with an estimated population of 43,500. Core tenets of the Amish faith include humility, community, pacifism, and separation from secular society. Individualism is discouraged, instead the Amish strive to live humbly in service to others and for the good of the community. A popular aspect of Amish culture is their avoidance of modern technology and mass media, as well as their commitment to a modest lifestyle. For example, this is notably reflected in their plain, often handmade clothing and their preference for bicycles and horse-drawn buggies over modern transportation.

It’s important to note that not every Amish community functions the same way. Amish society is organized into church districts, comprising of 20 to 40 families, each of which is autonomous and sets its own practices. There is no central Amish authority governing all districts, so districts may operate differently based on what works best for their community. 

In essence, Suddenly Amish is a cultural exchange experiment. According to Amish leader Bishop Vernon, the Amish community is facing a population decline due to “limited dating options” and the increasing number of members leaving for the appeal of the “modern world and technology.” In an unconventional effort to address this trend, Bishop Vernon seeks to integrate “English”, or non-Amish individuals into Amish life.

If successful, the Amish community could potentially recover from impending decline, while participants from the modern world will gain the chance to experience the bucolic, electricity-free lifestyle they seek. While the concept seems simple on paper, viewers witness the real challenges that both the Amish and outsiders must navigate as their cultures suddenly clash. 

One of these outsiders is Judah, a Kansas City native drawn to the Amish community who hopes to live a simpler life and deepen his connection to nature by learning to live as Amish. 

According to the show’s description, “Judah (22, Missouri), a young bougie rapper with a taste for luxury, yearns for a sense of belonging yet fears he won’t be accepted in the Amish community, where Black members are not as common.”

The history of Black people in Amish communities is sparse and rarely documented, making Judah’s participation in this show groundbreaking and extremely rare to witness. 

Many of the Amish people who came to America from Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries to escape religious persecution were white. However, some descendants of former Black, enslaved people did join the Amish faith after emancipation. The first documented African American Amish person was Moses Shirley, who was born enslaved in Virginia in 1791. Shirley converted to the Amish faith, where he later moved to Ohio and became ordained as a minister in the Amish church.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, most Amish churches practiced a segregation policy, barring African Americans from joining their communities, until its end in the mid 1900s. Some Black people were able to join the Amish community through marriage or through conversion. Presently, there are no official records of Black Amish people, yet there are an estimated several hundred individuals who live in Amish communities spanning Ohio, Indiana, and Pennsylvania.

Today, Black individuals can be Amish, queerness, however is a different story. It is generally understood that “homosexuality” and gay marriage is not recognized by the Amish, and can lead to excommunication from the church. However, as mentioned before, each church district is self-governing and what some conservative districts would never do, some liberal districts may allow concessions for. 

Ultimately, in the spirit of the series’ experimental nature, Judah serves as a compelling participant whose very presence tests the limits of Amish culture and belief. There are few documented Black Amish people, and even fewer, if any openly queer Amish people. Whether the Amish community will continue to accept Judah or ultimately ask him to leave Lancaster because of his bisexuality remains uncertain. New episodes of Suddenly Amish premiere every Tuesday at 10/9c.