Niecy Nash, Jessica Betts Make History as First Same-Gender Couple on Essence Cover

Hooray for queer love and joy! American actress Niecy Nash and her wife, singer Jessica Betts, have made history by becoming the first same-gender couple on the cover of Essence magazine.

“Thank you Essence for choosing The Betts as your FIRST same-sex couple to cover your magazine!” Nash wrote on an Instagram post, along with the cover photo where she and Betts pose holding one another.

In the Essence story, Nash talks about how she and her partner do not believe in leveling their sexuality. 

“The least of my attraction is gender,” Nash says. “What I was, and am still, attracted to is Jessica’s soul. She was the most beautiful soul I had ever met in my life. Now that I’ve experienced it, I can’t imagine going through life without it.” 

According to Essence, the couple are madly in love with each other, “their love is wide open,” and they want the world to know that. 

“We’re extremely compatible,” Nash says. “Sometimes you can be attracted to somebody but don’t have a lot in common. But we have such a natural compatibility that we can be around each other, work together, and hang out all day. If there was a 25th hour, we would be right up in it.” 

The couple got married in an intimate ceremony in Ventura County, California in August 2020. Nash came out in an Instagram post, announcing her marriage to Betts; she was married to men twice, and it was a surprise for many, since no one except her family and closest friends knew about their union.

The couple had planned to post a photo when they were on the plane on their way to their honeymoon, but Nash’s passport expired, so they had to change their trip and went to Santa Barbara instead.  

“A lot of people thought it was like a movie or some promo,” Nash says. “They started calling everybody, and we were like, ‘This is insane.’ I never knew why where you lay your head is such a big deal to other people. I was like, ‘People care?’”

Photos Courtesy of Niecy Nash on Instagram