‘Family Ties’ mom: ‘I am a lesbian’

Meredith Baxter says she has been dating women for the past seven years

For seven years, actress Meredith Baxter has been hiding a secret.

Now Baxter, who played the devoted hippie mom constantly butting heads with her conservative kids on “Family Ties,” is making a public admission.

“I am a lesbian and it was a later-in-life recognition,” she told Matt Lauer on TODAY. “Some people would say, well, you’re living a lie and, you know, the truth is — not at all. This has only been for the past seven years.”