I was halfway through folding laundry last summer when I clicked on an episode of State of Mind hosted by Maurice Benard (yes, Sonny from General Hospital—I’m a crossover fan). The guest that day? Christian LeBlanc. You know, Michael Baldwin from The Young and the Restless. My favorite morally complicated lawyer with a smile as sharp as his legal wit.

I expected a little behind-the-scenes soap gossip or maybe some talk about Emmy wins (he’s got three, by the way). But what I got instead felt like a gut-punch wrapped in grace.

“I’ve been married for 28 years,” Christian said calmly, then paused. “But I still can’t hold my husband’s hand in public.”

My jaw dropped. And then, I cried.

Behind the Scenes of a Soap Star’s Silence

Christian LeBlanc, 66, came out publicly in 2021 during that very interview—after nearly three decades of marriage to his partner, Sid Montz. That fact alone made me sit up straighter. How had I not known this? As a fan who’s watched him portray everything from twisted villain to redeemed hero since the 1990s, I thought I knew Michael Baldwin. But I didn’t know Christian.

What struck me wasn’t just the revelation—it was the honesty.

He wasn’t there to shock or dramatize. He was speaking as a man who had loved quietly for decades while the world celebrated a fictional character he portrayed.

 

“I still live with the legacy of that,” he told Maurice, referring to the homophobia of his generation. “I still don’t hold my husband’s hand in public.

I can’t do it.”

 

As someone who has written fan letters to Michael and Lauren (long live Balwin-Fenmore love!), this moment made me realize how the real love stories are often quieter—and braver.

Meet Sid: The Zen Vegan Husband

It gets better. Christian’s husband, Sid Montz, is a vegan Buddhist yoga instructor. (Could you write a more L.A. love story?) He’s calm, kind, camera-shy, and often posts about mindfulness and meditation.