Adam Bouska; CNNTracey Gold wants you to know that she is not feuding with her Growing Pains TV brother Kirk Cameron over his anti-gay beliefs.
However, that doesn't mean she's giving him a free pass to spew his ultra-conservative views...
"I was surprised by what he said," Gold exclusively told me this morning in her first interview since she tweeted her support for the gay community after Cameron's now-infamous Piers Morgan interview. "I believe in freedom of speech, but I do think it's dangerous...I immediately thought of the teenager who's struggling with his sexuality and hearing those comments that are so damaging and hurtful."
Shortly after Cameron's CNN appearance, Gold said her Twitter (@thetraceygold) followers asked what she thought. She simply tweeted, "I am a strong supporter of the #LGBT Community, and I believe in equal rights for all. #NOH8 #LOVE."
No surprise, but she's received a fair amount of hate tweets. "Kirk and I are so closely linked to Growing Pains that I wanted to distance myself from those comments," she said, adding, "I think it's so important for every one person who is negative, that we are louder with love and support."
She recently signed on to be a presenter at the Cory Monteith and Naya Rivera-hosted GLAAD Media Awards in New York on March 24.
Gold said there were plenty of openly gay people "who we knew and loved" working on Growing Pains.
She has spoken to Cameron since the firestorm erupted. "I wanted him to know that I wasn't fighting with him," Gold said. "I wasn't in a feud with him because that's where everybody went, but I was wanting my voice and opinion to be heard."