```Barr has a lesbian sister, Geraldine Barr,[59][60] and a gay brother, Ben Barr,[59][60] both of whom inspired her to introduce gay characters into her sitcom.[61] Barr has stated she supports gay marriage.[59] Geraldine was also Barr's manager while performing in comedy clubs and at the start of her sitcom. Geraldine claimed Arnold tried to dominate Barr "for his own reasons".[62]
After being fired by Roseanne, Geraldine filed a $70.3 million breach of contract lawsuit in Superior Court of Los Angeles County on December 18, 1991. She said Barr promised her half the earnings from the Roseanne show for helping invent the "domestic goddess" character in 1981, serving as "writer, organizer, accountant, bookkeeper and confidante".[63] Since it was six months past the statute of limitations, the suit was thrown out.[62]
On February 14, 2011, Barr and Geraldine appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show where Barr admitted the word "incest" could have been the wrong word to use and should have waited until her therapy was over before revealing the "darkest time" in her life.[66] She told Oprah Winfrey, "I was in a very unhappy relationship and I was prescribed numerous psychiatric drugs ... to deal with the fact that I had some mental illness ... I totally lost touch with reality ... (and) I didn't know what the truth was ... I just wanted to drop a bomb on my family".[66] She added that not everything was "made up", saying, "Nobody accuses their parents of abusing them without justification".[66] Geraldine said they did not speak for 12 years, but had reconciled.[66]```
