Society has come a long way in terms of rights and acceptance, and while we still have a ways to go, we think it's important to celebrate where we can along the way. More and more celebrities have started to speak up about the importance of equal rights and representation, and many have shared that they identify as LGBTQ+ themselves. We'd like to take this month to recognize the celebrities who have helped to destigmatize LGBTQ+ identities by speaking out and sharing the truth of who they are with the world.
Jim Parsons
Jim Parsons, most known for his 12-year role as Sheldon Cooper on CBS's 'The Big Bang Theory,' came out as gay in 2012. He has explained in interviews that he waited 6 years into TBBT's run to finally admit the truth of who he was, not because of shame, but out of fear that it would cause problems for the show. Five years later, he married art director Todd Spiewak.
The pair had already been together for almost 20 years when they walked down the aisle. In 2019, they took on producing roles on HBO's 'Equal,' a docu-series exploring LGBTQ+ events throughout history.
Lil Nas X
Growing up in a conservative family in Georgia caused rapper Lil Nas X to be ashamed of his being gay to the point that he once thought of it as something he'd have to hide for his entire life. Perhaps fame changed his mind. He gained notoriety as his single "Old Town Road" topped music charts in 2019, and soon after tweeted that fans should listen more closely to his song "C7osure."
The song includes lyrics like "I want and need to let go, use my time to be free." Any doubts about his sexuality were clarified by the rainbow emoji he ended the tweet with.
Raven-Symoné
Raven-Symoné has been in show business since she was four years old, her first role being that of Olivia Kendall on 'The Cosby Show'. She has expressed in interviews that she knew she was attracted to women as a young teenager but wasn't comfortable coming out officially until college. The creators of "Raven's Home," a spinoff of her original Disney Channel series offered to write Raven's character as gay, but she declined.
She said that coming into her sexuality has been a way to differentiate herself from Raven Baxter, one of her most well-known characters. In 2020, the real Raven married social media manager Miranda Maday.
Fergie
Singer and actress Fergie, who was born Stacy Ferguson but legally changed her name to Fergie Duhamel in 2013, may have been married to actor Josh Duhamel for almost a decade, but she actually identifies as bisexual and has for many years. In a 2009 interview with The Advocate aptly titled 'Fergie: Labels and Love,' she explained, "I've had a lot of fun with women, and I'm not ashamed of it."
She continued by saying that there are also certain... characteristics that she loves in a man and learned through therapy that cheating isn't okay with either sex. She and Duhamel split in 2019.
Miley Cyrus
Miley Cyrus has been very vocal, and on occasion graphic about her sexuality for years. She had a long-term on-again-off-again relationship with actor Liam Hemsworth for over a decade, but the pair separated after less than a year of marriage in 2018. Following their split, Miley was spotted cozying up to blogger Kaitlynn Carter. She's spoken openly about identifying as pansexual and queer, though in expressed in a 2021 interview that she prefers women.
"I don't relate to being boy or girl, and I don't have to have my partner relate to boy or girl," she told Paper. Cyrus started Happy Hippie Foundation to combat LGBTQ+ youth homelessness in 2014.
Tim Cook
Tim Cook may not be in the spotlight as much as other celebrities, but as the CEO of Apple, he's still a well-known public figure. In 2014, the business exec published an essay in Bloomberg Businessweek, explaining that he is proud of who he is and feels that being gay is "among the greatest gifts God has given me." He was the first CEO of a Fortune 500 company to speak openly about being gay.
He explained that he feels fortunate "to work at a company that loves creativity and innovation and knows it can only flourish when you embrace people’s differences. Not everyone is so lucky."
Kristen Stewart
Kristen Stewart's role as Twilight's Bella Swan catapulted her to stardom and her on-screen romance with co-star Robert Pattinson led to a real-life relationship between the two from 2009-to 2013. Three years later, though, the actress revealed in an interview with Elle UK that she had begun to date girls for the first time. She explained being honest had "opened up my life. I'm so much happier." Stewart identifies as bisexual.
Fast forward to 2022, and she's now engaged to screenwriter Dylan Meyer. In an interview with Howard Stern last November, she gushed that Meyer's proposal was "really cute. She did very well."
Demi Lovato
Disney Channel alum Demi Lovato came out as non-binary in an Instagram post that they shared in May 2021. Demi listed on top of their profile that their pronouns are "they/them," though has since also added "she/her." In her post, she explained, “This has come after a lot of healing and self-reflective work. I’m still learning and coming into myself, and I don’t claim to be an expert or a spokesperson.”
They/she also identifies as pansexual, meaning that they feel sexual and romantic attraction to people regardless of sex or gender identity. Demi explains more about their experience on their podcast, 4D with Demi Lovato.
Hayley Kiyoko
Hayley Kiyoko is a singer and actress who has spoken openly about her sexuality throughout her career, to the point where she's been dubbed by her fans as "The Queen of Lesbians." She knew she was attracted to women from a young age and came out to her parents when she was in sixth grade. She's explained in interviews that she uses her music as a way to ensure fans that they aren't alone.
She wants them to know "That their feelings are valid, that they are enough and they will find someone to love them back." She's currently dating former The Bachelor contestant Becca Tilley.
Elliot Page
Canadian actor Elliot Page announced via Instagram in December 2020 that he is trans and his pronouns are he/him, explaining that "My joy is real, but it is also fragile." He ended by saying "I love that I am trans. And I love that I am queer. And the more I hold myself close and fully embrace who I am, the more I dream, the more my heart grows and the more I thrive."
Page later gave an interview with Time magazine and became the first openly transgender man to be featured on the cover. He's very outspoken about trans rights on social media.
Kal Penn
Actor and former White House staff member (how many people can claim that on their resume?) Kal Penn explained in his 2021 book You Can't Be Serious that he discovered his sexuality "relatively late in life compared to other people," but is now "really excited" to share his relationship with his fiance, Josh, with readers. Kal and Josh have been together for over a decade and met when Kal worked in Washington.
Through his memoir, he hopes to communicate to readers that "There's no timeline on this stuff. People figure their *stuff* out at different times in their lives, so I'm glad I did when I did."
Alyson Stoner
You may remember Alyson Stoner as the kid dancer from Missy Elliot music videos, the Step Up movies, or as one of the Baker children in the 2003 film Cheaper by the Dozen. Since her days as a child star, she's spent her time reclaiming her own voice, and in 2018 published an essay in Teen Vogue where she revealed that she is attracted to men, women, and people who identify in other ways.
She said, "It is the soul that captivates me." Later that year, she released a music video for her song 'Fool,' featuring her first on-screen kiss with a female love interest.
Kate McKinnon
Actress and Comedian Kate McKinnon, best known for her work as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, has never hidden the fact that she is a lesbian but spoke candidly about her experience while presenting a Carol Burnett Award to Ellen DeGeneres at the Golden Globes in 2020. She became emotional and explained that seeing Ellen bravely share the truth of who she is made being gay feel less scary.
She shared that seeing Ellen on TV showed her that she wasn't "an alien" and has a right to be here, then thanked her for giving her a shot at a good life.
Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga has been a vocal advocate for the LGBTQ+ community for years, but did you know that she's a member of the community herself? She revealed in a 2009 interview with Barbara Walters that she is bisexual, explaining that "This is who I am and who I always have been." Her song "Born This Way," whose lyrics include "No matter gay, straight, or bi, lesbian, transgender life" has become a pride anthem.
Gaga has also hinted in other interviews that her 2008 hit 'Poker Face' is about being bisexual. In 2012, she started the Born This Way Foundation to support LGBTQ+ youth.
Frank Ocean
Rapper Frank Ocean realized he was gay when he was 19. He met someone, they spent the summer together and after a while, Frank realized he was in love. Four years later, he shared a statement on Tumblr expressing sentiment for his first love, revealing that his relationship had been with another man. He received support from his Odd Future bandmate Tyler, the Creator on Twitter, who said he was proud.
Frank wrapped up the Tumble post by saying, "We’re all a bunch of golden million dollar babies. My hope is that the babies born these days will inherit less of the b******* than we did."
Victor Garber
Canadian actor Victor Garber, known for his roles in Titanic and Argo, has always been relatively private about his personal life, though did confirm that he was gay when he was asked about his Wikipedia bio by a blogger during an interview in 2013. The page reads, "He lives in New York with his companion of 13 years, Rainer Andreesen." Garber replied by saying that he doesn't really talk about it, but "everybody knows."
In 2020, he played the role of Ted in Hulu's Happiest Season, a film about a lesbian who plans to propose to her girlfriend. It featured several LGBTQ+ cast members and won a GLAAD award.
Angelina Jolie
If there's anything Angelina Jolie should be known for, it's all of her work as a humanitarian, but if her bisexual identity can provide comfort or inspiration to anyone struggling with their identity, we're definitely here for it. The actress and mom of six has been open about being attracted to both men and women since the early 2000s, revealing that she fell in love with a woman when she was 20.
Last November, she shared that she was proud of Marvel Cinematic Universe's decision to not cut scenes depicting its first openly gay superhero Phastos and his partner despite pressure from certain countries.
Janelle Monae
Singer, actress, and science fiction writer Janelle Monáe came out as pansexual in 2018 but more recently revealed that she is also non-binary and uses both she/her and they/them pronouns. She explained that she does not see herself as "solely a woman," but that she feels "all of my energy. I feel like God is so much bigger than the 'he' or the 'she.' If I am from God, I am everything."
Monáe concluded her statement by explaining that she will "always stand with women. I will always stand with Black women. But I just see everything that I am beyond the binary."
Brendon Urie
Brendon Urie, best known as the frontman and only remaining member of the 2000s pop-rock band Panic! At The Disco revealed in a 2018 interview with Paper magazine that it isn't a specific gender he is attracted to but, "just people." He explained that while he is married to a woman with whom he's very much in love, he's had experiences with men and would not be opposed to more.
Later that year, he announced plans to partner with GLSEN, an educational organization with a mission to promote inclusion and awareness of LGBTQ+ students in American schools, pledging to contribute $1 million.
Paris Jackson
Paris Jackson, daughter of the late superstar Michael Jackson, revealed in 2020 that she identifies as gay, although feels that what someone is like as a person is much more important to her than whatever their chromosomal makeup is. She doesn't consider herself to be bisexual because she's dated more than cisgender men and women, and feels lucky to have memories of her father before he passed expressing his support.
Although Paris was young when her father passed, she said she felt that he had "caught on pretty quick," and recognizes that she was fortunate in that "not many children have that experience."
Willow Smith
Industry veterans Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith's daughter Willow has been open with the media about being bisexual since 2019, but in 2021 she also shared that she considers herself polyamorous, meaning that she is open to having more than one romantic partner at a time. She explained that "The history of marriage really irks me," and specified that her disdain for the practice comes from what it represents for women in particular.
She elaborated, saying "With polyamory, I feel like the main foundation is the freedom to be able to create a relationship style that works for you." Smith has been building a singing career of her own.
Lily Tomlin
Lily Tomlin has been active in the entertainment industry for decades and probably knows better than most how much the industry has changed in regards to LGBTQ+ acceptance over time. Tomlin is gay and although she and her partner Jane Wagner have been together for 50 years, the couple did not marry until 2013. In 1975, Time magazine offered her a cover story if she agreed to come out, but she turned it down.
She has explained in interviews that while she never exactly kept her sexuality a secret, she felt it was best to wait until her conservative mother died to publicly come out.
Sarah Paulson
Sarah Paulson, best known for her work in FX's American Horror Story and recipient of Emmy and Golden Globe awards for her role in The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story, has been open about her sexuality for years. She prefers not to adhere to any particular label and refers to her sexuality as a "fluid situation." She has been in a relationship with actress Holland Taylor since 2015.
In a 2016 interview with the New York Times, Paulson gushed, “What I can say absolutely is that I am in love, and that person happens to be Holland Taylor.”
Neil Patrick Harris
Ironically, the actor responsible for playing one of television's most iconic womanizers is actually attracted to men. From 2005 to 2014, Neil Patrick Harris played Barney Stinson on CBS's How I Met Your Mother, a playboy who at one point celebrated his achievement of being with over 200 women. Neil and his partner David Burtka have been together for 18 years now, have two kids, and officially tied the knot in 2014.
In 2019, NPH led the Pride parade in Tel Aviv. Though many may look to him as a gay icon, he explained that he's "just a guy who is married to another guy."
Sam Smith
English singer/songwriter Sam Smith publicly came out as gay shortly after their first album Further was released in 2014, though has also explained in interviews that they came out to their family at age 10. In a 2019 episode of the I Weigh podcast with Jameela Jamil, Smith said that they have "always been very free in terms of thinking about my sexuality," and said they stopped wearing exclusively male clothing at age 16.
Smith revealed in the same podcast episode that "I am not male or female. I think I float somewhere in between." They later changed their Instagram profile to show that their pronouns are "they/them."
Ben Platt
Ben Platt shot to stardom after being cast as the title role in the Broadway hit Dear Evan Hansen. He won a Tony for his performance in 2017 and then went on to star as Payton Hobart in the Netflix original series The Politician. He came out to his family at the age of 12 and used the music video for his song 'Ease My Mind' to come out publicly.
Today, he's happily dating Noah Galvin, who replaced him in the role of Evan in 2017. Platt has explained that the two were friends for years before deciding to give a relationship a shot.
Vanessa Carlton
Singer-songwriter Vanessa Carlton is best known for her 2002 hit "A Thousand Miles," whose first three seconds have been described by Rolling Stone as "arguably the most easily identifiable of the last two decades. The song hit No. 1 on the Mainstream Top 40, helping Carlton to cultivate a fanbase that has stayed with her for years. Eight years after the song's release, she revealed she is a proud bisexual while headlining Nashville Pride.
She later hinted in a Vice documentary that the inspiration behind the song had come from a Julliard student who is now a famous actor. Many speculate that it is about a woman.
Lee Daniels
Director, producer, and screenwriter Lee Daniels has spoken openly about his sexuality since 2015, describing himself as sexually fluid. While Daniels acknowledges he is gay, he explained that this does not preclude him from wanting to be with women on occasion. He has also been candid about the struggles of growing up in a conservative home with a father who did not accept him but feels that "God took care of me."
In a 2020 interview with Insider, Daniels shared that he has been working on a superhero film featuring a black, gay lead, though has struggled to get the project off the ground.
Amy Winehouse
Late vocal powerhouse Amy Winehouse was married to video production assistant Blake Fielder-Civil and then dated film director Reg Traviss for two years before her untimely death in 2011, but was also no stranger to same-sex relationships. In the 2021 documentary Reclaiming Amy, Winehouse's friends and family shared stories of their relationships with the singer, including a woman named Catriona Gourlay, who explained, “Our relationship was so unique, undefined. We just loved each other very much.”
On her sexuality, Winehouse has been quoted as having said "There is something about being with a woman that is very satisfying. I don't care what people think about me being bi — I do what feels good.”
Aubrey Plaza
Parks and Recreation actress Aubrey Plaza has spoken openly about her sexuality since 2016. She identifies as bisexual, and a year after the show ended, she told The Advocate that her female fans do come on to her, but that she "doesn't mind." She continued, explaining that “Girls are into me — that’s no secret. Hey, I’m into them too. I fall in love with girls and guys. I can’t help it.”
Last year, she married screenwriter Jeff Baena after 10 years together. The couple "got a little bored one night," in the middle of a COVID-19 lockdown and tied the knot with the help of onehourmarriage.com.
Wanda Sykes
Comedian Wanda Sykes felt she needed to repress her gay identity for decades before finally finding the courage to come out at age 40. While delivering a speech in Las Vegas about the harms of the Proposition 8 ballot intended to ban same-sex marriage, she shared news about her sexuality with the public for the first time. Earlier that year, Sykes married Alex Niedbalski, a French woman, after two years together.
The couple is currently raising twins, Lucas Claude and Olivia Lou, whom Alex gave birth to in 2009. In 2020, Sykes took on a producing role in Apple TV+'s Visible: Out On Television.
Kristian Nairn
Although he may not be the most well-known celebrity, Game of Thrones fans know Northern Irish actor Kristian Nairn as Hodor, a stable servant of the House of Stark known for only ever saying his own name. Nairn is gay and spoke about his sexuality publicly for the first time in 2014 during an interview with a GOT fan site, saying "When you talk about 'the gay community,' you are talking about MY community."
He continued, explaining that his sexuality is "a very small part of who I am on the whole, but nonetheless, in this day and age, it's important to stand up and be counted."
Drew Barrymore
Award-winning actress and talk show host Drew Barrymore has been open about her sexuality for years, having officially come out during an interview with Contact Music in 2003. When asked if she feels attracted to women, Barrymore replied, "Yeah, I do. Totally. I have always considered myself bisexual... I love a woman's body. I think a woman and a woman together are beautiful, just as a man and a woman together are beautiful."
Barrymore quit acting in movies when her first daughter was born in 2012, but now has her own talk show on CBS as well as a beauty line and wine brand.
Cara Delevingne
English model Cara Delevingne has been open about her sexual fluidity for years and referred to herself as both bisexual and pansexual. In 2021, she shared on a Pride episode of the Make it Reign podcast that her sexuality is "like a pendulum swinging." A quick look through her dating history reveals a pretty equal mix of men and women, and in May 2020 she told Variety that her path to acceptance involved "discarding labels."
She continued, explaining "However one defines themselves, whether it’s ‘they’ or ‘he’ or ‘she,’ I fall in love with the person - and that’s that. I’m attracted to the person.”
Clive Davis
It's never too late to share the truth of who you are with the world, and record producer Clive Davis is living proof of that statement. Davis came out publicly in his memoir at 80 years old, revealing that he was in a relationship with another man after a lifetime of relationships with women. Davis explained in an interview with Katie Couric that "You don't have to be one thing or another."
He considers himself to be bisexual, an orientation that told Couric he feels is often "maligned and misunderstood," but hoped that his coming out would lead help lead to "greater understanding."