Though someone might be in the spotlight, that doesn't mean we, the public, necessarily know everything about them. These are stars you might not have known were part of the LGBT community!
Cynthia Nixon
She starred in the popular Netflix drama Ratched in 2020, where she gained more fame and success. Additionally, Nixon has been a strong supporter of LGBTQ+ rights in the United States, notably for same-sex marriage, since sbe is lesbian.
She met her now-wife at a lesbian rights demonstration in 2002, and some years later announced their engagement in 2009 at a march for same-sex marriage in New York. To be honest, we always thought Miranda exemplified that your romantic gender preference is more of a fluid scale, rather than a black or white issue. In real life, the “Sex and The City” star tied the knot to her partner Christine Marinoni, in 2012.
Neil Patrick Harris
Harris dated actress Christine Taylor from 1997-1998. He explained how the relationship let him recognize his sexuality in a 2008 appearance on The Howard Stern Show. Harris says his relationship with Burtka began in 2004 in an interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Harris and Burtka announced their engagement on Twitter on June 24, 2011, following the passage of the Marriage Equality Act in New York, explaining that they had proposed to each other five years prior.
Even though the couple proprosed years before, they kept the engagement hidden until same-sex marriage became legal, so they could live their life freely. The pair revealed that they were expecting twins through a surrogate mother. Gideon Scott and Harper Grace, their son and daughter, were born on October 12, 2010. WSL
Jodie Foster
On the set of Sommersby, Foster met producer Cydney Bernard. They were married from 1993 to 2008 and had two boys together (born in 1998 and 2001). Foster's sexual orientation became a topic of public debate in 1991, when magazines like OutWeek and The Village Voice claimed she was a closeted lesbian in protest of the purported homophobia and transphobia in The Silence of the Lambs.
Foster officially revealed her 14-year relationship with Bernard in a speech at The Hollywood Reporter's "Women in Entertainment" brunch honoring her in 2007. In a speech after receiving the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the 70th Golden Globe Awards in 2013, she addressed her coming out, prompting several news sites to identify her. It’s safe to say that it made quite the coming out story.
Wentworth Miller
Wentworth Miller is a British Columbian who currently lives in Canada. Miller denied being gay to InStyle magazine in 2007. He lived his life in the shadows, still closeted until he was finally able to come out as gay in August 2013, when he declined an offer to attend the Saint Petersburg International Film Festival because he was "very concerned" by the Russian government's treatment of gay residents.
Miller talked more openly about his story and stated that he tried suicide numerous times as a youth before coming out as gay at the 2013 Human Rights Campaign Dinner in Seattle, Washington. He spoke about his struggles as a closeted actor in Hollywood and how his participation in the ManKind Project taught him about brotherhood, sisterhood, and being a member of a community. Ever since, he’s been more than open about the fact that he’s more attracted to men.
Jim Parsons
James Joseph Parsons is an actor and producer from the United States. Parsons's acting career hit its peak when he starred as Sheldon Cooper on The Big Bang Theory from 2007 until 2019. Forbes projected his annual compensation to be $26.5 million in 2018, making him the highest-paid television actor in the world. The New York Times reported on May 23, 2012, that Parsons was gay and had been in a relationship with a man for the past ten years.
In May 2017, Parsons had his happily ever after where he and Todd Spiewak married in New York. The miniseries Hollywood has Parsons as an Executive Producer.
Rebel Wilson
Australian actress, comedian, and writer, Rebel Wilson, announced her engagement to filmmaker and director Ramona Agruma after dating for over a year. The engagement was celebrated with photos posted on social media, along with Wilson expressing her excitement for the future and thanking her fans for their well-wishes.
Wilson's engagement is a significant milestone, given her previous struggles with love and dating. She has been open about her transformation journey, which has included prioritizing her health and happiness, adopting healthier habits, and ultimately finding love with Agruma.
Carl Nassib
The NFL star made headlines when he revealed in a recent interview that he was the first openly gay active player in the league. Nassib had played five seasons in the League before coming out, at first worried that his sexuality would be a matter of controversy and all people could focus on. However, he emphasized that even if others are stuck on his sexuality, he's not.
"I was born this way. I haven't worked for it. That's why it's easy for me. It's not even on my mind. I don't choose every day to be gay. I choose to work hard and be a better person than I was yesterday. Doing interviews like this is not my favorite thing. I don't want to ever feel like, 'Oh, I'm hiding from something. I'm not."
Ian McKellen
Sir Ian McKellen is best known for his epic roles in the “Lord Of The Rings” trilogy and the "X-Men" movies, but what most people don’t know is that McKellen is openly and proudly gay. Sir Ian Murray McKellen CH CBE is an English actor who was born on May 25, 1939. He's also been nominated for two Academy Awards, five Primetime Emmy Awards, and four British Academy Film Awards.
McKellen's first romance started in 1964 with Brian Taylor, a history teacher from Bolton. Their eight-year partnership came to an end in 1972. McKellen maintained his acting career in London, where the couple resided. At the Edinburgh Festival in 1978, he met his second partner, Sean Mathias. This relationship lasted until 1988, according to Mathias, and was tumultuous, with disagreements about McKellen's acting success against Mathias's less-successful career. Mathias directed McKellen in 2009 and the two remained friends.
Moreover, Sir Ian McKellen has reportedly ended his relationship with his 30-year-old boyfriend, Oscar Conlon-Morrey, whom he started dating in late 2022.
Their romance blossomed when they were both cast in a pantomime production of Mother Goose, playing mother and son, according to The Daily Mail.
Moreover, Sir Ian McKellen has reportedly ended his relationship with his 30-year-old boyfriend, Oscar Conlon-Morrey, whom he started dating in late 2022.
Their romance blossomed when they were both cast in a pantomime production of Mother Goose, playing mother and son, according to The Daily Mail.
Billie Eilish
In November of 2023, Billie Eilish came out as being attracted to both genders in her Variety magazine cover story. Billie had said in the interview, "I’ve never really felt like I could relate to girls very well. I love them so much. I love them as people. I’m attracted to them as people. I’m attracted to them for real...I’m physically attracted to them. But I’m also so intimidated by them and their beauty and their presence.”
When speaking to a reporter on the red carpet shortly after, Billie noted her confusion at the hubbub surrounding her "coming out", saying "I kind of thought, wasn’t it obvious? I didn’t realize people didn’t know!"
Victor Garber
Victor Joseph Garber is a Canadian actor and musician who was born on March 16, 1949. Garber loves to keep his personal life private and has remained away from the press for the most part. He came out as gay in public in 2012. "I don't really talk about it," he said in 2013, "but everyone knows." Rainer Andreesen, a Canadian artist and model, has been Garber's boyfriend since 2000.
Andreesen announced on his Instagram profile on October 10, 2015, that he and Garber had married in Canada. Garber is known for his roles in “Sleepless in Seattle”, “Legally Blonde”, and “The First Wives Club.” Typically he plays strong, manly men who are as straight as they come.
Adam Lambert
Adam Mitchel Lambert is a singer and songwriter from the United States. He has sold more than 3 million albums and 5 million singles globally since 2009. Lambert is noted for his explosive vocal performances, which combine his theatrical background with contemporary and traditional genres. Lambert gained to stardom after placing second in the eighth season of American Idol in 2009. He later released For Your Entertainment, which made the Billboard hot 100.
His very controversial AMA performance, which included a live gay kiss, pushed cultural norms while also highlighting a double standard of ethics in media regulation. Sam Sparro awarded Lambert with the "Equality Idol Award" for being an exceptional role model for the LGBT community at the Equality California Los Angeles Equality Awards in August 2011. The following month, he was recognized with his mother at the PFLAG National Los Angeles event for his "genuine" voice.
Raven Symoné
Raven-Symoné reacted to the legalization of same-sex marriage in August 2013, saying she was "happy to learn today that more states have legalized gay marriage" and that it was "wonderful to know I can now, should I desire to." She emphasized her rejection of labels and identifying as either African-American or LGBT in a 2014 interview with Oprah Winfrey, stating that she was "American" and a "person who loves humans."
From 2012 through 2015, Raven-Symoné was in a relationship with model and actress AzMarie Livingston. However that din't work so, Miranda Maday, a social media manager, married her in June 2020.
Wayne Brady
In 2023, the 51-year-old host of Let’s Make A Deal came out as pansexual, meaning that he is attracted to individuals regardless of their sex or gender. He emphasized that "It’s never too late to take hold of your story". Brady expressed that the most rewarding aspect of coming out has been the inspiration it has provided to others to "take charge of their own stories."
“Past a certain point, life becomes too short to live in the dark all the time,” he says. “To have people say, ‘Hey, you inspire me, not just on stage, but you inspire me to live my truth,’ that's been the best part [of coming out],” he added.
Tom Hardy
This may be a shocker to some, but actor Tom Hardy has revealed that during his teenage years, he had sexual relations with men. When asked about his past experiences with men, the introspective actor remarked, "As a boy? Of course, I have. I'm an actor for ****'s sake. I've played with everything and everyone. I love the form and the physicality, but now at my age, it doesn't do it for me. I'm done experimenting but there's plenty of stuff in a relationship with another man, especially gay men, that I need in my life,”
In 1999, Hardy tied the knot with producer Sarah Ward, but their marriage ended in divorce in 2004. Subsequently, he entered into a relationship with assistant director Rachael Speed, whom he met during the filming of The Virgin Queen in 2005. They welcomed a son before parting ways in 2009. Following his separation from Speed, Hardy found love with actress Charlotte Riley after crossing paths on the set of Wuthering Heights. They exchanged vows in July 2014 and now share two sons together, three in total for Tom.
Stephen Fry
The British actor, comedian, writer, and intellectual is known for his wit, charm, and versatility. As a writer, his works range from novels to autobiographies, reflecting his intelligence and engaging prose. Beyond entertainment, Fry is an advocate for mental health awareness and LGBTQ+ rights, using his platform to promote understanding and compassion in society. But it was not always like that for him.
Fry has recently opened up about being gay in the UK. He said that reading about Oscar Wilde as a teenager made him fear ‘a cursed life’ as a gay man in Britain. “I started to gasp and pant and feel simultaneously triumphant and terribly, terribly worried,” Fry confessed. “I suddenly understood this extraordinary man and that his ‘nature’ – the word he used in his famous letter to his lover ‘Bosie’ – his nature was the same as mine. As soon as I read that, I knew that I was gay.”
Fry explained his fear “that my life was absolutely cursed if I wanted to stay in Britain, in that I would have to live a life of secrecy, shame, exile, disgrace,” he said. “All the horrors.”
Fry explained his fear “that my life was absolutely cursed if I wanted to stay in Britain, in that I would have to live a life of secrecy, shame, exile, disgrace,” he said. “All the horrors.”
Maria Bello
Bello and her ex-boyfriend Dan McDermott have a kid named Jackson, however when that did not work, this gorgeous actress came out in 2013. She blogged about having a same-sex relationship with her then-partner, Clare Munn, in November 2013. Whatever...Love Is Love: Questioning the Labels We Give Ourselves was her first book. Bello later confirmed she and chef Dominique Crenn had become engaged on December 29, 2019.
While on vacation in Paris, France, at the 92nd Academy Awards they made their first public appearance in February 2020.She previously played straight characters, but we know by now that literally does not matter at all. Not even slightly. You might recognize her from her role in “A History Of Violence”. The American actress and writer has also been killing it in films such as “Payback,” “Coyote Ugly,” and “Thank You for Smoking.”
Drew Barrymore
Not many people know, but in 2003, Drew said, "Do I like women sexually? Yeah, I do. Totally. I have always considered myself bisexual," in an interview with Contact Music. She was even rumored to be dating Jane Pratt in the 90s!
Barrymore isn't shy about her preferences, and proudly boasts that during her younger years she "used to go with lots of women". You go, Drew!
Zachary Quinto
Zachary John Quinto is an actor and film producer from the United States. Quinto came out as gay in public in October 2011. Following the suicide of gay teen Jamey Rodemeyer, he was inspired and thought that "living a gay life without openly identifying it is simply not enough to make any meaningful contribution to the huge effort that remains ahead on the road to true equality."
It’s not very easy admitting who you really are in front of the ever judgemental and ruthless Hollywood, so Zachary Quinto, you’re every bit the hero that we thought you were. We first became enamored with Quinto when he starred in “Heroes.”
Michael Sam
Michael Alan Sam Jr. is a former defensive end in the NFL. Sam was picked by the St. Louis Rams of the National Football League (NFL) in the seventh round of the 2014 NFL draft after playing college football for the Missouri Tigers. His college football career was incredibly successful at Missouri. After being recruited by Craig Kuligowski, the team's coach, Sam accepted a scholarship offer from the University of Missouri.
Before the 2015 season, he signed with Montreal and became the first openly gay player to play in the League. Sam came out as gay after finishing his college football career. He became the NFL's first openly gay athlete to be drafted. Sam has been a very active advocate, has talked with LGBTQ advocacy groups, and personally lobbied state legislators in 2016 at the Missouri State Capitol against a measure that would allow discrimination against LGBTQ persons.
Sara Gilbert
Sara Gilbert (born Sara Rebecca Abeles on January 29, 1975) is an American actress, director, and producer best known for her role as Darlene Conner on the ABC comedy Roseanne. We’re sure not many people were surprised when the former “Roseanne” star came out in 2010. Her and her partner have recently made headlines for showing up to events with love in their eyes.
Gilbert has been dating musician Linda Perry, and just recently, they announced that they’re expecting a baby!
Jonathan Bennett
Jonathan David Bennett (born June 10, 1981) is an actor and model from the United States. He is most recognized for his roles as Aaron Samuels in Mean Girls, Bud McNulty in Cheaper by the Dozen 2, the titular character in Van Wilder: Freshman Year, and Casey Gant in Veronica Mars.
After playing straight males time and time again with absolutley zero hint that he was gay, the star finally came out years into his career. We can honestly say this one astounded us at first, but then we were all like, hmm makes sense, especially after we saw picture of who he was dating. IRL Aaron Samuels, would have clearly never gone for Regina George.
Cary Grant
Cary Grant was an English-American actor who was born Archibald Alec Leach on January 18, 1904 and died on November 29, 1986. Grant married five times in his life. On February 9, 1934, he married Virginia Cherrill at the Caxton Hall registry office in London. She divorced him on March 26, 1935, after he was accused of hitting her.
Following the breakdown of his marriage, he began dating actress Phyllis Brooks in 1937. Well this one seems like it came out of left field, but does that make him any more the movie star and classic example of a gentleman? Absolutley not! History will always remember this man as a legend, no matter who or what kind of human he preferred to date. It’s still unclear if him and house-mate Randolph Scott were together, and only making it seem like all the ladies around them were romantic interests.
John Mahoney
Charles John Mahoney was an English-born American actor who died on February 4, 2018. He is best known for his role as Martin Crane on the critically acclaimed NBC comedy Frasier (1993–2004), for which he was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award in the year 2000. Mahoney began his long career as a member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, where he worked with John Malkovich, Gary Sinise, and Laurie Metcalf.
Mahoney never married or had children, and he rarely spoke publicly about his personal life. "I was never really mature in my relationships with women," he admitted in 2002. I was gone at the first indication of trouble. I didn't want to talk about it because I didn't want to start a fight." Mahoney is not someone you’d think is gayat first glance.
Jane Lynch
Jane Lynch was born in Evergreen Park, Illinois. In March 2012, Lynch played Maggie Gallagher in a production of Dustin Lance Black's play, '8' — a staged re-enactment of the federal trial that overturned California's Prop 8 ban on same-sex marriage – alongside Martin Sheen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Chris Colfer, and Brad Pitt. To raise money for the American Foundation for Equal Rights, the production was held at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre and webcast on YouTube. The actress best known by today’s youth for her performance in “Glee” – Jane Lynch – has been openly gay throughout most of her career.
Lynch married clinical psychologist Lara Embry, whom she had met a year earlier at a fundraiser in San Francisco, California on May 31, 2010, in Sunderland, Massachusetts. Jane Lynch and her wife announced their unexpected divorce in June 2013. In January 2014, their divorce was formalized.
Jonathan Groff
Groff rose to notoriety as Jesse St. James, lead performer in glee club Vocal Adrenaline and love interest to Rachel Berry, played by Lea Michele, on the Fox musical comedy-drama Glee, beginning in 2010. During the first, second, third, and sixth seasons of the show, he appeared in a total of fifteen episodes. Four of Glee's soundtrack albums featured Groff. When asked by a Broadway.com reporter during the National Equality March in October 2009, Groff came out as gay, writing that he was "gay and proud."
Later, he discussed his experience with coming out, including the agony of being closeted for so long and the fear that admitting his sexuality might jeopardize his job. He's also talked about how important it is for him to be a role model for young people as an out actor, and how important it is to share coming out stories.
David Hyde Pierce
David Hyde Pierce (born April 3, 1959) is an actor and director from the United States. Pierce declared in 2007 that he was gay after years of media speculation about his sexuality, and later confirmed through his publicist that he and television writer, director, and producer Brian Hargrove were a couple. Pierce acknowledged "my partner, Brian, for 24 years of listening to your damn notes—that's why I'm up here tonight" upon winning his Tony Award for Curtains.
They married on October 24, 2008, in California, days before Proposition 8 became law, prohibiting same-sex weddings in the state. He publicly announced his marriage to Hargrove on May 28, 2009 while a guest on The View, and expressed his displeasure with Proposition 8's approval. Even when his character on his hit tv show Fraiser was romancing women, we wondered whether psychiatrist Dr. Niles Crane was being true to himself.
Ricky Martin
Ricky Martin is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, and actor. Martin is known as the "King of Latin Pop" and "Latin Music King," and is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with over 70 million records sold worldwide. He is also one of the most influential Latin performers. He also jeopardized his career by coming out as gay in 2010, making him the first Latin music artist to do so.
"Martin probably established the atmosphere for Bad Bunny to be free in many ways that, during his own breakthrough moment, he could not," according to Rolling Stone. Martin has been described as Maluma's idol and main influence. Who would’ve thought that someone who dances so smoothly and sings so emotionally would have broken so many hearts?! Well, he broke millions of hearts! When Martin came out in 2010, the world hasn’t been the same since.
Rosie O’Donnell
Rosie O'Donnell is an American comedian, producer, actor, author, and television personality who was born on March 21, 1962. She has also been a vocal supporter of lesbian rights and gay adoption. O'Donnell has fostered and adopted children. She was voted The Advocate's Person of the Year in 2002, and she began contributing to the magazine regularly in May 2003.
As queen of the daytime television talk shows, O’Donnell came out as gay in 2002. The TV personality is married to her longtime partner, with whom she shares two children. She started presenting The Rosie O'Donnell Show, a daytime chat show for her production business KidRo Productions, in 1996. With New York City as the show's home base, O'Donnell showcased her passion for Broadway musicals and plays by inviting cast members as guests, encouraging the audience to attend performances, premiering production routines, and promoting shows with ticket giveaways.
T. R. Knight
Theodore Raymond (T.R.) Knight is an American actor who was born on March 26, 1973. He is best known for his role as Dr. George O'Malley on the ABC medical drama Grey's Anatomy (2005–2009, 2020), for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2007.
Knight's performance as O'Malley got mostly excellent reviews, and he was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series at the 59th Primetime Emmy Award. Knight performed as Leo Frank in the musical Parade, which premiered at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles on October 4, 2009. Knight is a proud gay man. Knight married ballet dancer and writer Patrick B. Leahy on October 5, 2013, in Hudson, New York. They'd been living together for six years at that point. The “Grey’s Anatomy” cutie has never been shy about his sexuality.
Lily Tomlin
Mary Jean "Lily" Tomlin (September 1, 1939) is an actress, comedian, writer, singer, and producer from the United States. During the 1960s, Tomlin began her career as a stand-up comedian and performed off-Broadway. From 1969 until 1973, she was a regular on the variety show Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In.
In March 1971, Tomlin met her wife, writer Jane Wagner. The couple didn't have a public debut. She played coy for a while during her career, but in 2001, she finally admitted that she would rather date a woman than a man. Fair enough, Lily Tomlin. She has been a strong ally to the LGBTQ community throughout her life, so it seems only fitting that she would support the community to the fullest.
Russell Tovey
Russell George Tovey is an English actor who was born on November 14, 1981.
He is best known for his roles in the BBC's supernatural comedy-drama Being Human, Rudge in both the stage and film adaptations of The History Boys, Steve in the BBC Three sitcom Him & Her, and Kevin Matheson in the HBO original series Looking and its subsequent series finale television film Looking: The Movie. He has openly spoken out about being gay, but his relationships are kept more private.
Meredith Baxter
Meredith Baxter (born June 21, 1947) is an actress and producer from the United States. In recent years, Baxter launched Meredith Baxter Simple Works, a skincare line.
She came out as a lesbian during an interview with Matt Lauer on Today and the Frank DeCaro Show on Sirius-XM OutQ 102 on December 2, 2009. In 2002, Baxter had begun her first gay relationship, according to her. She added that finally accepting her sexual orientation allowed her to see that she had known something was wrong with her for a long time and that this was why her relationships with males had failed. Her unpleasant and sometimes abusive marriages, problems with alcoholism, and her understanding that she is lesbian are all detailed in the book. She tied the knot with contractor Nancy Locke in Los Angeles on December 8, 2013.
Richard Chamberlain
George Richard Chamberlain (born March 31, 1934) is an American actor and musician. If Chamberlain did not have enough on his plate mentally, he was outed as a gay man at the age of 55 by the French women's magazine Nous Deux in December 1989, but it wasn't until his memoir Shattered Love: A Memoir in 2003 that he felt he could acknowledge his closeted homosexuality.
In the early 1970s, Chamberlain had a relationship with television actor Wesley Eure. He met actor-writer-producer Martin Rabbett, 20 years his junior, in 1977 when he was 43 years old, and they began a long-term relationship. Established and free, Chamberlain has definitely made an impact in the movie industry.
Rock Hudson
Rock Hudson (November 17, 1925 – October 2, 1985) was an American actor who was born Roy Harold Scherer Jr. Hudson was a thriving star who was most known during Hollywood's golden age.
His final performance was as a guest star on the primetime ABC serial opera Dynasty for the fifth season until an AIDS-related sickness made it difficult for him to continue. Hudson's preference was to keep his sexual orientation as a secret from his colleagues in the industry, but it was not so secret, as it was well known that he was gay. Hudson was the first big celebrity to succumb to an AIDS-related disease, dying on October 2, 1985, in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 59. Although Hudson was never comfortable enough to announce his sexuality, and never officially came out as gay, he lived his life with a whirlwind of speculation around him.
Jillian Michaels
Jillian Michaels is famously known for being a workout guru and has played up to that title throughout her career with her workout videos and coaching on "The Biggest Loser." Losing It With Jillian, a spin-off of The Biggest Loser, premiered on NBC on June 1, 2010.
Michaels and her ex-fiancée Heidi Rhoades have two children together. In 2012, Michaels and Rhoades adopted their two-year-old daughter (Lukensia Michaels Rhoades) from Haiti, and Rhoades gave birth to a boy (Phoenix Michaels Rhoades) in the same month. In June 2018, the pair declared the end of their relationship. Michaels has commented about her sexuality, "Let's just say I'm a firm believer in a happy marriage. It would be fantastic if I fell in love with a woman. It would be fantastic if I fell in love with a man"
Nate Berkus
Nathan Jay Berkus is an American interior designer, novelist, and television personality who was born on September 17, 1971. Berkus is openly gay on and off the show, and has never been afraid to be his true self which can be seen while watching his shows. Berkus and his husband Jeremiah Brent have co-hosted the TLC reality design series Nate & Jeremiah by Design since 2017.
However, before the immense success he has generated came into fruition, Berkus had to go through nightmarish heartbreak. When the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami struck, Berkus and his then-partner, photographer Fernando Bengoechea, were vacationing at a beach resort in Sri Lanka. Bengoechea was missing and assumed dead, while Berkus survived. On January 17, 2005, Berkus went on The Oprah Winfrey Show to discuss the trauma and the loss of his partner. However, he has been able to pick himself up ever since.