The break-out rap-country star Lil Nas X became an almost overnight global sensation with his song Old Town Road, which featured Billy Ray Cyrus. Not only that, Lil Nas X made history as the first openly gay musician to be nominated for a Country Music Association Award. He was the first musical artist to come out as gay while his record was sitting at number one, where it stayed for over 19 weeks.
Even though the artist came out publicly early in his career, he worries about the well-being of his fans who may still be indecisive about coming out. In April of 2020, during an interview, he told the Guardian “I 100% want to represent the LGBT community. I don’t want to encourage them to do something they don’t 100% want to do.”
Famous for his role as Hikaru Sulu in one of the most influential shows of all time, Star Trek. Not to mention, he's also starred in tons of movies and Broadway plays. Takei courageously came out as gay in 2002 and has been married to his husband, Brad Takei, since 2008.
Being gay wasn’t always an easy road for the actor, however. In a 2016 interview with the Guardian he said, “You live under the fear of being outed all the time. I played the game. I took a female friend to premieres and parties, and then I’d take her home and go to a gay bar.”
You probably recognize him as Sheldon from the hit sitcom The Big Bang Theory. Parsons was fearless when he came out as gay in 2012. Person's married his husband, Todd Spiewak, in 2017, and he's been working on LGBTQ activism and new shows since Big Bang concluded.
On the Ellen DeGeneres show in 2018, speaking of his marriage, he said, “It’s such a weird thing being a gay couple at my age, because when we got together, you couldn’t get married. So now, this is our 16th year together, but it’s our first anniversary.”
Ezra Miller burst onto the Hollywood scene in 2008 when he appeared in the film Afterschool. That being said, it was his role as Patrick in The Perks of Being a Wallflower that really garnered him a lot of attention.
In 2012, Miller told The Daily Beast he identified as queer, going on to say, "the way I would choose to identify myself wouldn't be gay. I've been attracted mostly to 'shes,' but I've been with many people, and I'm open to love whatever it can be.”
Wanda Sykes is considered one of the funniest stand-up comics by her peers and has ranked among Entertainment Weekly's 25 Funniest People in America. In addition to several comedy shows, she's starred in feature films such as Pootie Tang, Nutty Professor II: The Klumps, Down to Earth, and Monster-in-Law. Sykes came out as a lesbian in 2008 and has been married to her wife, Alex Sykes, since the same year.
In an interview with Piers Morgan on CNN in 2011, she was asked if being gay was harder than being black. Her response was “To a certain point, yes. I believe that. I’m not talking about the history of African Americans. I’m talking about this point right now.”
Brendon Urie, frontman for the super popular alternative band Panic! At the Disco, has long since been considered an ally to the LGBT community. However, in July 2018 he came out as pansexual. Panic! At the Disco is hugely popular with younger audiences, so it isn't a surprise that they look up to Urie. In March 2019, Urie was honored for LGBTQ Youth Advocacy.
In the July 6, 2018 issue of Paper Magazine Brendon officially came out as pansexual. He said, “I’m married to a woman and I’m very much in love with her, but I’m not opposed to a man because to me, I like a person… I guess this is me coming out as pansexual.”
If you were ever a big fan of American Idol, then you probably recognize his name. Adam Lambert is an American singer, songwriter, and actor who rose to fame in 2009 as the runner-up on American Idol's eighth season. Lambert publicly came out shortly after his stint on American Idol and was the first openly gay artist to top the Billboard 200 album charts in 2015. He has dated his boyfriend, Javi Costa Polo, since early 2019.
When asked about the difference between his coming out in 2009 versus what it’s like being an openly gay artist in 2019 in an interview with Variety in 2019 he said, “It’s a totally different landscape. There is much more visibility, so it doesn’t feel like a foreign or scary concept…Now it’s been proven that there is a market and an audience. It’s allowing a lot more diversity to be pushed through.
Angelina Jolie is a staple in Hollywood and is an acclaimed philanthropist, producer, and actress best known for her roles in Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Maleficent. Jolie has never been afraid of her identity and has always been out as bisexual. Since splitting with Brad Pitt, she's had relations with both women and men.
In an interview with Barbara Walters on 20/20 in 2003, Jolie admitted publicly that she was bisexual stating, “I was surprised when I suddenly found myself having these feelings I always had for men, but for a woman, and wanting to kiss her and wanting to touch her.”
Known recently for her role in the hit Netflix original series The Umbrella Academy, Page came out as a lesbian in 2014 during a speech at the Human Rights Campaign's "Time to Thrive" conference in Las Vegas. Page has been married to her wife, professional dancer and choreographer Emma Portner, since early January 2018.
At the Toronto Film Festival in September of 2019, when asked if she fears being typecast in LGBTQ roles since she’s already played several of them, she replied, “You would never ask a heterosexual actress that…Why would I not want to play those roles? Quite frankly, I would be thrilled if it’s every role I ever played again!”
A child star who started out with a bang in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial in 1982, Barrymore has become a household name and a Hollywood icon. Barrymore bravely came out as bisexual in 2003 and is famously known for saying, "I think a woman and a woman together are beautiful, just as a man and a woman together are beautiful."
In that now famous 2003 Contact Magazine interview she is quoted to have said, “Do I like women sexually? Yeah, I do. Totally. I have always considered myself bisexual.”
A renowned news reporter, producer, and actor (Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and Chappie), Cooper has always been out and is considered the most prominent openly gay journalist on American television.
He's also been a guiding light for other LGBT celebrities. Even current Apple CEO Tim Cook sought out Cooper's advice before coming out to the public as gay. According to a blog by Time magazine, before Cook publicly came out as gay in 2014, he called Anderson Cooper for his advice. Cook said, “I thought the way he handled his announcement was really classy.”
In early 2018, Rita Ora, Charlie XCX, Cardi B, and Bebe Rexha all released a song called "Girls" which featured the line "Sometimes, I just wanna kiss girls, girls, girls." The song received a lot of backlash from the LGBT community until the British pop star tweeted and came out as bisexual in defense of the song.
Shortly after she came out in 2018, in an interview with Gay Times Magazine when asked about how she felt about coming out publicly she said, “This was a moment in time when I wanted to give confidence to girls who are trapped and feel like they can’t tell their parents that they are gay.”
Nathan Lane has been a famous Hollywood actor best known for his roles in The Producers and The Lion King. He heroicly came out as gay in 1999 and has been married to X-Files actor Devlin Elliott since late 2015.
Although Lane found the courage to come out publicly in 1999, he wasn’t so ready to discuss his sexuality in an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 1996. He told his publicists, “I’m not ready to discuss whether I’m gay or not with Oprah. I can barely deal with meeting Oprah, let alone telling her I’m gay.”
Green Day was one of the most famous rock bands of the '90s and 2000s. The lead singer, Billie Joe Armstrong came out as bisexual in 1995, just after the band broke into the mainstream music scene. In Green Day's early years, many teens were encouraged by Billie Joel Armstrong to be themselves, so it's no wonder he's still loved today.
During the interview with The Advocate in 1995, Billie Joe came out saying, “I think I’ve always been bisexual… I think people are born bisexual, and its just that our parents and society kind of veer us into this feeling of ‘Oh, I can’t.’ They say it’s taboo. It’s ingrained in our heads that it’s bad when it’s not bad at all. It’s a very beautiful thing.”
Rumors about the former One Direction bandmate's private life have swirled for years, and he finally (kind of) addressed them in an interview with Guardian: "Who cares? Does that make sense? It’s just: who cares? ...In terms of how I wanna dress, and what the album sleeve’s gonna be, I tend to make decisions in terms of collaborators I want to work with.
Harry went on to say, “I want things to look a certain way. Not because it makes me look gay, or it makes me look straight, or it makes me look bisexual, but because I think it looks cool. And more than that, I dunno, I just think sexuality’s something that’s fun. Honestly? I can’t say I’ve given it any more thought than that."
Known for her roles in The Hunger Games and The Hate U Give, Amandla Stenberg came out as gay in June 2018. She took to Instagram with a photo of her in a rainbow plaid jacket and rainbow hair with the caption "OUT & PROUD. So happy to say the words Yep, I'm Gay in official print."
Although Stenberg officially declared herself bisexual in 2016 in an interview with Wonderland magazine in 2018, she said she realized that she was actually gay. “I was so overcome with this profound sense of relief when I realized that I’m gay—not bi, not pan, but gay.”
You probably knew this actor's face before you knew his name. Victor Garber is known for starring in films like Titanic and Argo, along with several TV series. In 2013, Garber confirmed that he was gay, though it had long been suspected seeing as he hadn't really hidden his 20-plus-years relationship with Rainer Andreesen. Garber and Andreesen have been happily married since 2015.
In that famous interview with Greg in Hollywood on January 14, 2013 when he was asked if he had confirmed his sexuality publicly Garber said, “I don’t really talk about it, but everybody knows.”
In 2015, Stewart came out as a lesbian and has been in an on-again-off-again relationship with Stella Maxwell. Supposedly, Stewart and Maxwell have broken it off completely, and Stewart is rumored to have moved on to screenwriter Dylan Meyer. Stewart has known Meyer for six years, so she's ready to get married to her new girlfriend to make it official.
In a 2017 interview with the Guardian when she was asked about her sexuality and how she’s been accepted since she said, “all the prejudice: it’s going for sure. I mean, yeah, it’s definitely still there…But it’s cool that you don’t have to nail everything down anymore. That whole certainty about whether you’re gay or straight or whatever.”
Though he may be long passed, the late Marlon Brando was outed by several posthumous biographies as bisexual. To be fair, he was open about his sexuality during his life, even saying, "like a large number of men, I, too, have had homosexual experiences and I am not ashamed."
In the same interview in 1976, when homosexuality was still considered taboo to discuss, let alone something to admit to Brando said, “I have never paid much attention to what people think about me. But if there is someone who is convinced that Jack Nicholson and I are lovers, may they continue to do so. I find it amusing.”
Best known for her time on Disney's That's So Raven and several movies such as Doctor Dolittle and The Cheetah Girls, Raven-Symone is a star that most millennials have loved for years. She came out as bisexual in 2012. Now, Raven-Symone encourages people to approach others without being labeled anything other than a "human who loves humans." How admirable!
In a 2019 interview, Raven told Variety, “While it was a selfish thing for me to keep my secret to myself for as long as I did, I am very happy that I’m out, if only to help someone else feel comfortable.”
Known as the heartthrob of the '60s, Chamberlain is remembered for his role as the suave and handsome titular character Dr. Kildare. In 2003, Chamberlain bravely came out as gay in a tell-all biography.
However, as recently as 2010, Chamberlain felt that homosexuality was still widely unaccepted and advised leading man-type actors to stay in the closet. He said, “Despite all the wonderful advances that have been made, it’s still dangerous for an actor to talk about that in our extremely misguided culture.”
In June 2018, Westworld and Thor: Ragnarok actress Tessa Thompson came out as bisexual. Thompson has also been speculated to possibly be romantically involved with singer Janelle Monae, though nothing has ever been confirmed by either Thompson or Monae.
For Thompson, defining her relationship publicly isn’t really important. In the same interview with Net-A-Porter the actress said, “I can take things for granted because of my family—it’s so free and you can be anything that you want to be. I’m attracted to men and also to women. If I bring a woman home, [or] a man, we don’t even have to have the discussion.”
Disney star turned pop sensation Miley Cyrus came out as pansexual in 2015, and in 2017, admitted that she was gender-neutral (not particularly identifying with either gender). Cyrus has been an outspoken advocate for the LGBT community, even long before she came out.
On October 21, 2019, Cyrus took to her Twitter account to clear up some controversial statements she had made about men tweeting, “I was talking…about sucky guys, but let me be clear, YOU don’t CHOOSE your sexuality. You are born as you are. It has always been my priority to protect the LGBTQ community I am a part of.”
Best known for his role as the homophobic villain Adam Carrington on Dynasty. Thomson announced in a September 2017 interview with The Daily Beast that he is a gay man at the age of 72. "I'm probably as homophobic as any gay man alive because of my background." That must have taken a lot of courage.
Growing up homosexual in a time of sexual repression, Thomson says he never told anyone because it was first defined as a crime and then a mental illness. “So, you’re dealing with that. And the shame, the breathtaking lack of self-esteem, has only just begun to seep out of my soul.”
Born Stacy Ann Ferguson, Fergie is a famed actress and musician. She's best known for her time with the Black Eyed Peas and her role in Quinten Tarantino's Grindhouse. In 2009, Fergie confirmed she was bisexual, though she admitted that she'd never had a steady girlfriend.
In the singer’s landmark interview with the Advocate in 2009, while she was married to Josh Duhamel, Fergie said, “I’ve had a lot of fun with women, and I’m not ashamed of it. The problem is that I also love a well-endowed man.”
Quinto is probably best known for his role as Spock in Star Trek and his Emmy-nominated performance as Dr. Oliver Thredson in American Horror Story: Asylum. Quinto came out as gay in 2011, after playing Louis in Signature Theater's restaging of "Angels in America." The actor came out softly and subtly, dropping the bomb on New York magazine writer Benjamin Wallace while speaking about that role.
He said that the role was “the most challenging thing I’ve ever done as an actor and the most rewarding. And at the same time, as a gay man, it made me feel like there’s still so much work to be done, and there’s still so many things that need to be looked at and addressed.”
Meredith Baxter is an actress best known for her roles in All the President's Men, Family Ties, and A Woman Scorned: The Betty Broderick Story. She was fearless when came out as a lesbian in 2009 and has been married to her wife, Nancy Locke, since late 2013.
After almost being “outed” by a tabloid magazine in 2009, Baxter decided to make the ‘media rounds’ to confirm the rumors about her. “I didn’t want some tabloid to take the story and make it up. I wanted it to be in my own words.”
Lady Gaga is a pop music star, fashion icon, philanthropist, and acclaimed actress. Gaga came out as bisexual in 2010 and has since been an activist for LGBT+ people across the globe, especially with her second album "Born This Way" which touched on hot social topics.
In a 2009 interview with Barbara Walters, Gaga admitted being bisexual when Walters asked her point-blank. “Um. Well. I do like women… I’ve never been in love with a woman. But that was what that song [Poker Face] was about… I’ve certainly had sexual relationships with women.”
David Hyde Pierce is a TV star thanks to his role as Dr. Niles Crane in the series Frasier, which got him nominated for an Emmy Award each year (he won four times: 1995, 1998, 1999, and 2004). Although he didn't come out as gay until 2009, he has been with his husband, Brian Hargrove, since 1983.
When asked in 2017 by Vulture about how he felt about coming out to his parents Pierce said, “You know, there’s this whole panoply of who people are, and maybe we shouldn’t force them to say ‘I’m this’ or ‘I’m that. Maybe it’s okay.”
Another history-making athlete, Jason Collins, was the first NBA star to come out as gay and continue playing. Collins came out in 2013 when he played for the Boston Celtics and then the Washington Wizards. Now, Collins is standing up for the rights of LGBTQ athletes!
In an unprecedented interview for Sports Illustrated in April 2013, Collins said, “I’m a 34-year-old NBA center. I’m black. And I’m gay,” setting the sports world on fire.
Fans theorized about Mraz's sexuality after he released a poem in June 2018 that ended with the line "I am bi your side." In July of 2018, Mraz came out as bisexual in an interview with Billboard, saying "But I've had experiences with men, even while I was dating the woman who became my wife."
The singer may have officially come out as recently as 2018, but speculation about his sexuality has been in play since 2005 when he told Genre that he was “bisexually open-minded.”
Lynch is probably best known for her time on Glee, and her roles in the movies Wreck-It-Ralph, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. She came out as a lesbian first to her parents when she was 32 years old and credited Ellen DeGeneres for helping her publicly come out in 2005.
In an interview for “The Last Laugh” podcast in 2019, Lynch said that Ellen’s coming out in 1997 “made my being a gay person in Hollywood a no-brainer, not a problem at all, because she basically took one for the team, if you will.”
This former NFL star made history as the first out gay player to be drafted. Sam came out in 2014 and has since briefly played with the St. Louis Rams, the Dallas Cowboys, and Canadian Football League's Montreal Alouettes. He has since claimed that coming out ruined his career in the NFL and has actively fought against racism in the LGBT community.
In a 2013 interview with Edge of Sports, Sam said, “I think if I never would have came out, never would have said those words out to the public, I would still be currently in the NFL. But because of me saying those words, I think it could have played a huge part in my current situation.”
Neil Patrick Harris has been a massive star since he broke onto the scene. He reached TV fame with his time on How I Met Your Mother and has had significant roles in movies such as Gone Girl, The Next Big Thing and Undercover Brother. Harris came out as gay in 2006.
In an article for Huffpost in 2013, Harris explains why he went public when he did. “For me, I fell in love with a dude and started spending all my time with him. And therefore, you don’t want to be suppressive of that. I didn’t want to disrespect David. I didn’t want to make David feel like he didn’t exist in my life, and at the same time I didn’t want David’s identity to be, ‘The guy that’s dating me.’”
Cynthia Nixon is most recognizable from her role as Miranda in Sex and the City. Initially, Nixon stated that she was bisexual (and caused quite a bit of controversy by saying sexuality was a choice), though she later clarified that she identified as a lesbian rather than bisexual. Nixon has been married to her wife Christine Marinoni since 2012.
In a 2017 interview with RadioTimes, Nixon said, “Marriage was never a goal of mine. I was with my boyfriend for 15 years and we never got married. But it seemed like Christine and I did fight really hard for it and we had a lovely wedding. Why wouldn’t I have done it?”
In 2013, Jodie Foster ambiguously came out as a lesbian and married her current wife, Alexandra Hedison, a year later in 2014. Foster started as a child actress in 1968, and since then, she has starred in films such as Home for the Holidays and Panic Room. Along with being proudly outspoken about being LGBTQ+ and the roles of women in Hollywood.
When Foster came out in 2013, it was to mixed feelings in the LGBTQ community as some thought she was more cryptic than open. Foster’s coming out speech went like this, “I guess I have a sudden urge to say something that I’ve never been able to air in public that I’m a little nervous about… So, I’m just going to put this out there, loud and proud. I’m going to need your support on this,” leaving the public to wonder if she had, indeed, come out at last.
Kate McKinnon is probably known best for her years on Saturday Night Live and her starring role in the 2016 Ghostbusters all-female remake. McKinnon made show history as the first lesbian cast member on Saturday Night Live. McKinnon has been with her girlfriend, actress Jackie Abbott, since late 2017.
Mckinnon is another celeb who credits Ellen DeGeneres with the ability to be out of the closet and not be scared of the impact it may have on their acting career. In 2020, when presenting the Carol Burnett Award to Ellen, Mckinnon said, “if I hadn’t seen her on TV, I would have thought, ‘I could never be on TV. They don’t let LGBT people on TV. And more than that, I would have gone on thinking that I was an alien and that I maybe didn’t even have a right to be here. So thank you, Ellen, for giving me a shot.”
Ian Thorpe is a famed Olympic freestyle swimmer with five gold medals, three silver medals, one bronze medal, and a broken Olympic record under his belt. In 2014, after years of publicly denying it, Thorpe came out as gay in an interview with Australian talk show host Michael Parkinson.
Just two years after releasing his autobiography in 2012 which he vehemently denied being gay, during his interview with Parkinson he said, “I’m comfortable saying I’m a gay man, and I don’t want young people to feel the same way that I did. You can grow up, you can be comfortable, and you can be gay.”
Gilbert is best known for her roles in The Big Bang Theory, Poison Ivy, Light It Up, and as the producer of the attempted Roseanne reboot. Gilbert came out as a lesbian in 2010 and has been married to her partner Linda Perry since March 2014.
Even though Gilbert is happy in her life and she is grateful for all she has, she is still scared about what being out can do to her career. In a 2013 statement Gilbert said, “I have an amazing life, but I want people to know that there can still be a struggle with it and that’s OK.”
Known best for her recurring role on the hit TV show American Horror Story and her recent success with 12 Years a Slave, Paulson is a growing star in the Hollywood community. In 2013, Paulson came out as sexually fluid/bisexual, and she began dating her current partner, Holland Taylor, in early 2015. They've been extremely happy since.
In an interview with NoTofu regarding coming out, Paulson said it was unplanned. In 2005, when her then partner, Cherry Jones, went to accept her Tony Paulson and Jones shared a kiss by habit and then Paulson was outed, just like that. When asked about how it happened, Paulson said, “What was I gonna do, pat her on the back and say ‘good job dude?’ It didn’t occur to me to do anything but what I did.”
In 1994, Wilson Cruz waltzed into the hearts of TV viewers as heartthrob Rickie Vasquez in My So-Called Life. He also made history while he did it, as the first openly gay man of color on a network television show. Cruz came out as gay to his parents in 1992 when he was 19.
In an Entertainment Weekly interview in 2018, Cruz described what it was like to grow up gay on television. He said when he found out he had gotten the role of Rickie on My So Called Life, “The moment I was told that I was playing [Rickie,] it felt, to me, that it came with the responsibility of coming out—and I was excited about it. Now, I can’t say it was exciting for everyone who was representing me, but I didn’t really care.”
Singer Janelle Monae's sexuality was something of speculation for quite a while. In early 2018, during an interview with Rolling Stone, Monae confirmed that she identified as pansexual. Monae's close friendship with actress Tessa Thompson has long been in question, many fans believing that the pair are actually hiding a romantic relationship. Only time will tell.
In the interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Monae said she initially identified as being bisexual but then she read more on pansexuality. She says, “but then later I read about pansexuality and was like ‘Oh, these are things that I identify with, too. I’m open to learning more about who I am.”
In 2010, UK tabloid News of the World reported that after ending a tumultuous marriage, Winehouse came out to a friend that she was bisexual. The friend, with Winehouse's permission, told News of the World that Winehouse had 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."
Tragically, Winehouse died in 2011 of alcohol-related issues before the world could see what kind of LGBTQ advocate she could have been. Asif Kapadia, director of the documentary about the singer’s life posthumously said in an interview in 2015 cryptically said about Winehouse’s intimate lyrics, “The clues were in the songs. The songs tell you everything.”
You've probably seen his name in the news in the past. Sam Smith, a famous singer-songwriter of Stay with Me among other hit songs, came out as gay in 2014 and as nonbinary in September of 2019.
Smith took to Instagram with a caption that announced their decision to go by they/them pronouns. "After a lifetime of being at war with my gender I've decided to embrace myself for who I am, inside and out."
A TV legend as Scully from The X Files and the star of several movies such as The Turning and Playing by Heart. Gillian Anderson bravely came out as bisexual in 2012, she has been dating screenwriter and dramatist Peter Morgan since 2016.
Although she is dating a man at this time, when asked in 2015 by the Guardian if she would be interested in having another same-sex relationship again, she said, “I wouldn’t discount it, I did before and I’m not closed to that idea. To me a relationship is about loving another human being; their gender is irrelevant.”
Richard Wayne Penniman, known as Little Richard, was the self-proclaimed "Architect of Rock' n' Roll." With rock hits like Tutti Frutti and Good Golly Miss Molly, Little Richard lived a life full of sexual ambiguity. He eventually came out as gay in 1995 and has been a queer icon ever since. However, the icon denounced homosexuality nearly two decades after publicly coming out in an interview with Christian TV Network in 2017.
He said, “But God, Jesus, he made men, men, he made women, women, you know? And you’ve got to live the way God wants you to live…I’m a sinner but we have all sinned. You know, all these things. So much unnatural affection. So much of people just doing everything and don’t think about God.”
Robin Roberts is an acclaimed actress and producer, known for her roles in Pitch Perfect 2 and He Got Game. Roberts also spent time as a host on Good Morning America. In 2013, she came out as a lesbian and has been with her partner, Amber Laign, since 2005.
Regardless of being in a same-sex relationship for 13 years and being completely open about her battle with breast cancer, Roberts wasn’t forthcoming about her sexuality until 2013 when she publicly came out on Facebook, saying, “I am grateful for my entire family, my long time girlfriend, Amber, and friends as we prepare to celebrate this glorious new year together.”
In an interview in August 2013, Young made history as the first professional wrestler to ever publicly come out while still signed to a major promotion. Young came out as gay and was met with acceptance and encouragement from the WWE as well as several fellow wrestlers who tweeted their support.
Although Young was not sure how the news about him being an openly gay wrestler would be received, he was relieved at the amount of support he actually received. Young recounts an interaction with fellow wrestler CM Punk: “Hey, man, I heard your story and I’m very proud of you for being so courageous to make that move to come out. If anyone has a problem with it in the locker room, you let me know, and I’ll take care of it.”
Of Guardians of the Galaxy and The Hobbit fame, actor Lee Pace publicly came out as a gay man in a series of tweets in March of 2018. He was originally accidentally outed by co-star Ian McKellen (another Hobbit star), though Pace never made any comments about his romantic life until 2018.
In an interview with Buzzfeed in 2019, when he was asked about how life has been since he decided to come out publicly, Pace said, “I never felt like I was in [the closet], so I don’t know what to say about it. It didn’t really feel like that much of a change.”
Collin Martin, a star Major League Soccer player, came out as gay in June 2018. When he came out, he was the only active openly gay male professional soccer player. Martin took to Twitter to say, "Today, I'm proud that my entire team and the management of Minnesota United know that I am gay."
A year after his public announcement, Martin looked back at the changes in his life since his coming out. He told mlssoccer.com, “I’m definitely glad I did it. And I’ve been saying, like, I didn’t do it for myself, necessarily—Just for me to be open and honest and obviously then be, hopefully, an example for some kids that are looking up to me.”
You might know her as an actor, producer, and the first-ever black woman to win an Emmy for writing a comedy series, Waithe is also an outspoken member of the LGBT community. Waithe makes history as a proud "gay black female" and acts as an inspiration to LGBT people of color.
In 2017, Waithe in an article for Bustle magazine said (of being gay), “Don’t worry about making society feel comfortable. It’s OK if they squirm, it’s OK if they feel that they don’t understand you. You gotta live your life out loud. That’s when you’ll find happiness and yourself.”
