It’s usually a pretty big deal coming out as a regular person in your own life, but add an extra layer of fame and most of us can’t imagine what that would be like. These 20 were among the thousands that made to leap to be truthful in their lives these last 12 months. Not knowing their own stories from the inside, we have to drop the judgement and applaud anyone who says, “This is who I am.” Bravo! Brava!
Nyle DiMarco
Winner of America’s Next Top Model shared he was “sexually fluid” on Twitter. He is also deaf and has legions of fans of multiple genders.
Mason Darrow
A member of Princeton‘s team, Darrow came out to his teammates a few years ago. To the rest of the world more recently in Outsports.
“Telling my teammates was the best decision I have ever made.”
Israel Gutierrez
In September, the ESPN commentator came out as gay and two weeks later, he and fiance David Kitchen got married.
“The only way to truly understand [what we go through] is to live in our shoes, which is impossible. Short of that, sharing our experiences is the best way to potentially break through and help people understand.”
Jussie Smollett
Smollett plays the gay son Jamal Lyon on Empire, which led to some questions about whether he was gay himself. When Ellen DeGeneres asked him, he answered, yep.
“There’s never been a closet that I’ve been in.”
Gus Kenworthy
A freestyle skier who won a silver medal in Sochi, Kenworthy was part of an historic U.S. sweep of the first Olympic ski slopestyle contest. The extreme skier came out in an interview in ESPN:
“I’ve gotten to the point where the pain of holding onto the lie is greater than the fear of letting go, and I’m very proud to finally be letting my guard down.”
Joel Grey
Though out to friends and family for years, the 82-year-old Broadway legend came out in a January interview with People. He confided he’d had trouble accepting himself, citing conversations he’d overhear between his parents:
“[They’d talk] derisively about ’fairies’ and men being dragged off to jail, and even worse, for being who they were.”
Aaron & Austin Rhodes
These twin brothers were a hit on YouTube but their reach extended when they came out to their father on video — who assured them his love for them will never change.
Ingrid Nilsen
Nilsen has millions of YouTube followers too. They tune in for her beauty tips and in June she came out as gay. How else? In a YouTube video.
Miley Cyrus
Cyrus founded the Happy Hippie Foundation to rally young people to fight for homeless and LGBT youth, danced with RPDR queens at the 2015 VMAs and in August, came out as pansexual.
“I’m very open about it. But I’m not in a relationship. I’m 22, I’m going on dates but I change my style every two weeks, let alone who I’m with.”
Keegan Hirst
Hirst also came out as the first openly gay British rugby player in August. The father of two admitted that his biggest stumbling block was a deeply-embedded cultural denial:
“Society dictates that when you’re a 16-year-old lad you have a girlfriend, you sleep with her and that’s how it is… I convinced myself, no way could I be gay, it was inconceivable.”
Michael Angelakos
Passion Pit‘s lead singer came out in November and admitted that his sexuality was a factor in his recent divorce:
“It’s always been about putting it off in my head. Not consciously… I just wanted so badly to be straight, because I love her so much.”
Reid Ewing
Ewing is best known for playing Dylan, on Modern Family, Ewing made a remark about another man being hot on Twitter. (The context of the tweet was a discussion of body dysmorphia, a disorder from which Ewing has suffered.) When another Twitter user asked,
“Did you also just out yourself?” Ewing replied,
“I was never in.”
Kristen Stewart
This year, a journalist quoted the Stewart’s mom as saying Kristen is bisexual and dating a woman but her mom denied saying it. The journalist said she had it all on tape. The actress herself later said:
“Google me, I’m not hiding.”
But the tabloid media continues to play it (homophobically?) cool about her relationship with “gal pal” Alicia Cargile.
Lily-Rose Depp
The 16-year-old daughter of Johnny Depp and French singer Vanessa Paradis, came out as sexually fluid by posing for a photo series; a caption identified her as falling
“somewhere on the vast spectrum.”
Yusaf Mack
After being discovered in a gay porn movie, he claimed he had been drugged. He later changed his story to say he was bisexual then later coming out as gay.
Adam Rippon
The Silver medalist figure skater opened up about being gay in an interview with Skating magazine.
“When athletes come out and say that they’re gay, it makes it a little more normal and less of a big deal — especially in the athletic community. I want to say something to the dad out there who might be concerned that his son is a figure skater. I mean look at me; I’m just a normal son from small-town Pennsylvania. Nothing changed.”
Randy Thomas
Once an activist with the now-defunct “ex-gay” group Exodus International, Thomas came out in a January blog post as
“gay with some level of bisexual tendencies.”
He has apologized for how the movement has hurt LGBT people and says he knows not all will forgive him.
Holland Taylor
Taylor just disclosed she’s in a relationship with a woman. American Horror Story‘s Sarah Paulson! We thought we couldn’t love either of you ANY more!
Caitlyn Jenner
Her 20/20 with Diane Sawyer was the biggest coming out moment of the year. Possibly EVER. And yes, as visible as she is, even according to her own admission, she has some lessons to learn. I know, if she just wasn’t part of THAT family or a Republican, you could cut her some slack. We can just acknowledge what she did and see how she evolves in 2016.
Happy New Year, everyone! Cheers, queers! (via NewNowNext, The Advocate)
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