One thing that's supremely evident with many celebrities who are coming out today is that they don't want to label their sexuality. So in a sense, they're not coming out as gay, they're coming out as not straight. It's cool, why should anybody have to define who they are if that means they're not being true to themselves? There's no use in telling lies just so other people that don't really understand their sexuality can feel more comfortable.
Another trend in coming out as a modern celebrity is for them to say that, in fact, they have never been in the closet. In other words they've never explicitly said that they are or they aren't gay. That's also cool. It's up to the individual and you can appreciate why they would want to keep their private lives private. But you could also argue that coming out brings greater visibility to the LGBT community as a whole. It helps your average Jane McLesbian to be more accepted. So more celebrities should do it.
Anyway, more and more celebrities are coming out as gay or not straight. They usually do it when they want to live an authentic life with their partners or they want to express their views on LGBT civil rights. Good for them. Hiding in the closet can do a lot of damage to a person whether they're in the spotlight or not.
13 Kristin Stewart
It may have come as a surprise to many that the Twilight star would come out. In the past she had only been in relationships with men, as far as we know. But it was her mom that told a British journalist that Kristen is bi and in a relationship with a woman. Kristen cleared this up herself in an interview with Nylon magazine saying, “Google me, I'm not hiding.” This indicates that she does indeed fall somewhere on the spectrum and isn't entirely straight. However, she goes on to say that basically she isn't into defining her sexuality. Kristen was in a relationship with her personal assistant Alicia Cargile at the time.
12 Keke Palmer
She's a Broadway performer and you may have also seen her on the TV show Scream Queens, and she's an absolute babe. Keke Palmer came out in 2015 via a music video for her song “I Don't Belong To You”. In the video, you see her leaving the bed of a man and later visiting a woman in a fur coat and lingerie. In an interview with People magazine she said "The video was to represent the young woman today — it's not the traditional woman anymore — and not the specifics of 'Am I gay? Am I straight? Am I bi? I'm making the rules for myself, and I don't have to be stuck down to one label." So... Can somebody give her my number please?
11 Reid Ewing
Reid is known for his role as the dopey boyfriend of Haley Dunphy in the hit show Modern Family. He came out last year via a tweet about a Good Morning America segment on body dysmorphia, a condition that he himself has suffered from. His tweet reads, “Saw Eugene Bate on @GMA in the Body Dysmorphia segment connected to my article and I just want to say he is hot af.” One of his fans thus asked him if he had outed himself to which Reid replied, “I was never in.”
10 Iceman
OK, so he isn't really a celebrity in the strictest sense. He isn't really a real person. But many X-Men fans will be happy to know that Iceman or Bobby Drake came out as gay last year. The revelation was brought to light in a series of comics called All-New X-Men which featured the superheroes as teenagers and displaced in time. In the series Bobby Drake came to terms with his sexuality. And in a later series, Uncanny X-Men, the teenage Bobby confronted the older Bobby who was still in the closet. It's pretty cool to see gay characters in all types of media!
9 Holland Taylor
You will have definitely seen 73-year-old actress Holland Taylor in something over the years, whether that's in TV shows like The L Word or Two And A Half Men, or movies such as The Truman Show. As a veteran actor she has appeared in so much. But it was in 2015 that she finally spoke openly about her sexuality. In a radio show she said that she's currently in a relationship with a woman and most of her past relationships have been with women. But she refused to say that she was coming out because she said, “I haven't come out because I am out. I live out.” Holland is currently in a relationship with 41-year-old American Horror Story actress Sarah Paulson. They're pretty adorable. They made their first appearance together on the red carpet at the Critic's Choice Awards.
8 Jussie Smollett
32-year-old actor Jussie Smollett plays a gay character, Jamal Lyon, on the hit drama Empire. It turns out that he's not so different from his character, as he came out to Ellen DeGeneres last year. They filmed a video after the talk show on which he featured so that Jussie could clear up the fact that he has never been in the closet but so that he could also say publicly that he's gay. In the conversation with Ellen he emphasizes the fact that she is the person he wanted to share this with because she has been such a trailblazer for the LGBT community. It's a very sweet moment. Watch it here.
7 Lily- Rose Depp
Lily-Rose is the 16-year-old daughter of superstar actor Johnny Depp and French singer Vanessa Paradis. She came out in an Instagram post in August 2015 as “somewhere on the vast spectrum.” The post was part of the Self Evident Truth project, which photographs individuals that don't identify as 100% straight. Her father has since commented on the revelation saying that he supports her and that he already knew because they have such a close relationship.
6 Miley Cyrus
The 23-year-old pop singer has obviously changed a lot since her Hannah Montana days. She has come into her own and created a new image for herself that's very different from that of a Disney tween. Miley gave hints about her sexuality early last year stating that not all of her relationships have been entirely straight. Later she told Elle UK that she identifies as pansexual (which means she's happy to date people regardless of their gender, biological sex or gender identity). She also explains further in an interview with Paper Magazine stating, “I don't relate to being boy or girl, and I don't have to have my partner relate to boy or girl.” That's a very evolved way of being and it's awesome that Miley has been so open about herself. Miley is an advocate for LGBT people and has created her own organization supporting LGBT youth. None of this is changed by the fact that she's now dating Liam Hemsworth again.
5 Patricia Valasquez
Patricia is considered to be the world's first Latin American supermodel. And boy is she beautiful! She's walked in shows for huge fashion houses such as Dolce & Gabbana, Chanel and Victoria's Secret. She came out as a lesbian in her memoir Straight Walk, in which she talks about the burden she carried on her shoulders and how her family were supportive when she came out to them. She has since received lots of support and is truly happy to be the world's first openly lesbian Latina supermodel.
4 Jess Glynne
Jess Glynne broke into the industry in late 2013. You'll probably know her hit single “Rather Be” on which she featured with Clean Bandit. She released her debut album last year entitled “I Cry When I Laugh”. She has publicly said that this album was based on a breakup with a past girlfriend. However, like many others she refuses to define herself as anything in particular. In an interview she said that she wants her music to be honest and by no means did she want to hide the back story of the album and “I’m never going to put a label on my sexuality and people should never feel uncomfortable about who they love.”
3 Keegan Hirst
It can be really difficult for male sports players to come out and not many do it. But Keegan Hirst became the first ever British Rugby League player to come out as gay in August 2015. Keegan was married to a woman but their marriage broke down. In an interview he spoke about how his remaining in the closet negatively affected him and his wife. He found it difficult to come out as you would imagine. “At first I couldn’t even say ‘I’m gay’ in my head, let alone out loud,” he said. “Now I feel like I’m letting out a long breath that I’ve held in for a long time.”
2 Jill Soloway
If you haven't watched the Amazon Instant series Transparent then you really need to! It's smart, and funny and one of the most LGBT-friendly TV shows ever. Jill Soloway is its creator, she based the story on her own family experiences. It was always clear that she was a supporter of the LGBT community. But in 2015 she fell in love with a woman, poet Eileen Myles. She and husband Bruce Gilbert split amicably.
1 Caitlyn Jenner
Jenner's is certainly the coming out story of the year. After much speculation, Caitlyn told her story in an intimate interview with Diane Sawyer and came out as a transgender woman. And she showed us her true self when she posed for the cover of Vanity Fair. Caitlyn has received lots of support and praise for bringing trans issues to the attention of the public, especially in her reality show I Am Cait which documented the early stages after her transition. There are still some who feel that Caitlyn Jenner isn't a good representation of the trans community as a whole. But most still find her inspirational.
Sources: advocate.com, billboard.com, gaystarnews.com, dailymail.co.uk
