13 Notable Personalities Who Came Out This Year
Tomorrow, October 11, is National Coming Out Day, when members of the LGBT community are encouraged to share their truth.
If you're already out, it's a great day to celebrate your escape from the tyranny of the closet. The first Coming Out Day was observed 26 years ago, on the anniversary of the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, as a reminder that being out is the most important tool we have at our disposal.
With that in mind, we decided to look back at notable personalities who have come out since the last Coming Out Day.
13. Thomas Hitzlsperger
Pro Soccer Player
Hitzlsperger, 31, became the highest profile soccer player to come out as gay in January, when he told German magazine Die Zeit, “I’m coming out about my homosexuality because I want to move the discussion about homosexuality among professional sportspeople forwards."
12. Raven-Symoné
Actress, That's So Raven
The former child star seemed to give credence to rumors about her sexuality when, two months after the Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act, she tweeted "I can finally get married." But it wasn't until October 2014 that she shared her truth, telling Oprah Winfrey (and the world) she was happily involved romantically with another woman.
11. Derrick Gordon
NCAA Basketball Player
Gordon, a star college basketball player for UMass, came out in April—making him the first openly gay player in the NCAA’ s Division 1. “I know what it’s like to cry yourself to sleep. To have a girlfriend… just to impress your friends," he said in a heartbreaking interview. "Nobody should have to live like that—that’s a fake way of living and I’m not a fake person.”
Gordon is currently dating actor Gerald McCullouch.
10. Andreja Pejic
Supermodel
Pejic had already graced the cover of Elle and FrenchVogue and walked the runway in both men and women's shows before sharing that she was transgender this summer.
"To all trans youth out there, I would like to say respect yourself and be proud of who you are," she told GLAAD. "To be perceived as what you say you are is a basic human right."
9. Samira Wiley
Actress, Orange is the New Black
Orange is the New Black writer Lauren Morelli made headlines when she revealed that writing for the series made her realize she was a lesbian. She also revealed she was leaving her husband of two years for Samira Wiley, who plays Poussey on the Netflix series.
8. Jay Kelly
Son of R. Kelly
Jay isn't quite a celebrity (yet), but coming out as trans when you're the 13-year-old child of controversial R&B icon R. Kelly makes you a superstar in our book. “Knowing that your a transgender is not a phase," he says. "It’s like once you read about it and know that’s exactly how you feel, there’s no going back. It’s not a choice, it’s just a part of life.”
7. Kristian Nairn
Actor, Game of Thrones
Hodor doesn't get a ton of lines but he's still one of our favorite characters on Game of Thrones. Irish actor Kristian Nairn, who plays the gentle giant, first discussed his sexuality publicly in March, but says he was never closeted: "I’ve never hidden my sexuality from anyone in my whole life. In fact, and I’ve been waiting for someone to ask about it in an interview... I’ve tried to lead the questions a few times, to no avail!"
While his sexuality is just one part of his identity, Nairn admits "it’s important to show the world that we are varied people. You don’t have to be any [set] way. People said that to me, and that’s when I started to realize it’s not a small thing."
6. Ian Thorpe
Olympic swimmer
The Australian swimming legend dodged—and even denied—rumors about his sexuality for years but came clean in an interview with Michael Parkinson in July.
"Yes, I lied about it...Part of me didn't know if Australia wanted its champion to be gay," he confessed. "And, you know, a little bit of ego comes into this. I didn’t want people to question… have I lied about everything?"
5. Tyler Glenn
Lead singer, Neon Trees
“I had my crushes on guys throughout high school, but it was never an overwhelming thing until my twenties,” Glenn told Rolling Stone in March. "Then I’d be dating girls and in love with my straight friend and it was the worst feeling in the world.”
Glenn later tweeted, "Yes, I am a happy and healthy Mormon gay pop star—I don't know what it all means, but I'm ok with it." He is currently involved in a documentary project about gay Mormon youth.
4. Robin Roberts
Anchor, Good Morning America
The veteran newswoman came out via Facebook in December 2013, thanking girlfriend Amber Laign for aiding her recovery after a lifesaving bone-marrow transplant in an end-of-year status update.
Roberts has been with Laign, a massage therapist, for 10 years.
3. Ellen Page
Actress, X-Men: Days of Future Past
Page, who came out on Valentine's Day during a conference for LGBT youth, revealed she struggled with coming out. "I am tired of hiding and I am tired of lying by omission. I suffered for years because I was scared to be out. My spirit suffered, my mental health suffered and my relationships suffered."
Appropriately enough, Page is starring in the upcoming film Freeheld, about a a dying lesbian’s fight to secure a pension for her partner.
2. Sam Smith
Pop singer
With breakout hits like "Not the Only One" and "Stay With Me," Sam Smith had a meteoric rise in 2014. And not only has he been candid about being gay, he's been open about never having been in love and falling for a straight friend.
Not the kind of truths you'd expect from a pop star.
“I’m very comfortable and happy with everything,” he said in a magazine interview in May. “I just wanted to talk about him and have it out there. It’s about a guy and that’s what I wanted people to know—I want to be clear that that’s what it’s about. I’ve been treated as normal as anyone in my life; I’ve had no issues. [Being gay] is as normal as my right arm.
1. Michael Sam
NFL Football Player
Michael Sam could've waited till he was signed to a team, or even retired, before he shared his truth with the world. Instead, by coming out while still a defensive end at the University of Missouri, he put it all on the line. “I understand how big this is. No one has done this before,” he said at the time. “And it’s kind of a nervous process, but I know what I want to be … I want to be a football player in the NFL.”
So when he was chosen by the St. Louis Rams during the 2014 NFL draft, they knew exactly what kind of man they were getting.
Sam was later released by the Rams and is currently part of the Dallas Cowboys practice squad.
