There’s a reason people have been calling 2018 as #20GayTeen: this year has been filled with many coming out stories.
From actors to musicians, plenty of stars mustered up the courage and came out as gay, bisexual, pansexual, and more. What’s gayer then living your truth with your head held high right? As the year draws to a close, we celebrate these individuals who publicly joined the LGBTQ community.
1. Tessa Thompson
- Profession: Actress
- You know her from: “Thor: Ragnarok”, “Annihilation”, “Creed”
- Came out as: Bisexual
- Rumoured to be dating Janelle Monae
- What she said: “(In my family) you can be anything 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.”
2. Janelle Monae
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bkf3dv0h3xz/
- Profession: Actress, Singer
- You know her from: “Hidden Figures”, “Moonlight”, or albums “The Electric Lady” (2013), “Dirty Computer” (2018)
- Came out as: Pansexual
- Rumoured to be dating Tessa Thompson
- What she said: “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.” (She once thought she was bisexual.)
3. Kevin McHale
- Profession: Actor
- You know him from: “Glee”
- Came out as: Pansexual
- Dating Austin McKenzie
- What he said: Kevin McHale made the decision not come out during his stint on “Glee” in order to protect his beau’s privacy (whose family weren’t aware yet).
4. Joey Pollari
https://www.instagram.com/p/BgRRHh_HXSM/
- Profession: Actor
- You know him from: “Love, Simon”
- Came out as: Gay
- What he said: “The only part that was difficult was me coming out to myself. And I think that is the most difficult coming out.”
5. Rita Ora
https://www.instagram.com/p/BoRlQsMnCvm/
- Profession: Singer
- You know her from: “Fifty Shades” franchise, or albums “Ora” (2012), “Phoenix” (2018)
- Came out as: Bisexual
- What she said: “‘Girls’ was written to represent my truth and is an accurate account of a very real and honest experience in my life. I have had romantic relationships with women and men throughout my life and this is my personal journey.”
6. Brendon Urie
https://www.instagram.com/p/BAxo2j_NgWg/
- Profession: Singer
- You know him from: Panic at the Disco
- Came out as: Pansexual
- What he said: “I guess you could qualify me as pansexual because I really don’t care. If a person is great, then a person is great. I just like good people, if your heart’s in the right place. I’m definitely attracted to men. It’s just people that I am attracted to.”
7. Jason Mraz
- Profession: Singer
- You know him from: hit singles such as “The Remedy”, “I’m Yours”
- Came out as: Bisexual
- What he said: “I’ve had experiences with men. Even while I was dating the woman who became my wife. It was like, ‘Wow, does that mean I am gay?’ And my wife laid it out for me. She calls it ‘two-spirit’, which is what the Native Americans call someone who can love both man and woman. I really like that.”
8. Amandla Stenberg
- Profession: Actress
- You know her from: “The Hunger Games”, “The Darkest Minds”
- Came out as: Gay
- What she said: “I’m grateful for how being gay has afforded me this ability to experience and understand love and sex, and therefore life, in an expansive and infinite way.”
9. Josie Totah
https://www.instagram.com/p/BqlIwYahuYO/
- Profession: Actress
- You know her from: “Champions”
- Came out as: Transgender
- What she said: “I can only imagine how much more fun it’s going to be to play someone who shares my identity, rather than having to contort myself to play a boy… I’m going to gun for those roles, be it a transgender female or a cisgender female. Because it’s a clean slate—and a new world.”
10. Lucas Hedges
- Profession: Actor
- You know him from: “Lady Bird”, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
- Came out as: Queer
- What he said: “I recognise myself as existing on (a) spectrum: Not totally straight, but also not gay and not necessarily bisexual.”
Honourable mentions of those who came out in 2018:
- Paris Jackson
- 1975’s Matty Healy
- Anne-Marie
- Lee Pace
- Alyson Stoner
- Zander Hodgson
- Max Bemis
- Bex Taylor-Klaus
- Cory Michael Smith
- Kehlani
Were you surprised by any of the famous entertainers’ coming out stories? Let us know in the comments below.
