9 celebrities who ‘came out’ as straight

The strict heteronormativity our whole society lives under usually means that everyone is automatically assumed to be straight and cisgender.

In fact, this applies so strictly that often women celebs can literally hold hands, kiss on the lips, go on dates and have sex, and the media will still portray them as “just friends,” or worse – gal pals.

However sometimes the rule works in reverse, and celebrities, especially male actors who’ve played gay characters, have been assumed to be gay until they publicly say otherwise.

Some have handled this better than others…

1. Darren Criss

Criss is most famous for his role as Blaine Anderson, the boyfriend of Kurt Hummel in Fox’s Glee! For a long time, Criss avoided questions about his sexuality, saying “It doesn’t matter if I’m gay or straight.”

However, in a 2011 interview with Out magazine, he said “I think it’s more empowering to everybody, including myself, if I’m articulate about identifying myself as a straight male playing a gay character.”

This year he opened up about having to kiss a random man in the audience every night when performing on Broadway.

2. Jack Falahee

Falahee, who plays the openly gay character Connor Walsh in the ABC drama How To Get Away With Murder, purposely avoided questions about his sexuality for a long time. He said this was because he wanted to “dismantle the closet.”

However after Trump’s election he “came out” as straight, saying that he felt he could be better to the LGBT+ community if he acted as an ally. He said being able to help LGBT fans is a “blessing.”

3. Eric Stonestreet

Stonestreet plays half of the beloved gay couple in Modern Family, Mitchell and Cameron Tucker. Although he says he loves playing Cameron, Stonestreet says “I kind of always felt like I had to dig myself out of a bit of a hole and let girls know that I’m actually straight.”

Jesse Tyler Ferguson, who plays his husband on the show, is openly gay, and in 2012 started a nonprofit to raise funds in support of same-sex marriage.