37 celebrities you didn’t know are gay, bisexual or lesbian
Some celebrities come out publicly as LGBTQ+ to big fanfare, but others may have been out for years or may have come out quietly. PinkNews brings you a list of 56 iconic stars who, even if they personally avoid labels, are still LGBTQ+ role models. Take a look through some of the celebrities that you might not know are lesbian , gay or bisexual .
Aubrey Plaza
The White Lotus star Aubrey Plaza came out as bisexual back in 2016.
The actor, who played April Ludgate in Parks and Recreation, has said that she “falls in love with girls and guys”.
Her former Parks and Recreation co-star Natalie Morales came out as queer in July 2017.
Daniel Newman
The Walking Dead star Daniel Newman, who played Daniel in the hit series, came out publicly as gay in an emotional reveal in early 2017.
In a touching YouTube video, he said a chance meeting with a girl at a homeless youth centre he was volunteering at had changed his mind about hiding his sexuality.
The actor, who has also appeared in The Vampire Diaries and Homeland said the girl had thanked him profusely for helping the LGBTQ+ community.
After he had questioned why she was thanking him, she said: “Because you’re straight.” That was the moment he said he knew he had to come out.
Drew Barrymore
The Santa Clarita Diet star came out as bisexual in 2003. She has been married three times, to Jeremy Thomas, Tom Green and Will Kopelman.
She told Contact Music: “Do I like women sexually? Yeah, I do. Totally. I have always considered myself bisexual.”
Nyle DiMarco
America’s Next Top Model star DiMarco came out publicly in 2015, saying he is “sexually fluid”.
The model confirmed to his sexuality to his followers during a Twitter Q&A.
He later said he is glad to be deaf because it means he doesn’t have to listen to Donald Trump.
Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie has spoken publicly about her bisexuality for a long time.
Speaking to Jane magazine, the readers of which said she was the most attractive star, she said: “They’re right to think that about me because I’m the person most likely to sleep with my female fans. I genuinely love other women. And I think they know that.”
Back in 2014, Jolie, then married to Brad Pitt, announced her support for their ten-year-old to self-identify as male.
The former couple were criticised in 2012 after they wed, despite previously promising they would remain unmarried until marriage equality was realised across the US.
Jim Parsons
The Big Bang Theory star Jim Parsons came out publicly as gay in 2012, and later said it was “wonderful” to come out quietly.
During his time on the hit sitcom he was thought to be the highest paid out gay actor in Hollywood.
Parsons married his long-term partner Todd Spiewak in 2017.
Joel Grey
Cabaret star Joel Grey played the Emcee on Broadway and in the classic 1972 film adaptation starring Liza Minnelli.
The actor proved it’s never too late to come out, publicly confirming that he is gay back in 2015 at the age of 82.
In an interview with People magazine, he said: “I don’t like labels, but if you have to put a label on it, I’m a gay man.
“All the people close to me have known for years who I am. [Yet] it took time to embrace that other part of who I always was.”
Cara Delevingne
The Paper Towns actor and model has had high-profile relationships with women.
In July 2017 she said she doesn’t like being “pigeonholed” by people who insist on labelling her gay.
The Suicide Squad star has also been open about her battle with depression, with a view to opening up a dialogue on the subject.
Michael Sam
American footballer Michael Sam came out as gay in 2014 and was the first out gay NFL player to be drafted.
After coming out he had brief spells with the NFL’s St Louis Rams, the Dallas Cowboys, and Canadian Football League’s Montreal Alouettes.
He later said coming out ruined his NFL career, and called out racism in the gay community.
Miley Cyrus
‘Flowers’ singer Miley Cyrus came out publicly as pansexual back in 2015, and later confirmed she is gender-neutral.
The daughter of country star Billy Ray Cyrus first achieved fame as Disney Channel character Hannah Montana, but took a more singular path with her 2013 turning-point album Bangerz.
Mara Wilson
The Matilda star came out publicly back in 2016 in the wake of the Orlando Pulse massacre.
“I *used* to identify as mostly straight. I’ve embraced the Bi/Queer label lately,” said Wilson at the time.
She more recently called for more boring representation of bisexual people in film and television.
Kristian Nairn
Nairn, who played beloved Game of Thrones character Hodor, came out publicly as gay back in 2014.
He said: “Well, in all honesty, when you talk about ‘the gay community,’ you are talking about my community.”
Nairn later said he is happy to fight gay stereotypes: “It’s been everywhere, People, CNN, all the way down to the little local paper in Belfast. I don’t want to be a figurehead or anything, but if I can help one person, I’ll be happy.”
Cynthia Nixon
Sex and the City actor Nixon was in a relationship with teacher Danny Mozes from 1988-2003, with whom she shares one child, who she revealed in 2018 is transgender.
She began dating education activist Christine Marinoni in 2004, with the couple marrying in 2012.
The star caused controversy shortly before her marriage, when she claimed her sexuality was a choice.
While Sex and the City’s Miranda was portrayed as straight during the series’ initial TV run and first two films, the show’s 2021 revival series And Just Like That… saw the character come to a new understanding regarding her sexuality after beginning a romance with non-binary YouTuber Che Diaz (Sara Ramirez).
P!nk
P!nk has spoken openly about relationships with women in the past, saying she had a short-lived relationship with actor Kristanna Loken.
Speaking of the relationship since, the singer said: “People can say what they want, but I have good taste. I mean, look at her”, calling Loken “beautiful”.
Ian Thorpe
Legendary Olympic swimmer Ian Thorpe came out publicly as gay back in 2014 following years of tabloid speculation.
“I’ve wanted to [come out] for some time…” he explained during a TV interview. “I’m comfortable saying I’m a gay man.”
The Australian five-time Olympic gold medallist since spoken at length about about his reasons for not coming out publicly.
Michael Stipe
REM frontman Stipe opened up publicly in the 1990s about having relationships with men, before describing himself as queer in the early noughties.
In 2011, the year the band split, Stipe went on to say he was “80 percent gay”. He later said that he had been reluctant to get tested for HIV in the 1980s, during the height of the AIDS crisis, during the fear around the virus.
Jodie Foster
Jodie Foster came out publicly as gay in a speech at the 2013 Golden Globes, opening up about her partner.
A hilarious clip of Foster dealing with a heteronormative interviewer this year resurfaced and went viral.
The two-time Academy Award winner married Alexandra Hedison in 2014.
Gillian Anderson
As well as helping Kate McKinnon to realise her own sexual orientation, The X-Files star Gillian Anderson has also had relationships with women.
Back in 2014, years after revealing she had relationships with women, the Sex Education actress said she owed it to a late female partner not to keep their relationship a secret.
Cameron Diaz
The Charlie’s Angels star said in 2014: “All women have been sexually attracted to another woman at some point.”
Speaking to Andy Cohen later, Diaz expanded on her comments, saying: “Yes, I have been with a lady…You didn’t ask explicitly how I was with a lady, but I have been with a lady.”
Kristen Stewart
The Twilight star came out publicly back in 2015 and later used an appearance on Saturday Night Live to President Trump’s “obsession” with her, saying “I’m so gay, dude”.
Before coming out, the actress had an on-again-off-again romance with Twilight co-star Robert Pattinson, but they broke up in 2012 amid tabloid rumours of infidelity.
Amandla Stenberg
Bodies Bodies Bodies star Amandla came out publicly as bisexual back in 2016.
On the subject of minorities being “silenced” she said: “As someone who identifies as a black bisexual woman I’ve been through it, and it hurts and it’s awkward and it’s uncomfortable.”
Stenberg made her film debut in 2011 in the film Colombiana before landing the role of Rue in the first The Hunger Games film alongside Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth.
Tom Hardy
Speaking in an interview in 2010, Hardy confirmed that he had been with men as well as women.
“As a boy? Of course I have. I’m an actor for f**k’s sake,” he said.
“I’ve played with everything and everyone. I love the form and the physicality, but now that I’m in my thirties, it doesn’t do it for me.
“I’m done experimenting but there’s plenty of stuff in a relationship with another man, especially gay men, that I need in my life.”
Michelle Rodriguez
The Fast and the Furious actor Michelle Rodriguez came out publicly as bisexual back in 2013, saying she is “too curious not to be”.
Rodriguez got into some hot water when she defended her role in 2016’s controversial action film The Assignment, which saw her play an assassin who undergoes a ‘forced sex change’ at the hands of a crazed doctor, played by Sigourney Weaver.
Zachary Quinto
Star Trek star Zachary Quinto came out publicly as gay in 2011, and has since said he thinks he gets more work since being open about his sexuality.
Quinto, who plays Spock in the rebooted Star Trek films, defended the decision to make Hikaru Sulu gay in 2016’s Star Trek: Beyond, after the character’s original actor George Takei said a new character should be introduced as queer.
Quninto has also said that other actors in the closet have come to him for help.
Charlie Carver
Teen Wolf star Carver came out as gay in a five-page letter published on Instagram back in 2016.
He said that if forced to choose, he would rather quit acting rather than hide his sexuality.
Jonathan Bailey
Jonathan Bailey is best-known for his role as dashing womaniser Anthony Bridgerton in hit Netflix period drama Bridgerton, but the star of Broadchurch and W1A is an out and proud gay man.
After first disclosing his sexuality publicly in 2018, Bailey later told the London Evening Standard: “I’d say I’m not openly gay. I’m just gay.”
The actor continued: “I knew that I wanted to be visible about my sexuality, because in all the territories that Netflix goes out in, there might be a boy somewhere that goes, “Wait, what?” Which is what I didn’t have when I was young.
“All I know is that I’m happy to keep working really hard and if there are opportunities for representation, and to make that point, then that’s something I’ll always strive to do.”
Kate McKinnon
The Ghostbusters star was the first out lesbian member of the Saturday Night Live cast. She says that she realised she was a lesbian after watching Gillian Anderson as Scully on the The X-Files.
“I figured it out by watching The X-Files and by noticing my physiological reaction to it,” she said.
“I thought at first my physiological reaction was a product of David Duchovny’s face but no, it was Gillian Anderson-who still is the queen of my heart. So I knew then.”
Jojo Siwa’s queer journey in the spotlight
JoJo Siwa came out in January 2021 by posting a photo in a ‘BEST. GAY. COUSIN. EVER.’ T-shirt, later saying she was not ready to pin herself to a label. In April 2025 on Celebrity Big Brother UK, she put it plainly, ‘I’m not a lesbian, I’m queer’, reflecting how her understanding has evolved. She confirmed a relationship with English TV personality Chris Hughes in June 2025, and responded to criticism by stressing that love transcends labels.
Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish came out publicly in Variety’s November 2023 cover story, with the “Bad Guy” hitmaker confirming that she is “physically attracted” to women.
The singer later told a Variety red carpet reporter that she doesn’t “believe” in the concept of coming out, stating: “I just don’t really believe in it. I’m just like, ‘Why can’t we just exist?’ I’ve been doing this for a long time, and I just didn’t talk about it. Whoops.
“But I saw the article and I was like, ‘Oh I guess I came out today.’ Okay, cool. It’s exciting to me because I guess people didn’t know. But it’s cool that they know. I am for the girls.”
Sarah Paulson
American Horror Story star Paulson has been out for years and has been in a relationship with actress Holland Taylor since 2015.
Paulson was named alongside Gavin Grimm and RuPaul as one of the most influential LGBTQ+ people by TIME magazine.
Holland Taylor
The veteran actor spoke about her sexuality back in 2015, saying she never needed to come out because she lives out.
She and American Horror Story star Sarah Paulson have since confirmed that they are in a long-term relationship together.
On coming out, she said: “No, I haven’t come out because I am out. I live out.”
Ben Whishaw
London Spy star Ben Whishaw has been out as gay for some time. In 2016, he said he thought that keeping his sexuality a secret had a negative effect on his career.
“I’m not damaged,” Ben Whishaw told the Guardian. “Not more than anybody else.”
The actor, who played Q in four three James Bond films, later said he was “baffled” that there is even a debate around gay actors and whether they should come out.
Raven-Symoné
That’s So Raven star Raven-Symoné came out publicly in 2014, confirming that she was dating a woman. but that she didn’t want to be “labelled gay”.
The actor and presenter later said she was made to hide her sexuality by Disney while managing her image.
Hugh Hefner
The late Playboy mogul was rumoured to have been with men despite his penchant for women at the Playboy mansion, according to the biography Mr Playboy: Hugh Hefner and the American Dream.
“Hefner’s thirst for sexual experience became so strong that he even had a one-time homosexual experience,” wrote author Steven Watts. “One evening in downtown Chicago he was propositioned and, according to [Hefner’s friend Eldon] Sellers, he ‘thought, what the hell’. Found it an interesting experience.”
Amber Heard
The Danish Girl actor Amber Heard has been vocal about her bisexuality for years, saying her marriage to Johnny Depp didn’t define her sexuality.
She later spoke about an “obsession” with bisexuality in Hollywood.
Tabloid newspaper The Sun claimed in a sensational report that Heard’s “bisexual tendencies” and a close friendship with Cara Delevingne led to the breakdown of her marriage with Johnny Depp.
Matt Bomer
The American Horror Story star has been out publicly as gay since 2012. He married his husband Simon Halls in 2011 and the couple have three children.
The Magic Mike star has previously shared his parents’ shocking reaction to finding out he was gay.
Jess Glynne
The ‘Rather Be’ singer came out publicly in 2015, saying she wanted to be honest with her fans.
Glynne later said she didn’t want to put a label on her sexuality and helped a gay couple get engaged.
The chart-topper had previously spoken of how her debut album, 2015’s I Cry When I Laugh, was inspired by breaking up with an ex-girlfriend.
The star later said she doesn’t want her honesty to mean she is branded as straight, lesbian or bisexual – instead, she wants to avoid labels altogether.
