How 10 LGBT celebrities came out: Miley Cyrus, Lil Nas X, Kristen Stewart, Sam Smith and more A-listers who only revealed their identity after fame

Nov 20 , 2020

Jameela Jamil, Lil Nas X and Kristen Stewart have emotional coming out stories that have inspired people all over the world. Photos: Bang Showbiz

As November traditionally hosts Hong Kong’s Pride month – rather than June’s global celebrations – let’s take a moment to look at some of the celebrities who have identified as LGBTQ+ over the years, and their coming out journeys that continue to inspire people across the world.

Tessa Thompson

The Creed star revealed in 2018 that she is attracted to both men and women, but prefers not to use labels. She said in an interview with Net-a-Porter: “I can take things for granted because of my family. It’s so free, and you can be anything that 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.”

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Cara Delevingne

The model insisted that her “sexuality is not a phase” in 2015 when she was in a relationship with musician St. Vincent. She said to Glamour: “Once I spoke about my sexual fluidity, people were like, ‘So you’re gay.’ And I’m like, ‘No, I’m not gay.’” Delevingne now identifies as pansexual despite previously referring to herself as bisexual, saying to Variety: “I fall in love with the person – and that’s that. I’m attracted to the person.”

Kristen Stewart

The Twilight star opened up about her sexuality during the opening monologue of Saturday Night Live in 2017. Referring to a tweet from President Donald Trump that encouraged her then-boyfriend to dump her, she quipped: “If you didn’t like me then you probably won’t like me now as I’m so gay, dude.”

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Lil Nas X

The Old Town Road hitmaker came out as gay on the last day of Pride month last year, June 2019, by posting to his Twitter asking his fans to pay close attention to his lyrics from Clo7ure. He sings:

Ain’t no more actin’, man that forecast say I should just let me grow No more red light for me baby, only green, I gotta go Pack my past up in the back, oh, let my future take ahold This is what I gotta do, can’t be regrettin’ when I’m old

Lil Nas X, Clo7ure

Miley Cyrus

The Midnight Sky singer opened up about her sexuality in 2015, revealing she was pansexual. She said to Elle: “I’m very open about it – I’m pansexual … I’m going on dates, but I change my style every two weeks, let alone who I’m with.” Cyrus later married ex-husband Liam Hemsworth before dating Kaitlynn Carter.

Sarah Paulson

The Ratched star apparently accidentally outed herself in 2005 when she kissed her then-girlfriend Cherry Jones at the Tony Awards. She explained to No Tofu: “She won a Tony Award, I kissed her, and all of a sudden I was outed. I didn’t really think about it in that way at the time. I was just doing what one would do when a person they love has just won a big fat acting prize.” Sarah has been in a relationship with actress Holland Taylor since 2015.

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Jameela Jamil

The Good Place actress came out as queer after receiving backlash for being a judge on voguing reality web series Legendary. She explained on Twitter, “I know that my being queer doesn’t qualify me as ballroom [the performance subculture that originated from African-American and Latino LGBTQ+ communities].” In a Variety Live interview on Instagram, she also said, “I didn’t tell anyone about it until a couple of years ago, so I just kept it quiet ‘cause I [have] a South Asian background.”

Sam Smith

The Promises hitmaker revealed they are genderqueer, later saying that they use the pronouns they/them instead of he/him. They told Jameela Jamil on her Instagram interview series I Weigh Interviews: “I am not male or female. I float somewhere in between.” On their own Instagram account, they also posted: “After a lifetime of being at war with my gender, I've decided to embrace myself for who I am, inside and out.”

Ellen Page

The Juno star came out while giving a powerful speech at a Las Vegas conference about the Human Rights Campaign to support LGBTQ+ youth. She said: “I’m here today because I am gay. 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.”

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Cynthia Nixon

The Sex and the City star was in a relationship with Danny Mozes from 1988 to 2003 before she came out as bisexual. She first mentioned her sexuality in 2007 to The Telegraph, saying: “I’d been with men all my life, and I’d never fallen in love with a woman. But when I did, it didn’t seem so strange. I’m just a woman in love with another woman.” She was dating activist Christine Marinoni at the time, and the two are now married. The couple were subject to plenty of rumours, and were eventually advised to confirm them by Nixon’s publicist, who was also gay. Nixon remarked in 2010 to The Advocate: “I was like, ‘Really, we can just confirm?’ So that’s just what we did. It was so fantastic.”

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Fame and celebrity

Twilight star Kristen Stewart came out after Donald Trump made a derisive tweet about her, while American Horror Show star Sarah Paulson accidentally outed herself by kissing her then-girlfriend when she won a Tony Award