Rick Cosnett
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Actor Rick Cosnett, 36, has appeared in Quantico and The Vampire Diaries but is best known for playing Detective Eddie Thawne on CW’s The Flash. Cosnett came out in February via an Instagram posting. “Hi everyone. Dramatic pause. I’m gay,” he said. “I just wanted everyone to know because I’ve made a promise to myself to live my truth every day and sometimes that is a really hard thing to do when you have all these subconscious things that you don’t even know about from childhood and society and from just life.”
Nikkie de Jager
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Nikkie de Jager, 26, who is better known by the name of her YouTube channel, NikkieTutorials, came out as trans in mid-January. She has amassed 12.5 million subscribers since she began posting YouTube makeup videos as a teen, and previous to her announcement in mid-January, most assumed she was a cis woman. She said she felt forced to make the video as she was being threatened by others to out her.
Jameela Jamil
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Actress Jameela Jamil (The Good Place) came out as queer in February, after she received criticism for being announced as a judge of HBO Max’s new ballroom reality TV contest, Legendary. In response, Jamil, 34, said that although she was not a ballroom expert, she does identify as a member of the LGBTQ community, even if coming out was hard for many people in the South Asian community. “This is absolutely not how I wanted it to come out,” she said at the time.
Phillip Schofield
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One of the most recognizable faces on British TV, primetime presenter Phillip Schofield, 57, came out as gay on a live TV broadcast. The announcement was a surprise to many watching as Schofield, 57, has been married to a woman for the past 27 years.
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Aaron Schock
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Former GOP Congressman(2009-2015) Aaron Schock officially came out as gay in March. It was possibly the least surprising, but most controversial coming-out announcement of the year, given Schock’s past record of voting against LGBTQ rights whilst in office.
“I am gay,” he began his posting. “For those who know me and for many who only know of me, this will come as no surprise.”
Jacqueline Wilson
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After JK Rowling, the UK’s best-known children’s author is probably Jacqueline Wilson. She has written over 100 books, including the Tracey Beaker series. The 74-year-old publicly came out via an interview in The Guardian in April, revealing she’d been with her partner, Trish, for the past 18 years. Her new novel is a gay love story called Love Frankie.
Taylor Schilling
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Best known for playing bisexual character Piper Chapman in Netflix’s prison dramedy Orange Is The New Black, actress Taylor Schilling revealed that she is in a relationship with the visual artist Emily Ritz via an Instagram posting in June. When previously asked about her sexuality, Schilling has avoided applying any label to herself. Ritz posted an image of her and Schilling embracing, with a caption reading, “I couldn’t be more proud to be by your side @tayjschilling. Happy Pride!” Schilling re-shared the post to her own Instagram stories and added a string of heart emojis.
Da Brat
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Rapper and radio personality Da Brat came out via a video she posted to Instagram in March, in which she introduced fans and followers to her girlfriend, Kaleidoscope Hair Products CEO Jesseca Dupart.
“I’ve always been a kind of private person until I met my heart’s match who handles some things differently than I do,” Da Brat, 46, said in a video in which she revealed the Bentley her girlfriend had given her for her birthday. “I have never experienced this feeling. It’s so overwhelming that often I find myself in a daze.”
J. August Richards
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Actor J. August Richards, 46, revealed that he is gay via an Instagram live video in April. Richards starred in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer spinoff, Angel, and more recently played the role of Mike Peterson in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. This year, he appeared on NBC show, Council of Dads. He plays Dr. Oliver Prost, who is married to another man. When he took on the role, he let fellow cast and crew members know he was gay, saying, “I knew that I could not portray this gay man honestly without letting you all know that I am a gay man myself.”
Lili Reinhart
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Actress Lili Reinhart, 23, perhaps best known for playing Betty Cooper on Riverdale, came out as bisexual on an Instagram posting in early June. Promoting an LGBTQ-affiliated Black Lives Matter event taking place in West Hollywood, Reinhart added a message saying, “Although I’ve never announced it publicly before, I am a proud bisexual woman. And I will be joining this protest today. Come join.”
Raymix
Mexican singer and DJ Raymix came out as gay in June via a video posted to YouTube. To his 1.8million subscribers, he said, “Can you believe that in 2020, there are people in the industry who told me not to do this video? That I should stay quiet and pretend to be the person I am not because I wouldn’t be successful … They told me that the audience is not ready for an artist who sings cumbia or regional Mexican music [to come out as gay]. With so much pride today, I want to tell you that I’m gay.”
Justice Smith
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Actor Justice Smith, best known for his roles in the TV show The Get Down and movies Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and Pokémon Detective Pikachu, revealed he is queer and dating fellow actor, Nicholas Ashe, via an Instagram posting in June.
Ashe melted hearts in early August when he posted a romantic, heartwarming 25th birthday message to Smith: “Justice— you have been the author of all my recent smiles. you make me feel safe. seen. heard. inspired. admired. returning the favor has been my favorite adventure.”
Nikki Blonsky
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Actress Nikki Blonsky, who played the lead role of Tracey Turnblad in the 2007 musical movie version of Hairspray, came out as gay in June via a Tik Tok video. Dancing in her yard to Diana Ross’ iconic track, ‘I’m Coming Out’, the video was accompanied by a caption reading, “Hi, it’s Nikki Blonsky from the movie I’m Gay!,” along with the hashtag #imcomingout.
Ben Aldridge
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Actor Ben Aldridge came out to mark Pride season. The thespian has appeared in several British TV shows but is best known internationally for a recurring role on the hit comedy, Fleabag. In an Instagram posting, the 34-year-old said, “The journey to pride was a long one for me. I love the LGBTQ+ community and am incredibly proud and thankful to be a part of it.”
Avery Wilson
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Singer Avery Wilson came out as bisexual in July. Wilson rose to prominence in the 2012 season of The Voice, when he was aged just 16. Wilson didn’t win but made a big enough impression to be later signed by RCA. Originally from Hamden, Connecticut, he took to Twitter with mark his 25th birthday on July, 18th. Posting about his sexuality, he simply said: “I’m bisexual. Ok bye 👋🏾”
Darin
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Although lesser known in the U.S., singer Darin Zanyar – known simply by his first name – is a big star in his native Sweden. The 33-year-old came out as gay via an Instagram posting at the beginning of August, saying, “Everyone in the world should be able to be proud and accepted for who they are. I know how difficult it can be. Took me a while, but I am proud to be gay. Happy pride!”
Kae Tempest
British spoken word poet, rapper and playwright Kae Tempest announced they were non-binary and adopting they/them pronouns via an Instagram posting in August. In a 2019 interview with Notion, they said their song ‘Firesmoke’, nominated for the prestigious Ivor Novello award in the UK this year for Best Contemporary Song, “a beautiful articulation of queer love.”
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Nice list, thank you! Though, I really would’ve liked Nicholas Petricca to have made it as well, as he did it so elaborately.
Nicholas Petricca, who’s the lead singer of the rock band Walk The Moon, came out as bisexual in an Instagram post at the end of June/beginning of July.
Kangol2
One of these people (Schock) is not like the others. He actively harmed LGBTQ people, while benefitting from the very activism he and his party love to attack and denounce. GAG!
Anyways, I’m very happy for and cheer all public figures and regular people who feel comfortable enough coming out and being their authentic selves, especially J. August Richards!
Joshua333
I literally forgot half of these people came out this year, it feels like years have passed in nearly 8 months.
laurent7465
Ummm, hold please. We’re awaiting on word from the Officials. Okay, the decision is here and the Committee, by unanimous decision, has rejected Aaron Schock as a member of the LGBTQ Community. He must pass Go and go directly to hell.
curiobi
;D Brilliant
Alex_S
Aaron Schock is gorgeous. Oh well…
Calin
Yee, I’m older, I know who Dabrat is, Mariah’s friend, but everyone else have no idea!!
NickW
Why are you glamorizing Aaron Schock? He’s a bigot who actively harmed our community, and you’re choosing to post a thirst-trap? Why, David?
Cam
Good for them, welcome!
Jared MacBride
Pedro Alboran was a bigger “coming out” than all of these put together.
nm4047
Who, who & who, ‘celebrity’ seems to be a word like Hero, used far too often.
bgeorge59
Aaron Shock do you have a job???? Queerty quit posting pics of this idiot who did everything possible to hurt LGBTQ community.