They're Here. They're Queer.
In celebration of National Coming Out Day, here's a list of some of the celebrities who've shared their sexual and/or gender identities publicly in 2022.
Aunjanue Ellis
The Oscar-nominated actor said she had been out as bisexual to friends and colleagues but was shocked when no one asked her about wearing the word "queer" on her Dolce & Gabanna suit at the 2022 Essence Black Women in Hollywood Awards.
"I was thinking, 'Why didn't more people pay attention to that?' And I was like, 'They probably thought it said 'Queen,'" Ellis told Variety earlier this month. "It wasn't that I was expecting any sort of major reaction or anything like that. One of my family members noticed, but nobody else did."
Willow Pill
"It's taken me a long time to come to terms with my transness because so much space has been taken up by my illness. My condition has caused me so much physical and emotional pain that my body became something I always wanted out of," the Drag Race season 14 contestant wrote on Twitter. Willow Pill has cystinosis, which is a disease that can cause issues with various vital bodily functions including her muscles.
"During quarantine, I started to explore my feelings about my illness and unpacked a lot of medical PTSD and self-hatred," Willow Pill wrote. "But only in the last year have I really started to realize that I'm not happy with my gender identity either. Much of that is due to being on Drag Race and feeling euphoria being Willow for the first time since quarantine and being around a bunch of queer and trans friends on set."
Sawyer Fredericks
In February, Sawyer Fredericks, winner of season 8 of The Voice came out on Instagram.
"Hey everyone. it is time for my #Truthfultuesday," his post began. "Since I have not publicly said this in a post, I wanted [to] say that I am Bisexual."
The singer went on to explain how he came to this realization as he got older and understood that sexuality extends beyond the binary of straight or gay.
"When I was younger I thought I was straight, because I was more attracted to women, and I didn't know there were more options besides Gay and Straight. So I just assumed I was Straight," he said.
Jasmine Kennedie
On an episode of Untucked in February, the Drag Race season 14 contestant shared her trans experience.
"I definitely feel like I am trans," Jasmine Kennedie said. "I've been so scared to say it. I have held back from it for so long because I didn't want to hurt my dad but I can't lie about it anymore. I am trans."
Rebel Wilson
Rebel Wilson came out this month in an Instagram post, introducing her world to her girlfriend, Ramona Agruma.
"I thought I was searching for a Disney Prince," she captioned the sweet pic, alongside a rainbow emoji and the hashtag #LoveIsLove. "But maybe what I really needed all this time was a Disney Princess."
Shortly after Wilson came out, news broke that she did so because The Sydney Morning Herald had planned to run a piece about the relationship.
Jerrod Carmichael
On his comedy show on HBO Max in April, comedian and actor Jerrod Carmichael came out.
While discussing catching his father cheating on his mother, Carmichael told the crowd, "After that was out in the open, I was left alone feeling like a liar because I had a secret."
"One that I kept from my father, my mother, my family, my friends, and you. Professionally, personally. And the secret is that I'm gay." he said. "I'm accepting the love, I really appreciate the love. My ego wants to rebel against it. I rebelled against it my whole life. I thought I'd never, ever come out. At many points I thought I'd rather die than confront the truth of that, to actually say it to people. Because I know it changes some people's perceptions of me. I can't control that."
Ava Phillipe
"I'm attracted to...people!" Phillippe wrote in a Q&A on her Instagram account. "Gender is whatever."
Philippe is the daughter of actors Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe.
Bosco
Drag performer and RuPaul's Drag Race season 14 contestant, Bosco, came out as trans back in February. In a tweet, she told followers that she had started hormone therapy after filming of Drag Race wrapped up the previous summer.
"I'm now in a place where I'm surrounded by love and support," she wrote. "Love from my heaven sent boyfriend, stunning peers, and incredible friends. I'm not quite where I want to be yet, but I'm starting to see her [peek] through more and more."
John Cameron Mitchell
The Hedwig and the Angry Inch co-creator and Joe vs. Carole actor came out as nonbinary in March.
In an interview with PRIDE, Mitchell said, "Lately I've been getting a little bit of flack from some people saying only trans people can play that role because it's a trans role."
He added, "I'm not trans, I'm non-binary, but that's a slippery slope because the character is forced into an operation and is not really trans."
Jessica Phillips
Broadway vet and star of the musical Dear Evan HansenJessica Phillips spoke with People earlier this year about her experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, including discovering her queer identity.
"When the pandemic hit, I was at the peak of all this self-discovery and exploration," Phillips, who had previously identified as a straight cisgender woman, told the magazine. She now identifies as queer.
"It wasn't about changing identities, rather expanding my identity," she said.
Emeli Sandé
U.K. artist and "Next to Me" singer-songwriter Emeli Sande revealed in March that she was in a relationship with another woman.
"I never intended to do a big coming-out reveal or anything like that, but with the video [for "There Isn't Much"], it felt like a natural way to do it -- especially with this song [with] me falling in love with a woman," Sande told The Advocate shortly after coming out. "I love being able to put out new music. I love the response from it. But then being able to come home and have somebody that truly loves and supports me, it just makes it 1,000 times better."
Peach PRC
"Since this song has been blowing up, I guess now is a good time to tell you all. I'm a lesbian," the musician and TikTok creator said in a January video where she spoke about her song "God Is a Freak."
Janelle Monáe
While on the set of Red Table Talk, Grammy-nominated Janelle Monae said they identified as nonbinary.
"I'm nonbinary, so I just don't see myself as a woman, solely. I feel all of my energy," the pansexual star said. "I feel like God is so much bigger than the 'he' or the 'she.' And if I am from God, I am everything. I am everything. But I will always, always stand with women. I will always stand with Black women. But I just see everything that I am. Beyond the binary."
Trinity the Tuck
Trinity The Tuck wrote in an Instagram post in March that she identified as trans and nonbinary.
"Years ago after starting drag I seriously questioned how I identified with my gender," the Drag Race season 9 finalist and All Stars 4 co-winner wrote. "That's why I altered my body starting at the age of 21 to look more feminine and also started hormone therapy for a short period."
Trinity added, "I stopped because I personally don't know that I would be comfortable living as female with the way I'd physically look. Everyone has their own journey I suppose. I've spoken with many of my friends who are trans to get their thoughts and insight over the years. I still don't know where my journey will take me, but I am trans-NB. I wanted to share my feelings in hopes that others who felt like me would know they aren't alone. Sending out love! I hope it finds you."
Rae Williams
In an April reunion special for the Netflix reality dating show The Ultimatum, Williams came out as bisexual.
"I have been with one person...she's amazing. I had a really good connection with her but we kept it casual and I'm kind of figuring out myself and my sexuality, because I was very uncomfortable with being bi for a very long time," she said.
Soloman Bates
The 25-year-old pitcher, who had played for the Richmond Flying Squirrels of the San Francisco Giants Double-A minor league team before his recent release, told The Advocate he made the announcement to show that gay men have a place in the sport.
"I do feel as if we need more people that are gay to come out but just on their own time and if they have the strength," Bates tells The Advocate. "It took me a long while of back and forth and going through a lot of things to finally love myself to do what I did. I came out because to me it just felt like the right time. I know who I am as a person and what I wanted to do was bigger than me."
(Image via @solomanbates)
Sanjaya
Sanjaya Malakar, who was a finalist on the 2007 season of American Idol, came out as bisexual.
The singer, usually known by the single name Sanjaya, came out on an episode of The Adam Sank Show, an LGBTQ-oriented podcast. The episode was released Monday.
"I identify as bisexual," he told Sank. He said he had a long-term girlfriend at the time of his Idol appearance, so he declined to define his sexuality then, although he was the subject of rumors that he was gay.
"I grew up in a time when being called 'faggot' in school was the worst thing that could ever happen to you," noted Sanjaya, who's now 32.
(Image via @sjmalakar)
Selling Sunset star Chrishell Stause is no stranger to romantic drama. The third season saw the end of her marriage to This Is Us actor Justin Hartley (via text message). In the fifth season, Stause had begun dating her friend and boss Jason Oppenheim, although the two split shortly after the season wrapped filming. That was just in time for the actor turned real estate agent to announce that she has a new love in her life, Australian nonbinary musician G Flip.
The admission came during the Selling Sunset reunion as host Tan France pushed Stause on who she's dating now. "I recently have been spending a lot of time with someone that's very important to me. Their name is G Flip. They're nonbinary, so they go by they/them," Stause said. "And they are an extremely talented musician."
At the time she joked with her followers on Instagram, "Okay, closet update, guys. Look at this. We've got all the marble on there now, we've got the rose quartz -- so pretty, do you see that? -- I don't know if you can see that."
"So, yeah, it's coming along," she said, before adding, "Okay! I'm gonna come out of it now."
(Image via @chrishell.stause)
Jena Malone
Actress Jena Malone, known for indie films as well as blockbusters like the Hunger Games series, has come out as pansexual.
Malone, 37, came out in a recent Instagram post with a dance video, saying, "I guess It felt like I was a heterosexual man in a woman's body. I visualized his desires and placed them on to me." That, however, "was never the whole of the story that was meant for me," she continued. "So I've been learning a new way to tell it. Using words to guide me not define me. That my sexual identity has more to teach and to tell me. Finding words that feel more right to explore in my telling. Pansexuality. Sapiosexuality. Polyamory. A fuller spectrum of understanding that my story is demanding of me. And I'm honoring it today with this soft and sleepy little stretch of a dance. I love humans."
(Image via @jenamalone)
Maybelle Blair
Maybelle "Mae" Blair, 95, recently came out publicly for the first time during the Tribeca Festival premiere of the Amazon Studios series A League of Their Own. She was a member of the All American Girls Professional Baseball League that the 1992 film and the new series are based on.
At a panel discussion, Blair -- also known as "All The Way Mae" -- said she was happy to see players not having to hide their sexual orientation any longer and the acceptance found in the sport.
"I think it's a great opportunity for these young girl ball players to come [to] realize that they're not alone, and you don't have to hide," Blair shared. "I hid for 75, 85 years and this is actually basically the first time I've ever come out."
