8 Movie Stars Who Came Out as LGBTQ+

This past year was, among other things, a time for a lot of celebrities to come out and express their true identities to the world. It is always an amazing thing when celebrities come out as they can motivate a lot of young and older fans to follow their lead and be proud of who they are.

In case you didn’t catch up with the news, here are some actors and actresses who came out as part of the LGBTQ+ community in 2021.

1. Ronen Rubinstein

Ronen Rubinstein, known for his role in 9-1-1: Lone Star, came out as bisexual in April of 2021. His inspiration for coming out as bisexual was the character he played on the show, who was gay and who allowed him to feel more comfortable with his sexuality. 

Ronen came out to Variety, sharing just how good it felt to him to finally be able to talk about it. His girlfriend was the one who helped him understand the coming out process and he shared that while this is not an easy task, it is a happy story for him.

2. Emma Corrin

The Crown actress came out in August of 2021 as queer, through an Instagram post, where she opened up about her gender identity and sexuality. She also used this opportunity to let her followers know she was changing her pronouns on social media to she/they.

While she mentioned she was skeptical about sharing such personal details with the world, she noted that the support from the queer community has been so important. While this has been a long journey for her, she is fully accepting of the fact that she still has some searching to do in regards to herself.

3. Alexandra Shipp

The X-Men Apocalypse star was another one that came out during last year’s pride month. More specifically, on June 1st, she posted a very personal message on her Instagram where she confessed that it took her 28 long years until she decided to come out.

After denying it and being scared of how this truth would affect her life, she chose to not be scared anymore and embrace who she is. She mentioned she has #pride in who she is and despite pride month lasting only such a short time, she will be celebrating every day of the year.

4. Kal Penn

Kal Penn, known for his acting roles in Harold and Kumar and Designated Survivor came out as gay in a creative way in 2021. This happened through the announcement of his new memoir, called You Can’t Be Serious. There, he announced that he is, in fact, gay and has been dating someone for 11 years.

The best news is that Kal is now engaged with his man and very happy. He also went on to give an interview to People, where he confessed he discovered things about his sexuality much later than other people in his life.

“There’s no timeline on this stuff. People figure their s— out at different times in their lives, so I’m glad I did when I did.”

5. Joshua Bassett

Joshua Bassett had a rather busy year in 2021, after the rumors that the popular song “Driver’s License” by Olivia Rodrigo was about him. Following that, in May of last year, he first said publicly that he is in the process of “figuring out” his sexuality and that he is attracted to Harry Styles. If you feel like you are in a similar place, you can visit Taimi wiki for more information and resources to help you out.

The latter was used as a front for him to comment, during his interview with Clever News that this is probably his coming-out video, hinting that he’s queer. He later went on to release a post on Instagram, where he had to say the following: 

“Love who you love shamelessly. It’s ok to still be figuring out who you are.”

6. Kaylee Bryant 

Famous for her role on the CW show Legacies Kaylee Bryant was another of the celebs who came out as members of the LGBTQ community in 2021. As part of Pride Month, she opened up about her sexuality on her social media pages. 

More specifically, she shared the fact that she is queer on her Instagram and Twitter accounts with a picture of her holding a rainbow flag and wearing a T-Shirt that said “Be the bold queer you needed to see in your youth.”

7. Larry Saperstein  

The High School Musical: The Musical: The Series star, came out on June 1st of 2021 through a fun TikTok video, following the “International Superspy” song trend. The video starts with showing his face on camera with the words “Plays a character with a girlfriend on TV” which then changes to “Is bi irl”.

This creative way of coming out without putting much thought or preparation into it is probably one of the most relaxed ways to come out. He also captioned the video saying, “Is it really unexpected tho #pride”, something that just solidified the point he made in the video.

8. Tommy Dorfman

Tommy Dorfman, known through her role in Netflix’s 13 Reasons Why, came out as transgender in July of last year. This happened through an Instagram post which was very emotional and liberating for her. In more detail, she wrote to her fans:

“Thrilled to reintroduce myself as the woman I am today. My pronouns are she/her.” She continued by thanking all the trans women that helped her find herself and celebrate herself as she is as a part of this world.

Getting inspiration from your favorite actor’s coming out story

While it might be hard to come out, especially when it comes to people who are always in the spotlight, it can be so helpful for others. The more visibility we show such topics, the easier and safer it will become for people of the LGBTQ+ community to share their truths.