TV legends, adored Olympians and music superstars are among some of the celebrities who have already come out as LGBTQ+ in 2025.

Already, this year is shaping up to be a beautiful one when it comes to increased LGBTQ+ visibility. We’ve seen a soap star coming out as non-binary in their fifties, a new girl band member feeling able to be open about their sexuality from the off, and the child of a rock icon revealing that they are a transgender woman.

Here’s a list of all the stars and famous faces who have come out as LGBTQ+ in 2025. We’ll keep this list updated.

Andrzej Stękała (January)

Andrzej Stekala came out on New Year’s Day. (Instagram)

Skiing world champion Andrzej Stękała came out as gay in January after the death of his partner, explaining on social media that he no longer wanted to “run away” from his sexuality.

“I want you to get to know me for real. I am gay. For years I hid it from the world. From you, from the media, and sometimes even from myself,” he shared.

He described the “pain” of losing his partner in November, describing him as his “rock” and “biggest fan”.

“My story is a story of love that deserves light, not shadow,” he added.

Villads Raahauge Jensen (January)

Villads Raahauge Jensen came out in an Instagram post. (Instagram)

Danish handball star Villads Raahauge Jensen came out as gay back in January in a post on Instagram, opening up about feeling “afraid” to talk about his sexuality “for many years”.

“In many ways, I wish I had had the courage to jump sooner,” Jensen continued. “When I told the club and my teammates last week, it was only received positively.

“Although my closest friends have known for some time, and my family has always known, it’s still scary to tell something you’ve kept a secret for so long. Hiding a large part of who you are from almost all people, [means] you can never really be 100 per cent yourself.”

Paul Reubens (January)

Pee-wee Herman actor Paul Reubens. (Getty/Bobby Bank)

Comedian Paul Reubens, best known for playing Pee-wee Herman, came out posthumously in a documentary filmed before his death.

Reubens died from cancer aged 70 in July 2023, with the documentary entitled Pee-wee as Himself premiering at Sundance Film Festival in January.

In the documentary, the actor opens up about having a relationship with a man named Guy, who died of AIDS-related complications.

“I was out of the closet, and then, I went back in the closet. I wasn’t pursuing the Paul Reubens career; I was pursuing the Pee-wee Herman career,” he shares in the film.

“I hid behind an alter ego. I spent my entire adult life hiding I was a huge weed head. I was secretive about my sexuality even to my friends [out of] self-hatred or self-preservation. I was conflicted about sexuality. But fame was way more complicated,” he added.

David Coote (January)

Former Premier League referee David Coote came out as gay. (Getty)

Former Premier League referee David Coote came out as gay in January following a controversy which saw him banned from refereeing by Professional Game Match Officials Limited. In November, Coote was suspended after videos surfaced of him calling former Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp a “c**t” and snorting white powder. After admitting the videos were real, he was later banned from refereeing by UEFA until 2026.

After the furore, Coote revealed in an interview that he hid his sexuality for years due to fear of “abuse” in the macho football world.

“My sexuality isn’t the only reason that led me to be in that position. But I’m not telling an authentic story if I don’t say that I’m gay, and that I’ve had real struggles dealing with hiding that,” he shared.

“I hid my emotions as a young ref and I hid my sexuality as well – a good quality as a referee but a terrible quality as a human being.”

While he came out to his family and friends in his twenties, the now 42-year-old said he was afraid of coming out publicly and used drugs as an “escape”.

“I didn’t want to be that person that was putting their head above the parapet to be shot at, given the abuse we all get as a referee in any event,” he said.

Draven Bennington (February)

Draven Bennington has come out as trans in an empowering letter. (@samanthabennington/Instagram)

Draven Bennington, the child of late Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington, came out as a trans woman in a post on social media on Valentine’s Day.

“I thought it would be the perfect time to show some love to myself,” the musician and actor shared.

“For a long time, I tried to be someone, someone I truly wasn’t on the inside,” she wrote. “Ignoring it worked for a while, but continuously coming to the crossroads of being happy or being complacent was one I couldn’t keep crossing.”

She continued by declaring that she is “choosing to no longer hide” who she is.

Shobna Gulati (March)

Coronation Street legend Shobna Gulati comes out as non-binary aged 58: ‘I’m free to say it out loud’

Shobna Gulati, a stalwart of British TV and star of beloved soap Coronation Street, came out as non-binary aged 58 in March. The actor, who now uses both she and they pronouns, said that they had always felt more like a person than a gender, but didn’t have the terminology to describe themself.

After meeting a non-binary sound engineer on set, they realised that the term perfectly described how they felt.

“I’ve never had a word for it, but I’ve learnt from our younger generation what that might look like in terms of a word, because I know what it feels like in terms of being me,” Gulati shared.

Jade Carey (March)

Jade Carey and Aimee Sinacola are in a relationship. (Instagram)

Olympic gymnast Jade Carey came out as LGBTQ+ in a post on Instagram in March by hard-launching her relationship with her girlfriend, Aimee Sinacola.

Captioning the simple yet sweet post, which featured a number of pictures of the pair, the two-time Olympic Gold medal winner wrote: “Happy.”

Carey represented the United States at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as an individual before joining the US Women’s team for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Lara Rajagopalan (March)

Lara from global girl group KATSEYE has come out as queer. (Christopher Polk/Billboard via Getty Images)

Lara Rajagopalan, a member of newly-formed girlband KATSEYE, revealed in March that she is a member of the LGBTQ+ community by describing herself as “half a fruitcake”.

“I knew I was half a fruitcake when I was like [eight] so I really was wanting everybody. Honestly probably before 8. Isn’t half a fruitcake such a good way to explain it without saying it,” she wrote in a post on South Korean musical artist platform Weverse.

She went on to share that she was “really scared” when appearing on YouTube talent show Dream Academy in 2023, as she “didn’t know if people would accept [her] and [she] really thought it would ruin my chances” of succeeding in the contest.

Speaking directly to her fans, she continued: “You all were so so nice about it and gave me so much love and support and it made me feel so confident in who I am so I love you for that.”

Tanner Adell (March)

Country music star Tanner Adell (Maya Dehlin Spach/FilmMagic)

Tanner Adell, known for her feature in “BLACKBIIRD” on Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter album, confirmed her sexuality at the Billboard Women in Music Awards.

“Yes. I’m pansexual,” she told Out. “It’s funny when people ask me my sexual orientation, but I feel like you should be able to hear that in my music. There’s more of that coming.”

Tanner Adell released her debut single “Honky Tonk Heaven” in 2021, while her debut record Buckle Bunny came out last July.

Airyn De Niro (April)

Airyn De Niro (Instagram/@voiceofairyn)

The daughter of Robert De Niro came out publicly as trans for the first time in an honest interview with Them.

The 29-year-old spoke about her journey and transition, including having parts of her journey spoken about in the press in the past.

Referencing reports from March about her transition, Airyn, used to more privacy, told Them: “There’s a difference between being visible and being seen. I’ve been visible. I don’t think I’ve been seen yet.”

After coming out she spoke out about the experience of trans people more broadly, as well as her relationship with her supportive father.

Isabela Merced (May)

Isabela Merced (Getty)

The Last of Us star confirmed she was queer in an interview with Variety when discussing intimate scenes from the show’s second season.

“Bella and I were just so comfortable with each other. And also, we both have experience in queer relationships — you can just tell when a girl hasn’t kissed a girl before. You can just feel it,” Merced said.

The Madame Web star also told Variety: “No one actually thinks I’m queer, which is fine. I don’t really care. I’m an actor, so I can play anyone, right? But for it to mean so much to me personally is great and grand”.

Barry Diller (May)

Barry Diller and Diane von Furstenberg attend The 2024 Met Gala (Cindy Ord/MG24/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue)

The billionaire spoke publicly about his relationships with men for the first time in May ahead of the realise of his memoir, Who Knew?

In an essay for New York Magazine and the memoir Diller discussed his affairs with men prior to and during his 50-year relationship with the fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg.

The former Paramount executive admitted to feeling like “a deer caught in the headlights” regarding his romance with von Furstenberg and struggling with having to bottle everything else up.

“I also liked guys, but that was not a conflict with my love for Diane.” He added that “In some cosmic way we were destined for each other,” he wrote.

Aja (May)

RuPaul’s Drag Race star and trans musician Aja (Getty)

Posting on X/Twitter in May the RuPaul’s Drag Race star appeared to have come out as bisexual, saying she’s “been in denial about it.”

The All Stars 10 queen came out as a trans woman in 2021 saying she had lived “as non-binary since 2018 and have recently began to identify more with the feminine aspect of my identity.” Having used they/them pronouns she updated them to she/her.

Valentina (May)

Drag Race icon Valentina (Instagram/@allaboutvalentina )

The RuPaul’s Drag Race and All Stars 4 icon Valentina publicly came out as trans on her 34th birthday in May, saying she had been transitioning privately “for some time”.

She also said: “Along the way I’ve felt pressure to come forward so I’ve decided and wanted to take today to declare myself as a transgender woman”.

The season nine fan favourite was eliminated in seventh place following an infamous moment where she asked to keep her mask on during a lip-sync.

She later returned for All Stars 4, where she again placed seventh.

In 2024, Valentina spoke publicly about have “suicidal thoughts” while questioning her gender identity, having said in 2019 that she then identified as non-binary.

Taylor Jenkins Reid (May)

Taylor Jenkins Reid (Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for TheRetaility.com)

The author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, confirmed in May that she is bisexual.

In an interview with Time as she appeared on the cover, Reid discussed writing queer romance as in Evelyn Hugo and explained that it had led to her questioning her own identity.

“It has been hard at times to see people dismiss me as a straight woman,” the author said. “But I also didn’t tell them the whole story.”

She also discussed having romance with women in the past as well as how her husband, screenwriter Alex Jenkins Reid, helped her with things.

Lola Young (May)

Lola Young (Getty)

The “Messy” singer addressed her sexuality in May in an iconic response to a fan’s comment on her TikTok page.

The 24-year-old British pop star shared a video of herself lip-syncing and dancing to “Take a Sexy Picture of Me”, a new song by bisexual Irish musician, CMAT.

When one fan commented that “men don’t deserve” to be with a woman like the music superstar Young quipped “I like p***y as well u kno,” in response.

Supriya Ganesh (May)

Supriya Ganesh (Warrick Page/MAX)

The Pitt star who plays Dr. Samira Mohan, spoke to Variety about coming out as queer and sharing her pronouns.

Ganesh, who uses she/they pronouns, said those were a reflection of their “relationship with my own queerness as well as race”.

They also discussed reacting to stricter ideas of gender in the United States as opposed to India where her family hails from. “In India, you have the existence of a third gender,” they explained. “There is a little more fluidity in how men present themselves, women present themselves.

Gracie McGraw (June)

Gracie McGraw attends the opening night celebration of The New Group’s Babe (Valerie Terranova/Getty Images)

The eldest daughter of singers Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, publicly identified as queer in June.

Gracie took to Instagram after her father’s gig at Music City Rodeo, in Nashville, Tennessee to post: “Everyone get more gay now.” Underneath, she wrote: “Happy freaking Pride, I love being queer.”

In a separate post, she said: “Pride began as a riot led by Black and brown trans activists.”

Christine McGuiness (June)

Christine McGuinness (Kate Green/Getty Images)

The TV personality and model discussed her sexuality publicly for the first time in June, saying she dated men and women before meeting her now ex-husband and it was “never a secret for me”.

Christine and Paddy McGuinness announced in 2022 they had made the “difficult decision to separate” after 11 years of marriage.

Appearing on podcast How to Fail with Elizabeth Day McGuinness said she had not discussed her sexuality publicly before because it took her “years to process why it’s big news, why is it such a big story in the press”.

But she said she was speaking openly because “I want to be able to date and be able to just enjoy it,” she said.

Megan Skiendiel (June)

KATSEYE’s Megan (Christopher Polk/Billboard via Getty Images)

KATSEYE star Megan came out as bisexual just weeks after her bandmate Lara came out as queer.

Megan became the second member of the girl group to come out this year, following Lara in March.

Taking to the South Korean musical artist platform Weverse, Megan joined Lara in a livestream where she shared, “I’m coming out — I’m bisexual”.

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