Gay Celebs Finally Exposed

#23 Jim Parsons
The Big Bang Theory star revealed that he is gay in an interview with the New York Times. The article states that Parsons, 39, is in a 10-year relationship, but didn't delve any further into the issue.

#22 Zachary Quinto
Star Trek star Zachary Quinto came out as gay in a profile in New York magazine. In the feature, the actor referred to himself as a "gay man."

#21 Neil Patrick Harris
In 2006, the How I Met Your Mother actor told People he was gay, amid reports he was trying to deny it. He told the mag, "The public eye has always been kind to me, and until recently I have been able to live a pretty normal life. Now it seems there is speculation and interest in my private life and relationships. So, rather than ignore those who choose to publish their opinions without actually talking to me, I am happy to dispel any rumors or misconceptions and am quite proud to say that I am a very content gay man living my life to the fullest and feel most fortunate to be working with wonderful people in the business I love." Harris and his longtime partner David Burtka announced their engagement after marriage equality passed in New York state in June. The couple is also fathers to fraternal twins Gideon Scott and Harper Grace.

#20 T.R. Knight
Former Grey's Anatomy star T.R. Knight came out of the closet after allegedly overhearing his co-star Isaiah Washington make a homosexual slur on set in October 2007. On Oct. 19, 2007, the actor came out in a statement to People, "I guess there have been a few questions about my sexuality, and I'd like to quiet any unnecessary rumors that may be out there." He added, "While I prefer to keep my personal life private, I hope the fact that I'm gay isn't the most interesting part of me."

#19 Sean Hayes
Despite playing over the top Jack McFarland on Will & Grace from 1998-2006, Sean Hayes did not publicly acknowledge being gay until March 2010. In the April 2010 edition of The Advocate, Hayes said, "I never have had a problem saying who I am… I am who I am. I was never in, as they say. Never."

#18 Lance Bass
In a bold move, the boy band heartthrob came out at the age of 27 on the 2006 cover of People magazine with the headline: "I'm Gay." He said he struggled with coming out while in 'N Sync, "I knew that I was in this popular band and I had four other guys' careers in my hand, and I knew that if I ever acted on it or even said (that I was gay), it would overpower everything." Since coming out, Bass has been an advocate of gay rightsand gay marriage.

#17 Ellen DeGeneres And Portia De Rossi
Ellen DeGeneres came out in real life and on her TV show in 1997. On The Puppy Episode of her sitcom Ellen, the funny lady became the first openly gay prime time character on television, the show was soon cancelled. Ellen famously dated Anne Heche and Portia de Rossi. Portia and Ellen began dating in 2004 and were married on August 16, 2008. In 2010, Portia de Rossi told Oprah that she credits future wife Ellen's coming out (prior to their relationship) with inspiring her to come out later in life when the couple was dating.

#16 Chely Wright
Outing herself in May 2010, Nashville star Chely Wright is the first openly gay performer in country music. She says of her decision to go public: "Nothing in my life has been more magical than the moment I decided to come out." Later that year, the singer-songwriter, who won both an Academy of Country Music award and a Country Music award, released her memoir, Like Me, and her first album in five years, Lifted off the Ground.

#15 Jesse Tyler Ferguson
Openly gay actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson plays a gay father on ABC's hit show Modern Family. On his being out, he says, "It was never an issue Ö I never felt 'in' so it didn't feel like it was terribly difficult to be 'out.'" He told the Winnepeg Free Press in September, "Good actors come from a place of truth and to me it just felt like I needed to have my cards on the table. It wouldn't have felt comfortable for me to be hiding a piece of myself."

#14 Rosie O'Donnell
Rosie O'Donnell played a lesbian mom during a January 31, 2002 appearance on the sitcom Will & Grace. A month later during a stand up routine at the Ovarian Cancer Research benefit at Caroline's Comedy Club, O'Donnell outed herself as a lesbian, announcing "I'm a dyke!" She continued, "I don't know why people make such a big deal about the gay thing. … People are confused, they're shocked, like this is a big revelation to somebody." On Feb. 26, 2004, O'Donnell married Kelli Carpenter in San Francisco. In 2009, O'Donnell announced that she and Carpenter had split in 2007.

#13 Jane Lynch
Openly gay actress Jane Lynch married Lara Embry in 2010. Lynch explained to Chelsea Handler while on Chelsea Lately that she did not tell her parents until she was 32 years old but, "was living the gay lifestyle prior to [coming out to them.]" She added that when she finally did tell her family, "They were great. They really embraced me."

#12 Leisha Hailey
Leisha Hailey is openly a lesbian. The L Word actress dated k.d. lang for almost five years. Recently, her sexual orientation was brought into the forefront of the media when Leisha tweeted her outrage towards Southwest Airlines after being ejected from a flight for kissing her girlfriend on the plane. The airline did offer a standard apology but failed to address the issue of the actress' being discriminated against because of her sexual orientation.

#11 Michael Stipe
In 1995, the former R.E.M. frontman appeared on the cover of Out magazine. In 2001, Stipe described himself as a "queer artist" in Time and revealed that for three years he had been in a relationship with "anamazing man."

#10 Chris Colfer
Emmy winner Chris Colfer is openly gay and plays openly gay character Kurt Hummel on Glee. While appearing on Chelsea Lately on Dec. 3, 2009, the actor publicly acknowledged being gay

#9 Adam Lambert
The singer's sexuality was a hot topic while performing on American Idol, but Lambert didn't come out until after the competition had wrapped. Lambert came out in the June 2009 issue of Rolling Stone. Lambert said, "Right after the finale [of "AI"], I almost started talking about it to the reporters, but I thought, 'I'm going to wait for Rolling Stone, that will be cooler,'… I didn't want the Clay Aiken thing and the celebrity-magazine bullshit. I need to be able to explain myself in context."

#8 Cynthia Nixon
Cynthia Nixon was outed by the New York Daily News and The New York Post in 2004, when they reported Nixon was living with another woman. When asked directly about the relationship, the Sex and the City star said, "My private life is private," Nixon responded. "But at the same time, I have nothing to hide. So what I will say is that I am very happy." She said in 2007: "In terms of sexual orientation I don't really feel I've changed… 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." In 2009, Nixon and Christine Marinoni announced their engagement.

#7 Clay Aiken
Long rumored to be gay, the American Idol runner up came out after becoming a father in August of 2008. And he did it in a big way! The southern singer opted to out himself on the cover of People magazine in September 2008 saying, "[Coming out] was the first decision I made as a father… I cannot raise a child to lie or to hide things. I wasn't raised that way, and I'm not going to raise a child to do that."

#6 Wanda Sykes
The funny lady came out in November 2008 while speaking at an anti-Prop 8 rally in Las Vegas. Sykes said: "I got married Oct. 25, I don't really talk about my sexual orientation, I felt like I was living my life, I wasn't in the closet, but I was just living my life. Everybody who knows me personally, they know I'm gay. And that's the way people should be able to live our lives, really. We shouldn't have to be standing out here demanding something we automatically should have as citizens of this country."

#5 Ricky Martin
Rumors of Ricky Martin's sexuality swirled about for years but the singer dodged rumors about his sexuality until 2010. Martin finally ended years of speculation and announced on March 29, 2010 that he was gay by stating, "I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man. I am very blessed to be who I am." He later announced on the Oprah Winfrey Show that he was in a relationship. Martin became a father to twin boys in August 2008 by a surrogate.

#4 Melissa Etheridge
Melissa Etheridge came out publicly as a lesbian in January 1993 at the Triangle Ball, a gay celebration of President Bill Clinton's first inauguration. (No PiC)

#3 Sir Elton John
In one of the boldest moves in music history, Elton John told Rolling Stone magazine he was bisexual in 1976. In 1984, John married a woman, German recording engineer Renate Blauel, but the couple divorced in 1988. Later that year, John told Rolling Stone that he was "comfortable" being gay. In 1993, John began a relationship with David Furnish, and the twosome entered a civil partnership in 2005. They had son Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John, born to a surrogate mother, on Dec. 25, 2010.

#2 Dan Kloeffler
Following in Zachary Quinto's footsteps, ABC News achor Dan Kloeffer also came out of the closet while on the air reporting the Quinto story. Later he wrote, "…For the same reason that Zach decided to come out, I too, no longer wanted to hide this part of my life," the 35-year-old Kloeffler wrote. "There have been too many tragic endings and too many cases of bullying because of intolerance…as a journalist, I don't want to be the story, but as a gay man I don't want to stand silent if I can offer some inspiration or encouragement to kids that might be struggling with who they are."

#1 Sean Maher
Sean made headlines in September when he came out of the closet while playing a closeted character on NBC's now-canceled The Playboy Club. "I just wanted to come forward and tell my story ñ to say 'this is my family, I'm so proud of them and I'm tired of hiding this' because I have a 4-year-old and didn't want her to think there was something possibly wrong with our family," he told ETonline.

Source: http://jusfacts.com/celebrity/out-proud-23-proudly-gay-celebs/