10 inspiring celebrity coming out quotes
October 11, 2013 /LGBT News/ Every year on National Coming Out Day, we celebrate coming out as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or as an ally. On October 11, 2013, we mark the 25th anniversary of National Coming Out Day. This year’s theme is “Coming Out Still Matters.”
To celebrate the NCOD, here are 10 inspiring celebrity coming out quotes:
Wentworth Miller:
After turning down a director’s offer to travel to Russia in August 2013 for the St. Petersburg International Film Festival because of Russia’s treatment of gay men and women, Wentworth Miller announced that he is gay himself. Miller wrote in a letter to the director: “Thank you for your kind invitation. As someone who has enjoyed visiting Russia in the past and can also claim a degree of Russian ancestry, it would make me happy to say yes. However, as a gay man, I must decline. I am deeply troubled by the current attitude toward and treatment of gay men and women by the Russian government. The situation is in no way acceptable, and I cannot in good conscience participate in a celebratory occasion hosted by a country where people like myself are being systematically denied their basic right to live and love openly. If circumstances improve, I’ll be free to make a different choice.”
Jodie Foster:
It wasn’t until the 2013 Golden Globes that Jodie Foster publically and proudly acknowledged her sexuality: “I already did my coming out about a thousand years ago in the Stone Age. But now apparently every celebrity is expected to expose the details of their private life with a press conference, a fragrance and a primetime reality show.” The moving speech brought the crowd to tears. Watch it here: /2013/01/jodie-fosters-golden-globes-speech-on.html
Professional basketball player Jason Collins:
“I’m a 34-year-old NBA center. I’m black. And I’m gay. I didn’t set out to be the first openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport. But since I am, I’m happy to start the conversation.” Collins added that he’s aware that his coming out may not be easy. “Openness may not completely disarm prejudice, but it’s a good place to start. It all comes down to education. I’ll sit down with any player who’s uneasy about my coming out. Being gay is not a choice. This is the tough road and at times the lonely road.”
Ricky Martin:
“I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man. I am very blessed to be who I am. To keep living as I did up until today would be to indirectly diminish the glow that my kids were born with. These years in silence and reflection made me stronger and reminded me that acceptance has to come from within and that this kind of truth gives me the power to conquer emotions I didn’t even know existed.”
Robbie Rogers:
Soccer player Robbie Rogers made history in May 2013 when he was substituted onto the field for the Los Angeles Galaxy during a match, making him the first openly gay man to participate in Major League Soccer. “I seriously felt like a coward. These kids are standing up for themselves and changing the world … I have a platform and a voice to be a role model. How much of a coward was I to not step up to the plate?”
Elton John:
“[Coming out] gave me the freedom to be who I was for the rest of my life. I don’t have to hide around corners. The worse thing is to be afraid of who you are — it’s horrible.”
Ellen Degeneres:
“When I decided to have my character on the show come out, I knew I was going to have to come out, too. I never wanted to be the lesbian actress. I never wanted to be the spokesperson for the gay community. Ever. I did it for my own truth.”
Cynthia Nixon:
“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.”
Wanda Sykes:
“I felt like I was being attacked, personally attacked — our community was attacked. Now, I gotta get in their face. I’m proud to be a woman. I’m proud to be a black woman. And I’m proud to be gay.”
Chad Allen:
“The best advice I’ve ever given is: Don’t come out until it’s good news for you. When it’s good news for you, it’ll be good news for everyone else. Anything else is a disaster, because you won’t be able to represent yourself or our community very well.”
