Aaron Carter shared a note with fans on Twitter in August saying that when he was around 13 years old he "started to find boys and girls attractive." The singer went on to say that at the age of 17 he had his first experience "with a male that I had an attraction to who I also worked with and grew up with."
Singer Barry Manilow married longtime partner and manager Garry Kief in a secret ceremony in 2014. Manilow came out after news of the marriage was made public in 2015.
Actor Colton Haynes attends the 2015 March Of Dimes Celebration Of Babies at the Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons Hotel on December 4.
Raven-Symone was in a relationship with a woman at the time, but the actress told Oprah Winfrey in 2014 that she doesn't want to be labeled as gay. "I want to be labeled as a human who loves humans," she said.
Writer Lauren Morelli said that working on "Orange Is the New Black" helped her realize that she was gay. In March 2017 she married one of the show's stars, Samira Wiley.
Actress Ellen Page announced she is gay at a Human Rights Campaign event in February 2014. "I am tired of hiding, and I am tired of lying by omission," Page told the crowd.
Ellen DeGeneres came out shortly after her character Ellen, on an ABC sitcom, came out on-air amid controversy in 1997. "I never wanted to be the lesbian actress," DeGeneres told Time magazine. "I never wanted to be the spokesperson for the gay community. Ever. I did it for my own truth." DeGeneres' wife, Portia de Rossi, also kept her sexuality a secret for many years.
'NSync singer Lance Bass appeared on the cover of People in August 2006 with the headline "I'm Gay." "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," Bass told the magazine in explaining why he didn't come out sooner.
Pop singer Ricky Martin declared publicly in March 2010 what he avoided discussing for years. "I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man," Martin wrote on his official website. "I am very blessed to be who I am."
In April 1998, British pop star George Michael told CNN that he was gay. "This is as good of a time as any," the Wham! singer said. "I want to say that I have no problem with people knowing that I'm in a relationship with a man right now. I have not been in a relationship with a woman for almost 10 years." The pop star died in December 2016.
After years as a stand-up comedian and actress, Rosie O'Donnell came out two months before her talk show went off-air in 2002. The announcement came during a comedy routine at the Ovarian Cancer Research benefit at Carolines Comedy Club in New York. "I don't know why people make such a big deal about the gay thing," she said during her act. "People are confused, they're shocked, like this is a big revelation to somebody."
Stand-up comedian and actress Wanda Sykes announced her sexual orientation -- and her marriage -- in 2008 at a rally for gay marriage. "You know, I don't really talk about my sexual orientation," Sykes said. "I didn't feel like I had to. I was just living my life, not necessarily in the closet, but I was living my life. ... But I got pissed off. They pissed me off. I said, 'You know what? Now I gotta get in your face.' " Sykes was referring to the passage of Proposition 8, banning gay marriage, in California days after her wedding.
Reports of "Sex and the City" star Cynthia Nixon's relationship with Christine Marinoni surfaced in 2004, six years after the television show's premiere. Nixon discussed her relationship with New York Magazine in 2006, saying, "I never felt like there was an unconscious part of me around that woke up or that came out of the closet; there wasn't a struggle; there wasn't an attempt to suppress. I met this woman, I fell in love with her, and I'm a public figure."
Once known best as the TV character he played during childhood, Doogie Howser, Neil Patrick Harris has continued his successful acting career as an adult. Harris often walks the red carpet with partner David Burtka and starred in the hit sitcom "How I Met Your Mother." He told People magazine in 2006 that he is, in fact, gay. "I am happy to dispel any rumors or misconceptions and am quite proud to say that I am a very content gay man."
"Family Ties" actress Meredith Baxter confirmed in December 2009 rumors that she is a lesbian. "Anyone who's a friend of mine, anyone who knows and cares about me, knows," the actress explained to Matt Lauer on the "Today" show. "It's no secret that I'm gay, but it has been to the greater world." Baxter is in a long-term relationship with a building contractor, Nancy Locke.
