All the LGBTQ+ Celebrities Who Have Come Out in 2024, From Reneé Rapp to Bethany Antonia

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Coming out is always in style. There’s no wrong time to tell the world who you are — and the celebrities who came out in 2024 are proof. From Survivor to One Tree Hill, a wave of television actors have opened up about being LGBTQ+ for the first time this year. Meanwhile, Mean Girls star Reneé Rapp and Drag Race queens like Amanda Tori Meating have reminded us that coming out can happen more than once; sometimes you find a new label that fits even better than the one you were using before. Thankfully, coming out is growing not just more common, but more casual, too. These days, people in the public eye are often already out to their friends and loved ones, which can make their eventual disclosures seem less earth-shattering than they used to be. Over the past several months, celebrities have come out in low-key Instagram posts and quick remarks to reporters on the red carpet — but that doesn’t lessen the impact these moments can have.

By now, we have decades of proof that coming out matters. Often, it’s the people closest to us who shape us the most, but celebrities have a palpable impact, too: the people we collectively watch, listen to, and talk about can serve as possibility models, helping us find the words to describe our own lived experience. Plus, as Parvati Shallow proved for me this year, sometimes we just get to enjoy the simple pleasure of welcoming a longtime fave to the team. Some of the most interesting, entertaining, and talented people in the world are queer, and our numbers grow every year. Consider this a running list of every celebrity who has come out as LGBTQ+ in 2024; it’ll be a genuine pleasure to see how long this tally can get by December.

Erika Casupanan

If you want to be nitpicky, Survivor season 41 winner Erika Casupanan came out in 2023, but because she did it in a New Year’s Eve post, the news didn’t properly spread until 2024. In an Instagram video referencing an old social media trend, Casupanan wrote, “Throwback to last New Year’s Eve when I tried to do the ‘eat grapes while sitting under a table at midnight and you’ll get a boyfriend by the end of the year’ trend, but I didn’t have grapes so I chugged wine and instead that year realized I’m a lesbian. Close enough, right?” The announcement officially made Casupanan, now a public speaker and podcast host, the first lesbian in history to have won the reality competition show, after already having set a precedent as the first Filipino winner.

Parvati Shallow

Legendary Survivor player and Traitors star Parvati Shallow similarly came out with seconds left on the clock in 2023, launching her relationship with comedian Mae Martin in an Instagram post coupled with a playful caption: “We’re here. We’re queer. Happy new year.” Shallow has gone on to draw attention for her headband-heavy fashion on the second season of the American edition of The Traitors. In February, she told Them she would love to host a queer dating show that would give fellow divorcées the opportunity to explore their sexuality. “I am in a new phase of exploration and seeing what works and how to build my life without the conditions of the past,” she shared. “And a lot of my friends are in this place, too.” Few things on television are more compelling than watching Shallow play mind games on a Fijian beach, but that show could certainly be one of them!

Amanda Tori Meating

"I had been considering myself non-binary for four-ish years before *Drag Race* and was not sure that was exactly my tea," Meating told the *EW* podcast *Quick Drag*.

Only three things in life are constant: death, taxes, and Drag Race queens coming out as trans. Amanda Tori Meating continued the celebrated trend in January, telling Entertainment Weekly’s Quick Drag podcast that the show “cracked the egg” — a popular phrase that trans people use to describe the realization of their identities. “Post-Drag Race, it was kind of jarring… going back to being called my government name again, and he/him,” Meating shared. “I was just like, ‘Oh, no. This is very much not correct for me.’” She joins a proud pantheon of trans Drag Race stars, including Bosco, Gigi Goode, Gottmik, Kornbread, and many more.

Madame LaQueer

Drag Race season 4 contestant Madame LaQueer also came out as trans in January, telling Entertainment Weekly that she was “ecstatic” to make the announcement. “It’s never too late to come out and live your true experience and be yourself and be authentic,” the 42-year old performer told EW. “There’s nothing like feeling loved in your own skin.” Madame revealed another particularly affecting detail in the interview: She was on the verge of coming out to Kylie Sonique Love in 2012, but “brushed it off and moved on, because I wasn’t ready to face that,” Madame shared, noting that her fellow trans queen “clocked it” anyway. We’re just glad she finally feels ready to publicly pursue her truth.

Morphine Love Dion

Drag Race season 16 star Morphine Love Dion casually casually referenced their nonbinary identity on X in January, responding to being tagged in a post saying that “men get BBLs too” — a reference to a lyric in a Megan Thee Stallion diss track allegedly aimed at Drake. “hiii I love yall sm but pls stop tagging me in this yall know im a they/them/her righttt and if u didn’t know now u know,” Morphine wrote. Reached by Out magazine, Morphine clarified, “I’m nonbinary, more to the femme side. It’s just something I’ve personally been more comfortable identifying as for years now.”

Zoe Lister-Jones

We’re big fans of people coming out in rhyming couplets. After attending the 2024 Film Independent Spirit Awards with nonbinary director Sammi Cohen in February, Zoe Lister-Jones told The Hollywood Reporter, “I’m here, I’m queer, I have some fear but I’m working through it.” Lister-Jones, known for her role on the CBS sitcom Life in Pieces and her work as an independent filmmaker, was previously in an open marriage with her creative partner Daryl Wein; the couple split in 2021. Lister-Jones and Cohen stepped out again for an Elton John AIDS Foundation fundraiser in March. In a sweet Instagram post, Lister-Jones called Cohen “the best date ever.”

Colin Grafton

Figure skater and Dancing on Ice star Colin Grafton came out as gay in a February interview with PinkNews, telling the LGBTQ+ publication, “It’s been a long journey but now I am proud of myself and I’m proud of my sexual orientation and I want to let other people know that they should be proud of themselves, too.” On series 15 of Dancing on Ice, which pairs professional figure skaters with celebrity contestants, Grafton mentored Drag Race U.K. winner The Vivienne, ultimately finishing third. “Being a part of that representation, being a part of that team, it was just wonderful,” Grafton told PinkNews. “The support we got from everyone was just fantastic.”

F1NN5TER

British Twitch streamer and Minecraft competitor F1NN5TER, long known for portraying the e-girl character Rose, came out in a YouTube video in early March, sharing that they have begun hormone therapy and specifying, “I think the label that suits me best is genderfluid.” In an update about pronouns inserted into the video, F1NN5TER shared, “I still prefer he/him, but who knows? They might change and that’s kind of half the fun anyway.” (Subtitles at the bottom, however, clarify that the streamer is going by “any pronouns” — a preference they recently reiterated in a playful TikTok exploring the uniquely lesbian joys of wearing a backwards baseball hat.)

Reneé Rapp

The heiress to the Regina George crown proved in 2024 that coming-out isn’t always a one-time deal; our identities and our understanding of ourselves can shift over the course of a lifetime. Previously out as bisexual, Reneé Rapp clarified this year that she now understands herself as a lesbian, referring to herself as such across multiple interviews and social media posts. In March, she made her orientation abundantly clear, offering “a huge thank you to every man that helped make me realize that I was a lesbian” at the GLAAD Media Awards and writing on X, “if I say I’m a lesbian I am a lesbian and if someone says they’re bi they are bi I’ve had enough of you witches.”

Sophia Bush

One Tree Hill star Sophia Bush came out as queer in a Glamour cover story this April, opening up about her 2023 divorce from ex-husband Grant Hughes and her relationship with U.S. women’s soccer star Ashlyn Harris. “I think I’ve always known that my sexuality exists on a spectrum,” Bush wrote. “Right now I think the word that best defines it is queer. I can’t say it without smiling, actually. And that feels pretty great.” Bush has since pushed back against allegations that she played the role of “homewrecker” in Harris’ previous marriage to fellow soccer player Ali Krieger, saying that she and Harris met in a support group for people experiencing divorce. The new couple made their red-carpet debut at the White House Correspondents’ dinner in late April wearing matching black looks.

Bethany Antonia

The precipitating incident for Bethany Antonia’s coming out was horrific. The House of the Dragon actress received a hateful direct message containing a racist slur that insulted her appearance and openly wished for her death. Her response, however, was pitch perfect. In April, as PinkNews reported, Antonia put a screenshot of the bigoted message on display, writing, “Wait till they find out I’m gay too…” Antonia will reprise her role as Lady Baela Targaryen in season 2 of the Game of Thrones prequel, premiering June 16.

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