They All CAME OUT in 2017, 2018...

[topdog]

It is the 20th anniversary of Ellen DeGeneres coming out.

I thought we could use a thread similar to the one created by Klimt to pay respects to those who have died - but for people who have come out. It seems like every week or so some person of note or another breaks their silence. We can record those people here.

Feel free to add any names that have come out in 2017 (let's not go back further than that) and then we can just add them as they happen going forward.

Here is a template modified from the other thread that you can use. Replace the items in parenthesis with the information about the person.

What do you think? Is this something you would want to particiapate in? Is there other information that should be noted that's not on the template?

Let me know - I'm just making this up as I go along.

[CENTER][IMG](Link to internet image)[/IMG]
[FONT="Georgia"]
[SIZE="5"](First Name) (LAST NAME)[/SIZE]
[SIZE="4"](Nationality) (Occupation)[/SIZE]
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(Details or story)

 

[topdog]

Shawn BARBER
US/Canadian Olympic Pole Vaulter

​

Gay and proud! Thank you to my parents for being such a great support. I continue to grow as a person and have a great support group. My parents are my greatest support and have helped me through a lot recently. To my friends, you are always my friends and i love you too!

That's what Olyumpic track and field star Shawn Barber wrote on Facebook last Monday April 24. The post was greeted with hundreds of postive comments.

“I'm so proud of my little brother! “ David Barber wrote. “To everyone out there be who you are, and don't let anything stand in your way."

Read more at the FloTrack website.

 

[topdog]

Barry MANILOW
US Singer / Songwriter

​

Though Barry Manilow married his long-time manager Garry Kief in 2014, and had been with him for nearly 40 years prior to the nuptials, Manilow just spoke for the first time about coming out to People Magazine on April 4.

Barry Manilow Reveals Why He Didn’t Come Out for Decades: I Thought I Would ‘Disappoint’ Fans If They Knew I Was Gay - People Magazine

 

[topdog]

Daniel NEWMAN
US Actor (The Walking Dead, The Vampire Diaries)

​

Actor Daniel Newman, who plays Kingdom member Daniel in The Walking Dead, came out on Twitter on March 30.

The actor credited a young woman at a homeless youth shelter for spurring him to come out of the closet. He told fans that she thanked him for standing up for the queer community as a straight man while he was volunteering at the facility. When Newman told her he’s gay too, the woman asked a pointed question.

“Why have you never said that publicly before? You could help change our lives,” Newman said the young woman told him.

“It hit me like a gut punch. It felt like someone had knocked the wind out of me,” he said. “And I I realized how important it is in this day and age to be visible; have people know who you are. When you are accomplishing incredible things and you are hiding who you are, you are hurting hundreds of millions of people.”

Daniel followed up his tweet with this Youtube video.

 

[topdog]

Danny WATTS
UK NASCAR Racing Driver

​

The 37-year retired racer came out in an interview with Motorsport.com on February 19, saying that he felt he could finally be open now that he’s no longer competing.

Danny Watts comes out as gay and admits he was unable to be open in 'very masculine' motorsport - Daily Mail

 

[topdog]

Cody ALAN
US Country Music Television Host

​

CMT and iHeartRadio host Cody Alan has come out as gay, via an Instagram post on January 7..

In an open and heartfelt message, Alan wrote, “there is something I want to share with you. You see, I’m gay. This is not a choice I made, but something I’ve known about myself my whole life.”

CMT Host Cody Alan: Why I Came Out as Gay - Rolling Stone

 

[takeitall456]

Rob MALLARD
English actor (Coronation Street)

​

 

[topdog]

My-King JOHNSON
US High School Football Player

​

My-King Johnson, a highly recruited defensive lineman from Tempe, Ariz., who has committed to play for the University of Arizona this fall, came out publicly as gay in a newspaper interview back in February. When he enrolls at the school in Tuscon, he will be the first openly gay scholarship athlete at an FBS school.

Today he has been awarded by the Arizona Republic with its Courage Award.

"I’m a very honest person," Johnson told reporter Rosenblatt. "I just don’t see how I could be living an honest, truthful life and have that in the background.”

Rosenblatt also interviewed teammates and coaches who were all supportive, one teammate saying it actually made him respect Johnson more.

 

[topdog]

Keiynan LONSDALE
US Actor

​

The 25-year-old actor, who portrays Wally West (aka Kid Flash) on CW's The Flash, came out as bisexual, according to People Magazine.

"I like girls, & I like guys (yes), I like growing, I like learning, I like who I am and I really like who I'm becoming...Spent way too many years hating myself, thinking I was less valuable because I was different.. which is just untrue. I gotta take the next step & actually embrace who I am, which is pretty exciting. Not faking s**t anymore, not apologizing for falling in love with people no matter their gender.

No one should feel like that about themselves, especially when there is so much good life to live... Ya know more & more I see so many young people being their best / truest selves, it's f**king inspiring... so what have I been waiting for!? Who knows. Everyone in their own time.

We can all learn to embrace who we are & not judge people who aren't exactly the same as us. The truth is we are all family, we're all one.

Just love. Keiy."

 

[topdog]

Ryan O’CALLAGHAN
American Football Player

​

Ryan O’Callaghan, who played two seasons in New England and two seasons in Kansas City after being drafted by the Patriots in 2006, announced on a story on Outsports that he is gay.

In the story (link below) he talks about how he used football to hide his sexuality and fully expected to kill himself when he couldn't play anymore. After several good years in the sport, injuries took their toll, and that led to an addiction to painkillers.

His team manager saw that he was in trouble and got him a therapist, who pulled him back from suicide. She was also the first person he ever confided in that he was gay.

He gradually got up the courage to tell his family, who were all just happy to have him on the road to recovery from his depression and addiction. He finally told his manager who had referred him to the therapist.

Former Patriots and Chiefs tackle Ryan O’Callaghan comes out as gay

...Just after the 2011 season, O’Callaghan visited Pioli in his office.

The day before he had called his general manager, who had become a good friend, to ask him for a meeting. Pioli had known about O’Callaghan’s drug abuse, and the gravity in his player’s voice over the phone told him that something dire was on his mind.

"He had built this up like he was coming in to tell me that maybe he had done something truly terrible," Pioli remembered.

O’Callaghan trudged into Pioli’s office the next day. After a hug and some small talk, O’Callaghan turned serious. He told Pioli he had been visiting with Wilson and had gotten "clean." It was good news to Pioli.

"I’ve got something else I’ve got to tell you," O’Callaghan said. At this point he was fighting back tears. Pioli’s mind raced, wondering if his player had harmed or killed someone.

"I’m gay," O’Callaghan said.

His private announcement was met with immediate support from the GM. Then:

"So what’s the problem you wanted to talk me about?" Pioli asked.

O’Callaghan looked at him, bewildered, 27 years of fear, anxiety and self-loathing meeting Pioli’s stare.

"Scott," O’Callaghan said, "I’m… gay."

Pioli acknowledged that and asked again if O’Callaghan had done something wrong.

"People like me are supposed to react a certain way, I guess," Pioli told Outsports. "I wasn’t minimizing what he was telling me, but I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop. He built this up and built this up to the point where he said he was nearly suicidal. What Ryan didn’t know is how many gay people I’ve had in my life."

O’Callaghan also didn’t know that, according to Pioli, he wasn’t the first gay NFL player whom his GM had counseled...

 

[topdog]

Scott FRANTZ
US College Football Player

​

Scott Frantz plays football for Kansas State University and just publicly announced that he is gay - though he has been out to his teammates since 2015.

Scott Frantz cherishes acceptance after informing teammates he's gay
ESPN

Asked to divulge a personal secret during an offseason team-building exercise last year, Kansas State offensive tackle Scott Frantz told his Wildcats teammates that he is gay.

"I came out to my teammates, and I've never felt so loved and so accepted ever in my life than when I did that," Frantz told ESPN's Holly Rowe on Wednesday. "And ever since then it's been great. I've grown so much closer to my teammates since. So it's been an amazing experience."

Frantz divulged his sexual orientation to his teammates after his redshirt season in 2015. Wildcats coach Bill Snyder had brought in a motivational speaker who encouraged the players to reveal details about themselves that they had never told anyone else before.

"So the very first time I said those words were in front of, you know, 110, 120 football guys," Frantz said. "So you can imagine how scared I was, how nervous I was. ... This could go either really bad or could go really good. And thankfully my teammates embraced me with open arms, and it was great."

The sophomore tackle said he knew he was gay in fifth grade but that it took until his junior year of high school to accept it. He said he didn't tell his family until a week after the locker room announcement and told Rowe he didn't discuss his sexual orientation with recruiters out of concern it would keep him from getting offers to play in college.

Snyder told Rowe that, if Frantz had told him he was gay during the recruiting process, it wouldn't have affected his evaluation. Snyder also said he was confident that the Kansas State players would accept Frantz.

"I was quite comfortable that they would be very receptive and that they would treat him as they always said," Snyder told Rowe, "as, you know, his teammate and someone that they cared about. And they did."

Frantz and incoming Arizona freshman defensive end My-King Johnson will be the first two openly gay active FBS players when the 2017 season kicks off. Frantz, who started 13 games for Kansas State last season, told Rowe it was important to go public with the fact he is gay to help others feel accepted.

 

[topdog]

Aaron CARTER
US Singer

​

Aaron Carter came out as bisexual. On Twitter he talked about growing up finding both boys and girls attractive, and then having a significant relationship when he was 17.

There’s something I’d like to say that I feel is important for myself and my identity that has been weighing on my chest for nearly half of my life...

I grew up in this entertainment industry at a very young age and when I was around 13 years old I started to find boys and girls attractive...

There were years that went by that I thought about it, but it wasn’t until I was 17 years old, after a few relationships with girls, I had an experience with a male I had an attraction to who I also worked with and grew up with...”

This doesn’t bring me shame, just a weight and burden I have held onto for a long time that I would like lifted off of me.

In typical Aaron Carter fashion, this raises as many questions as it answers. But good for him - he got the info out there so he doesn't have to feel like he is hiding something anymore.

I hope this is one more step in a healing process that will get him back on his feet.

Aaron Carter Opens Up About His Sexual Orientation in Honest Note, Fans Praise His Courage

UPDATE: We now have a press release from his manager saying that Aaron has split from his girlfriend, Madison Parker.

 

[haiducii]

Aaron Carter Wants to Go on a Date with Tom Hardy

 

[cranston]

It is sad that the gay card usually is played to revive a dying career when it comes to musicians and actors. Ten years ago this Aaron Carter crap would have been mildly interesting. But now it is so obviously an attempt to get into the headlines this one more time.

Well sure headlines can be an added bonus but I still appreciate his courage for coming out, I've long considered him to be hot and still do.

 

[topdog]

Haas SLEIMAN
Lebanese-American television and film actor

​

Haas appeared on the TV series Nurse Jackie. He also played the role of Tarek in the 2007 film The Visitor and the role of Jesus in the American TV mini-series Killing Jesus.

‘Nurse Jackie’ Star Comes Out on Facebook: ‘Not Only Am I Gay, but I’m Also a Bottom’

“I am a gay, Muslim, Arab-American man. And I’m going to take it even further: Not only am I gay, but I’m also a bottom. Not only am I a bottom, but I’m also a total bottom which means I like it up you know where,” he said in a video posted on Facebook.

“And I say this to all the homophobes living in the United States of America and across the globe,” he added. “Why not? If you ever come to me, to kill me just because I’m gay… I will destroy you.

“I might be gay and I might be a nice guy, but don’t get it twisted because I will f— you up.”

The 41-year-old Lebanese-American actor’s declaration was in response to a recent finding by Human Rights Campaign that more LGBTQ Americans have been murdered already this year than in all of 2016.

“These victims were killed by acquaintances, partners and strangers, some of whom have been arrested and charged, while others have yet to be identified,” HRC writes. “Some of these cases involve clear anti-transgender bias. In others, the victim’s transgender status may have put them at risk in other ways, such as forcing them into homelessness.”

 

[Shelter]

In this connection: transgenders are dangerous for the US Army. So President Trump!

 

[c750dt]

^I think trans should be allowed. Heck, imagine an ISIS bunker being taken out by an all trans team!?

Back to subject, Aaron Carter is pretty cute. I'd bang him. I'd throw him out of my bed though if Shawn Barber asked to play. Those freckles on his shoulders are nothing less than eye candy to me.

 

[Pakeha]

Many of those Boy Band members got a serious problem by hiding their sexuality...

 

[peter123]

Great thread

 

[linniejr2013]

I was just going through this thread again, and I can't help but think, even when I was young, I had this feeling that Barry Manilow was gay. His revealing was like my telling people I'm black.