9 celebrities who ‘came out’ as straight
Justin Bieber invited a queer fan into his church. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
The strict heteronormativity our whole society lives under usually means that everyone is automatically assumed to be straight and cisgender.
In fact, this applies so strictly that often women celebs can literally hold hands, kiss on the lips, go on dates and have sex, and the media will still portray them as “just friends,” or worse – gal pals.
However sometimes the rule works in reverse, and celebrities, especially male actors who’ve played gay characters, have been assumed to be gay until they publicly say otherwise.
Some have handled this better than others…
1. Darren Criss
Darren Criss (Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images for Trevor Project)
Criss is most famous for his role as Blaine Anderson, the boyfriend of Kurt Hummel in Fox’s Glee! For a long time, Criss avoided questions about his sexuality, saying “It doesn’t matter if I’m gay or straight.”
However, in a 2011 interview with Out magazine, he said “I think it’s more empowering to everybody, including myself, if I’m articulate about identifying myself as a straight male playing a gay character.”
This year he opened up about having to kiss a random man in the audience every night when performing on Broadway.
2. Jack Falahee
Jack Falahee (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
Falahee, who plays the openly gay character Connor Walsh in the ABC drama How To Get Away With Murder, purposely avoided questions about his sexuality for a long time. He said this was because he wanted to “dismantle the closet.”
However after Trump’s election he “came out” as straight, saying that he felt he could be better to the LGBT+ community if he acted as an ally. He said being able to help LGBT fans is a “blessing.”
3. Eric Stonestreet
Eric Stonestreet (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
Stonestreet plays half of the beloved gay couple in Modern Family, Mitchell and Cameron Tucker. Although he says he loves playing Cameron, Stonestreet says “I kind of always felt like I had to dig myself out of a bit of a hole and let girls know that I’m actually straight.”
Jesse Tyler Ferguson, who plays his husband on the show, is openly gay, and in 2012 started a nonprofit to raise funds in support of same-sex marriage.
4. Nick Jonas
The youngest Jonas brother has played a gay man on the US drama Kingdom since 2014, and briefly on Scream Queens in 2015. There was much excitement from fans last year when he said he’d had sex with a man, but later clarified that he meant he’d acted a gay sex scene.
He told Complex “As a heterosexual male, [I am] open and comfortable about loving my fan base, gay or straight, because to me there is no difference, it is my fan base.”
5. Jake Gyllenhaal
Jake Gyllenhaal (Photo by Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images)
After playing one of the famous “gay cowboys” (actually bisexual shepherds but whatever) alongside Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain, Gyllenhaal was on the receiving end of many assumptions about his sexuality.
Jake kept it oh-so-classy when he responded “It’s a huge compliment” but he prefers “tits and ass”.
6. Ansel Elgort
Ansel Elgort (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)
After he shot to fame in 2014 with The Fault in our Stars film, there were many gay rumours about Ansel Elgort, particularly around his bromance with co-star Nat Wolff.
Elgort took to Twitter to quell the rumours saying “Just in case it isn’t clear…I like girls. A lot.” He then continued, “Also let me say if I was gay I wouldn’t hide it.”
7. Zac Efron
Zac Efron (Photo by Theo Wargo/NBC/Getty Images for “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon”)
Efron has been a universal heartthrob since 2006’s High School Musical.
The all-singing-all-dancing teenager was quickly hit with speculation about his sexuality but replied “Honestly, if the worst he can say about me is that I’m gay, then I think I’ll be fine. I can handle it.”
Although he’s straight, Efron says that between HSM and Hairspray, he’s been extremely embraced by the gay community and is so grateful for his gay fans.
8. Daniel Radcliffe
Daniel Radcliffe (Photo by Remy Steiner/Getty Images for Tommy Hilfiger)
The child star played the gay poet Allen Ginsberg in the 2013 film Kill Your Darlings and is a big supporter of the LGBT+ community through work such as the Trevor Project.
However he disappointed a whole generation of gay Harry Potter fans when he addressed rumours about his sexuality.
“If people want to say that, they can,” he said. “But I’m not. I’m straight.” He does say he finds it strange people’s obsession with sexuality. “I don’t know why a gay sex scene should be any more shocking than a straight sex scene.”
9. Justin Bieber
Justin Bieber (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
Gay rumours have dogged Bieber since he first got famous in 2008 with his hit ‘Baby’, though he has always resolutely denied them.
In 2015 he posted a video of him kissing his bodyguard on the cheek on Instagram, though was quick to caption it “I’m not gay but even if I was that’s not an insult.”
Just in case anyone got the wrong idea.
