The top LGBTQ news of 2023

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Join us as we take a look back at some of the biggest LGBTQ+ moments in pop culture this year…

During an interview with The New York Times that hit the Internet on Jan. 11, "The Last of Us" star Bella Ramsey publicly revealed that they identify as non-binary. "I guess my gender has always been very fluid. Someone would call me 'she' or 'her' and I wouldn't think about it, but I knew that if someone called me 'he' it was a bit exciting. … I'm very much just a person. Being gendered isn't something that I particularly like, but in terms of pronouns, I really couldn't care less," said the "Game of Thrones" alum.

Bella went a step further in May, though, telling British Vogue that "being called 'they' is the most truthful thing" for them. "That's who I am the most," they said before noting that they're "not 100% straight." Explained the 19-year-old actor, "I'm a little bit wavy, you know? That's what I like to say."

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Grammy winner Billie Eilish opened up in a wide-ranging interview with Variety in November about being physically attracted to women. The music star said of women, "I love them so much. I love them as people. I'm attracted to them as people. I'm attracted to them for real." She continued, "I'm physically attracted to them. But I'm also so intimidated by them and their beauty and their presence."

In December 2023, she confirmed she indeed had publicly come out in the sit-down even if she hadn't necessarily meant to. 

"I saw the article and I was like, 'Oh! I guess I came out today,'" Billie told Variety on the red carpet at the Variety Hitmakers Brunch — where she and brother Finneas were honored with the film song of the year award — when asked about the interview. "But it's exciting to me because, you know, I guess people didn't know so it's cool that they know, but I'm nervous talking about it." She added, "But yeah, I am for the girls."

Billie further explained, "I didn't [know I was coming out], but I kinda thought, 'Wasn't it obvious?' I didn't realize people didn't know… I just don't really believe in it. I'm like, why can't we just exist? I've been doing this for a long time and I just didn't talk about it. Whoops."

One day after her red carpet comments, Billie took to Instagram to slam the publication, writing, "Thanks Variety for my award and for also outing me on a red carpet at 11 am instead of talking about anything else that matters I like boys and girls leave me alone about it please literally who cares stream 'what was i made for' [from the 'Barbie' movie soundtrack.]"

MORE: Celebs who identify as members of the LGBTQIA+ community

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On the Aug. 2 episode of "The View," former "The Bachelorette" star Gabby Windey revealed that she's in a relationship with a woman: "I always want to just live my truth and my story. I have been seeing someone for a couple months, and I've been keeping it a little more private because it is a bigger story and a bigger conversation because I'm dating a girl," she said.

"I think it was always a whisper in me that just got louder and louder, and I didn't really know to pay attention to it. I think, you know, when this happens, there's some shame, obviously, surrounding it. So I think I had to, a little bit, navigate through the shame, like, what is it? Where is it coming from? But ultimately, like I said, I always just want to kind of like, do me, do what I want, figure it out later," she added of her sexuality.

When host Joy Behar attempted to clarify if Gabby plans to date only women moving forward — "So is it girls now? That's it, girls?" she inquired — Gabby replied, "I think so. I think it's just, like, my girl. She's the best."

Later that day, the "Dancing With the Stars" season 31 contestant revealed on Instagram that her girlfriend is comedian and TV writer Robby Hoffman. "Told you I'm a girls girl!!" she captioned a slideshow of photos with her love.

Gabby first competed for Clayton Echard's heart on season 26 of "The Bachelor" before getting engaged to Erich Schwer on season 19 of "The Bachelorette," which she co-headlined with Rachel Recchia in 2022.

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Another first for the sports world! NBA referee Che Flores came out in October 2023 as the league's first nonbinary and transgender referee. They shared with GQ that the decision had been weighing on them, revealing, "One piece I was missing for myself was that no one knew how I identified. Being misgendered as she/her always just felt like a little jab in the gut." In the wake of coming out, Che explained, "I can go through the world and even my job a lot more comfortably."

They also shared their hope for younger generations, telling the outlet, "I just think of having younger queer kids look at somebody who's on a high-profile stage and not using it. And I'm not using the league to an advantage in any way. This is just to let young kids know that we can exist, we can be successful in all different ways."

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On the June 28 episode of "The Real Housewives of Orange County," Taylor Armstrong revealed that she's bisexual and was previously in a five-year relationship with a woman. (They dated before the "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" alum married her late first husband, Russell Armstrong, in 2004.) "Most people are surprised to find out that I'm bisexual — probably just because of stereotypes. … I mean, it's not something I broadcast, but I'm open to all people who have great souls that you can love," said the reality star, who's been married to second husband John Bluher since 2014.

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Dylan Mulvaney became practically a household name after she took to social media on April 1 to share a funny video of herself promoting a Bud Light contest in honor of March Madness. In the clip, the transgender influencer briefly mentions that the beer brand sent her "possibly the best gift ever" — a single tallboy featuring an image of her face. (Replicas of the can were not available for purchase.) The promotional video sparked immediate backlash, prompting some conservative stars — from Kid Rock and Travis Tritt to John Rich and Ben Shapiro — to boycott the beer brand for being too "woke."

The blowback was so major that the stock price of Bud Light's parent company, Anheuser-Busch, plummeted. (By June, it seemed as though Anheuser-Busch had recovered, though Bud Light sales remained lower in America than during the beer's pre-Dylan partnership days.) In the wake of the scandal, Bud Light essentially ghosted Dylan — in late April, CEO Brendan Whitworth refused to stand by her, instead releasing a statement insisting that Bud Light "never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people."

Two months later, Dylan — who debuted the results of her late 2022 facial feminization surgery on the red carpet at the 2023 Grammy Awards in February — addressed the scandal on TikTok: "The way that this ad got blown up, you would have thought I was, like, on a billboard or on a TV commercial or something major, but no," she said, adding that "what transpired from that video was more bullying and transphobia" than she ever could have imagined. She also noted that she lost the infamous Bud Light tallboy featuring an image of her face: "When I do find it, I feel like it needs to go in a museum — preferably behind bulletproof glass," she said. After condemning Bud Light's behavior — "For a company to hire a trans person and then not publicly stand by them is worse in my opinion than not hiring a trans person at all because it gives customers permission to be as transphobic and hateful as they want," she said — she concluded by calling upon her followers to stand with trans people. "There should be nothing controversial or divisive about working with us," she insisted.

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On Feb. 13, Czech soccer star Jakub Jankto publicly came out, sharing on Instagram, "[I] want to live my life in freedom. Without fears. Without prejudice. Without violence. BUT with love. I am homosexual and I no longer want to hide myself." The professional athlete is the first active senior international men's soccer player to publicly come out.

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Alison Brie casually came out as bisexual in a BuzzFeed video with husband Dave Franco that debuted on YouTube on Feb. 17. The duo read "thirst tweets" about themselves including this one: "Listen, I am bisexual for a reason and that reason is strictly to be used in a threesome by Dave Franco and Alison Brie," a fan wrote, prompting the "Mad Men" and "Community" actress to respond, "That's also why I'm bisexual."

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On March 17, Jeff Molina became the first male UFC fighter to publicly come out as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, though it wasn't exactly on his own terms. "I'm bi," he wrote in a lengthy statement shared on Twitter after a video in which he could be seen getting intimate with another man hit the Internet. "Not the way I wanted to do this, but the chance to do it when I was ready was taken from me. I've tried to keep my dating life private from social media. I've dated girls my whole life and suppressed feelings I had throughout high school being on the wrestling team, throughout college pursuing MMA, and even after making part of the dream happen and getting into the UFC," he wrote, adding that he feared his friends and colleagues would treat him differently if they knew the truth.

"In a sport like this where a majority of the fans [are] homophobic … I didn't see myself doing this during this part of my career. I wanted to be known for my skills and what I've dedicated the last 11 years of my life [and not as] the 'bi UFC fighter,'" he continued before condemning "the awful, disturbed person" who leaked the video.

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Taylor Swift cast trans model-actor Laith Ashley to portray her love interest in her "Lavender Haze" music video, which dropped on Jan. 27. "She obviously knows she has such a huge reach and platform, so to have someone like me be in a music video with her, she's essentially given me access to a lot of that platform. It means a lot to me and I'm sure to the LGBT community," Laith told Rolling Stone of the Grammy-winning superstar.

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On July 8, Time Out New York theater critic Adam Feldman shared the sad news that Jeffrey Carlson — a Broadway actor who was also known for his work on the soap opera "All My Children" — had died. "RIP Jeffrey Carlson, 48, exposed-nerve star of Broadway (Billy in The Goat, Marilyn in Taboo) and TV (the groundbreaking trans character Zoe on All My Children). A powerful actor and a painful loss," the critic tweeted. A cause of death was not publicly shared.

Jeffrey, a Juilliard graduate, made history when he played one of the first transgender characters on daytime television in 2006 and 2007. His character first appeared as a male-presenting musician with the stage name Zarf who later came out as a trans lesbian named Zoe, which Entertainment Weekly reported marked the first time a daytime serial had chronicled the coming-out story of a transgender character.

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Mo'Nique came out as a member of the LGBTQ+ community in her 2023 comedy special "My Name Is Mo'Nique," which debuted on Netflix on April 4. "I'm not all the way [gay]," the Oscar winner said, later clarifying that she's never been with a woman and has kept the experience "a fantasy." She stopped short of specifically labeling her sexuality, explaining that she promised herself she "would never tell anyone" that she's attracted to women because of the bigotry she witnessed as a child when her late grandmother, whom she loved dearly, failed to accept her lesbian aunt. "I would take that to my grave 'cause I saw how they treated the people in my family with that 'disease.' Because they made us believe it was a 'disease,' right?" she said, adding that she overcompensated for her sexuality by sleeping with "as many" men as possible. She was also "so scared" to tell her husband of nearly two decades, Sidney Hicks, about her sexuality because she feared he'd "walk away" from her when she told him she wanted "to be with another woman sexually." Instead, she joked, he fired back, "B****, me too!" Mo'Nique turned 55 in late 2022.

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"Stranger Things" star Noah Schnapp publicly came out in a Jan. 5 TikTok video. "When I finally told my friends and family I was gay after being scared in the closet for 18 years and all they said was 'we know,'" he wrote across a video of himself lip syncing the popular "it was never that serious" TikTok sound. "You know what it never was? That serious. It was never that serious. Quite frankly, it will never be that serious," he mouthed. In the caption, Noah referenced his "Stranger Things" alter ego Will Byers' sexuality, writing, "I guess I'm more similar to Will than I thought."

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On Feb. 5, Kim Petras made history when she became the first openly transgender woman to win a Grammy: The German singer-songwriter and collaborator Sam Smith, who's non-binary, took home the gramophone for best pop duo/group performance for their hit single "Unholy" during the 2023 Grammys. "I just want to thank all the incredible transgender legends before me who kicked these doors open for me so I could be here tonight," Kim said during her acceptance speech. (Back in 1970, Wendy Carlos became the first transgender woman to win a Grammy — she won three for her debut album, "Switched-On Bach," which was released two years earlier under her birth name — but she had only just begun the process of transitioning and still used her birth name professionally at the time.)

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Kevin Maxen — an associate strength coach for the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars — announced that he's gay in an interview with Outsports released on July 20, making him the first publicly out male coach in an American pro sports league. "I don't want to feel like I have to think about it anymore," he told Outsports. "I don't want to feel like I have to lie about who I am seeing, or why I am living with someone else. I want to be vocal in support of people living how they want to live, but I also want to just live and not feel fear about how people will react."

Kevin explained that his journey has taken time. "It wasn't until recently — and with the immense love and support of my family, my friends, colleagues and peers, and the courage and sacrifice from my partner — that I realized I have the right and responsibility to love and be loved, and that maybe sharing this will hopefully give someone else the strength to accept their own life and take control of their own story," he said, adding that he's felt "guilty" that he hasn't shared his love for his partner of more than two years with other coaches, who often talk about their relationships. "You have other coaches who have significant others, and they're talking about their significant others. And I felt guilty that I couldn't do the same thing, that I was letting myself down."

Members of the NFL community have voiced support in the wake of Kevin's reveal, including Jaguars owner Shad Khan. "Kevin is a Jacksonville Jaguar through and through, and a key member of our football team and community," Shad told ESPN in a statement. "I look forward to seeing Kevin next week at training camp, and hope that he comes to work each day during camp and through the season feeling confident, free and at peace. I know our players and staff feel the same."

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On July 26, Japanese pop star Shinjiro Atae announced that he's gay. It was a significant moment and extremely unusual for such a well-known star to come out in conservative Japan, The New York Times reported, as the country is the only G7 nation that doesn't recognize same-sex civil unions or same-sex marriage, CNN confirmed. Shinjiro, who was previously a member of the Japanese super-group AAA (Triple A) for more than a decade beginning when he was a teenager, shared his news in a moving speech at a fan event in front of 2,000 people where he was met with applause. He later posted a statement on Instagram, writing that after years of struggling to accept himself, "Today was a very special day for me. … I finally have the courage to open up to you about something. I am a gay man."

He continued, "It has taken me a long time to be able to say I am gay. I could not even say it to myself. However, I've come to realize it is better, both for me, and for the people I care about, including my fans, to live life authentically than to live a life never accepting who I truly am." At the same time, Shinjiro released a new single, "Into the Light." He's donating proceeds from the track to Pride House Tokyo, which is Japan's first permanent LGBTQ+ center, and LGBTQ+ youth organization ReBit.

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Although he came out to his friends and family — "to anybody who mattered," he said — at 19, it would be more than three decades before Richard Armitage publicly addressed his sexuality. During an interview with Radio Times magazine that debuted online on April 11, the "Obsession" actor, who previously starred in the "Hobbit" franchise, said that he didn't open up about his sexuality sooner because no one ever asked about it: "I was always waiting for that question to punch me in the face, and it never did. I thought, 'Are people being polite, or is it that they don't want to know?' I don't know that I ever wanted to put myself in front of the work I was doing, anything about my family or personal life. I just thought, 'Let the work speak for itself,'" he explained.

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Early in 2023, Rebel Wilson launched Fluid — a dating app on which people looking for love do not specify their gender or sexual orientation. "It's not just a dating app, it's a kind of movement. It's a rejection of categorization and that notion that you have to be one thing. What if there wasn't a closet? What if everyone is just a person and we are all equal," the Australian actress told The Hollywood Reporter in June, calling the app, which she co-founded with three friends, "truly the most inclusive" because "you can be anywhere on the sexuality spectrum."

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Greta Van Fleet singer Josh Kiszka publicly came out on Instagram on June 20 while speaking out against anti-LGBTQ legislation in Tennessee, where he lives. "Where I've settled a home in Tennessee, legislators are proposing bills that threaten the freedom of love. It's imperative that I speak my truth for not only myself, but in hopes to change hearts, minds, and laws in Tennessee and beyond. These issues are especially close to my heart as I've been in a loving, same-sex relationship with my partner for the past 8 years. Those close to me are well-aware, but it's important to me to share publicly. Over the years, the outpouring of love for the LGBTQ+ community has been resounding, but there is still work to be done for LGBTQ+ rights in Tennessee, the nation, and the world," he wrote. Greta Van Fleet won a Grammy back in 2019.

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Alex Newell and J. Harrison Ghee made history when they became the first openly non-binary performers to win Tony Awards for acting during the 2023 Tonys on June 11. The "Glee" and "Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist" star won the award for best featured actor in a musical for their role in "Shucked," while the "Raising Dion" star won the award for best lead actor in a musical for their work in "Some Like It Hot." J. dedicated their big win to "every trans, nonbinary, gender-nonconforming human who ever was told you couldn't be [and] you couldn't be seen."

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On Feb. 19, Chicago White Sox minor league player Anderson Comas came out on Instagram: "I'm proudly and happily part of the LGTBQ+ community. I'm also a human with a great soul. I'm respectful, I'm a lover, I love my family and friends and that's what really matters. I enjoy my work a lot, being a professional baseball player is the best thing that happened to me, so I just wanna say something to those people that say that gay people cannot be someone in this life: Well, look at me. I'm gay and I'm a professional athlete, so that didn't stop me [from making] my dreams come true. I'm doing this cause I wanna be an inspiration for those like me out there [fighting] for their dreams. Please don't listen to those stupid things that people say about us. Fight for your dreams, believe in yourself and go for it," he captioned a photo of himself, adding a hashtag for "gay and proud."

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In a June 26 essay for Time magazine, actress, singer and YouTuber Miss Benny came out as transgender: "It felt as if I had lived with a stuffy nose my whole life and then suddenly my breathing airways opened, and I discovered everybody else has been breathing freely the whole time. And now, I too can breathe and enjoy my life the same way everyone else does," she wrote of privately transitioning in late 2020. She went on to explain how her gender identity will affect her Netflix coming-of-age dramedy "Glamorous," revealing that her on-screen alter ego, Marco, will also transition.

Two weeks later, Miss Benny alleged on TikTok that "Full House" star Candace Cameron Bure attempted to have her written off the spinoff, "Fuller House," when she had a brief stint on the family sitcom back in 2018. (Miss Benny portrayed Casey — "the first gay character in the 'Full House' franchise," according to the actress — who worked as an intern for Kimmy Gibbler at her party planning business.) "One of the Tanner sisters is, like, very publicly 'not for the girls,'" she said, referencing Candace's on-screen alter ego, D.J. Tanner, and the former child star's well-known conservative values. "I got sat down by the writers and the studio to basically warn me how this person allegedly was trying to get the character removed and not have a queer character on the show," Miss Benny continued, adding that she was "warned and prepared that this person's fan base might be encouraged to target" her. She went on to allege that she "only had a conversation with one of the Tanner sisters" — presumably Jodie Sweetin — "despite working on the show every day for two weeks straight." Said Miss Benny, "I had a really fun time actually shooting the show with all the other actors who were willing to talk to me."

Candace released a statement denying Miss Benny's allegations, telling multiple media outlets, "I never asked Miss Benny's character to be removed from 'Fuller House' and did not ask the writers, producers or studio executives to not have queer characters on the show. 'Fuller House' has always welcomed a wide range of characters. I thought Miss Benny did a great job as 'Casey' on the show. We didn't share any scenes together, so we didn't get a chance to talk much while filming on set. I wish Miss Benny only the best."

MORE: Stars who came out later in their careers

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On the March 13 episode of Emily Ratajkowski's "High Low with EmRata" podcast, Diplo revealed that he lands somewhere on the lower end of the Kinsey Scale: "I think the best answer I have is I'm not not gay," the three-time Grammy winner said after admitting that, in the past, he's shared intimate moments with other men. He then admitted that "there's a couple guys" he "could date."

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On Jan. 30, former professional athlete Campbell Johnstone (who's pictured in 2004 and is practically unrecognizable now) became the first professional rugby player in New Zealand to publicly come out. "If I can be the first that comes out as gay and take away the pressure and stigma surrounding the issue, it can actually help other people," he told TVNZ's Seven Sharp. He waited to come out until after he retired, he said, because he wasn't "comfortable with the whole concept" earlier in his career. "I pushed that side of me down deeper and deeper. … It would come to the surface. I may have had a bad game and I would look at that side of me and blame that side for it. It's hard living a lie," he said. In June, Campbell announced his engagement to his love of two years, equestrian Ben Thomson.

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Joe Locke might play a gay teen on TV, but he didn't publicly confirm his own sexuality until August 2023.

The actor, who stars as a bullied gay teenager on "Heartstopper," came out in Teen Vogue, noting that most people already thought they knew everything about his sexuality. "People have assumed and written it, and I haven't ever corrected anyone because I haven't felt the need to. But I've never specifically stated my sexuality," Joe told the outlet before clarifying, "I have been openly gay since I was, like, 12." 

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During a video interview with Jason Lee that debuted online on May 3, Yung Miami made it clear that she identifies as bisexual. (In the past, she's made loose references to her bisexuality.) "I really do like girls," said the City Girls rapper while discussing her longtime crush on Megan Thee Stallion. She isn't interested in taking things with a woman to the next level, though: "Sexually I have been with a woman before. I love it. … [But] I won't be in a relationship with a girl," she said. Yung Miami has been in a long-term, off-and-on open relationship with Diddy for years now.

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"Sex Education" star Ncuti Gatwa — who also appeared as one of the Kens in the 2023 blockbuster film "Barbie" — opened up about his sexuality in August 2023.

While speaking to ELLE UK, the actor, who plays a gay teen on his hit Netflix series, which wrapped with season 4 this year, publicly revealed for the first time that he's queer. He explained his dislike of labels, sharing, "I love seeing men in 'women's' clothing. There doesn't need to be a label. I believe that fully: that's why I don't like to label myself — and I don't owe it to anyone."

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Adore Delano — a veteran of reality shows "American Idol" and "RuPaul's Drag Race" — announced in July 2023 that she started transitioning this year.

In an Instagram video, Adore explained that although she only recently decided to move forward with her transition, she actually came out as trans as a teenager then decided to go back in the closet in 2008 while competing on "American Idol."