British TV legends, adored Olympians and music superstars are among some of the celebrities who have already come out as LGBTQ+ in 2025.
Already, this year is shaping up to be a beautiful one when it comes to increased LGBTQ+ visibility. We’ve seen a soap star coming out as non-binary in their fifties, a new girl band member feeling able to be open about their sexuality from the off, and the child of a rock icon revealing that they are a transgender woman.
Here’s a list of all the stars and famous faces who have come out as LGBTQ+ in 2025. We’ll keep this list updated.
Andrzej Stękała (January)
Skiing world champion Andrzej Stękała came out as gay in January after the death of his partner, explaining on social media that he no longer wanted to “run away” from his sexuality.
“I want you to get to know me for real. I am gay. For years I hid it from the world. From you, from the media, and sometimes even from myself,” he shared.
He described the “pain” of losing his partner in November, describing him as his “rock” and “biggest fan”.
“My story is a story of love that deserves light, not shadow,” he added.
Villads Raahauge Jensen (January)
Danish handball star Villads Raahauge Jensen came out as gay back in January in a post on Instagram, opening up about feeling “afraid” to talk about his sexuality “for many years”.
“In many ways, I wish I had had the courage to jump sooner,” Jensen continued. “When I told the club and my teammates last week, it was only received positively.
“Although my closest friends have known for some time, and my family has always known, it’s still scary to tell something you’ve kept a secret for so long. Hiding a large part of who you are from almost all people, [means] you can never really be 100 per cent yourself.”
Paul Reubens (January)
Comedian Paul Reubens, best known for playing Pee-wee Herman, came out posthumously in a documentary filmed before his death.
Reubens died from cancer aged 70 in July 2023, with the documentary entitled Pee-wee as Himself premiering at Sundance Film Festival in January.
In the documentary, the actor opens up about having a relationship with a man named Guy, who died of AIDS-related complications.
“I was out of the closet, and then, I went back in the closet. I wasn’t pursuing the Paul Reubens career; I was pursuing the Pee-wee Herman career,” he shares in the film.
“I hid behind an alter ego. I spent my entire adult life hiding I was a huge weed head. I was secretive about my sexuality even to my friends [out of] self-hatred or self-preservation. I was conflicted about sexuality. But fame was way more complicated,” he added.
David Coote (January)
Former Premier League referee David Coote came out as gay in January following a controversy which saw him banned from refereeing by Professional Game Match Officials Limited. In November, Coote was suspended after videos surfaced of him calling former Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp a “c**t” and snorting white powder. After admitting the videos were real, he was later banned from refereeing by UEFA until 2026.
After the furore, Coote revealed in an interview that he hid his sexuality for years due to fear of “abuse” in the macho football world.
“My sexuality isn’t the only reason that led me to be in that position. But I’m not telling an authentic story if I don’t say that I’m gay, and that I’ve had real struggles dealing with hiding that,” he shared.
“I hid my emotions as a young ref and I hid my sexuality as well – a good quality as a referee but a terrible quality as a human being.”
While he came out to his family and friends in his twenties, the now 42-year-old said he was afraid of coming out publicly and used drugs as an “escape”.
“I didn’t want to be that person that was putting their head above the parapet to be shot at, given the abuse we all get as a referee in any event,” he said.
Draven Bennington (February)
Draven Bennington, the child of late Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington, came out as a trans woman in a post on social media on Valentine’s Day.
“I thought it would be the perfect time to show some love to myself,” the musician and actor shared.
“For a long time, I tried to be someone, someone I truly wasn’t on the inside,” she wrote. “Ignoring it worked for a while, but continuously coming to the crossroads of being happy or being complacent was one I couldn’t keep crossing.”
She continued by declaring that she is “choosing to no longer hide” who she is.
Shobna Gulati (March)
Shobna Gulati, a stalwart of British TV and star of beloved soap Coronation Street, came out as non-binary aged 58 in March. The actor, who now uses both she and they pronouns, said that they had always felt more like a person than a gender, but didn’t have the terminology to describe themself.
After meeting a non-binary sound engineer on set, they realised that the term perfectly described how they felt.
“I’ve never had a word for it, but I’ve learnt from our younger generation what that might look like in terms of a word, because I know what it feels like in terms of being me,” Gulati shared.
Jade Carey (March)
Olympic gymnast Jade Carey came out as LGBTQ+ in a post on Instagram in March by hard-launching her relationship with her girlfriend, Aimee Sinacola.
Captioning the simple yet sweet post, which featured a number of pictures of the pair, the two-time Olympic Gold medal winner wrote: “Happy.”
Carey represented the United States at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as an individual before joining the US Women’s team for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Lara Rajagopalan (March)
Lara Rajagopalan, a member of newly-formed girlband KATSEYE, revealed in March that she is a member of the LGBTQ+ community by describing herself as “half a fruitcake”.
“I knew I was half a fruitcake when I was like [eight] so I really was wanting everybody. Honestly probably before 8. Isn’t half a fruitcake such a good way to explain it without saying it,” she wrote in a post on South Korean musical artist platform Weverse.
She went on to share that she was “really scared” when appearing on YouTube talent show Dream Academy in 2023, as she “didn’t know if people would accept [her] and [she] really thought it would ruin my chances” of succeeding in the contest.
Speaking directly to her fans, she continued: “You all were so so nice about it and gave me so much love and support and it made me feel so confident in who I am so I love you for that.”
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