This is a list of confirmed and debated
famous gay, lesbian or bisexual people (
lesbigay for short). The historical concept and definition of sexual orientation has changed greatly over time -- in fact, the word "gay" wasn't used to describe sexual orientation until the
20th century. See
homosexuality for more about the primary (and by far the most controversial) distinguishing characteristic of GLBs.
Some historical figures on this list wouldn't be considered lesbigay by today's standards, but they are included here because they were known to have had same-gender relationships. But even by today's standards, a relationship or two doesn't necessarily mean one is bisexual. Many people who identify as gay or lesbian have had different-gender relationships in their youth, and many who identify as heterosexual have experimented with same-sex relationships. Due to social norms that have remained consistent throughout history, little information about such matters when discussing historical figures is available; therefore, one can only make educated guesses based on limited evidence.
It is important to note that the sexual orientation of famous individuals is often fodder for tabloid press. As such, the sexual preference of famous individuals is often subject to rumor simply because of a tabloid article. Some stars, especially those about whom rumors most often circulate, wish to maintain a public image of heterosexuality--believing that assertions to the contrary would negatively affect their profitability--and are vigorous in their legal pursuit of those who would question their heterosexuality. An excellent example of this is actor Tom Cruise, who has been involved in at least three such lawsuits. In 1998, he successfully sued a British tabloid that alleged that his marriage to Nicole Kidman was a sham designed to cover up his homosexuality. He obtained a default judgment against a gay porn actor (Chad Slater, aka "Kyle Bradford") who had given an interview to a tabloid newspaper in which he claimed he had a sexual relationship with Tom Cruise, and he sued Michael Davis, a magazine publisher, who alleged that he had photographs that would prove Tom Cruise was homosexual: this suit was dropped in exchange for a public statement by Davis that Tom Cruise was heterosexual. Because of the threat of litigation, it is considered prudent not to assert the homosexuality or bisexuality of a celebrity unless the celebrity has personally publically asserted it. Some gay groups (eg, Outrage!, have followed a policy of outing public figures regularly for political purposes. However, such a policy is generally condemned within the lesbian and gay community as an unfringement on a person's right to privacy, because of concerns about their family, their right to cope with their own sexuality on their own terms, or the risk of discrimination or loss of reputation.
Note that several of the people on this list were prosecuted for their behavior under existing "sodomy laws".
Wikipedians: Edit this list with caution, because "outing" living individuals can lead to a charge of libel. It has not been tested whether Glasgledius
's sponsor, Bomis, is liable for libel in the 'pedia. Furthermore, "outing" historical figures no longer alive to define their own sexual orientation will inevitably lead to countless pointless debates. In either case, cite evidence on the individual's biography page for why you have added him or or her to this list. It is important that evidence about living persons be a self-description by that individual--evidence of homosexual behavior is insufficient, because some individuals who experiment with same-sex relationships do not describe themselves as lesbigay.
The following list includes those people who have confirmed their sexual orientation or whose sexual orientation is not debated.
- Roberta Achtenberg, US Politician
- Edward Albee, American Playwright (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?)
- Alexander the Great
- Chad Allen, American actor
- Steve Antin, American actor
- Reinaldo Arenas, Cuban poet, author
- John Ashbery, American poet
- W. H. Auden, British poet
- Augustus Caesar
- Kevin Aviance, dance music singer
- James Baldwin, American author
- Alan Ball, writer (American Beauty, "Six Feet Under")
- Samuel Barber, U.S. composer
- Clive Barker, Author, director, artist, known primarily for his work in the horror genre
- Michael Barrymore, British comedian
- Roland Barthes, French literary theorist
- Katharine Lee Bates, writer of "America the Beautiful" [1] (http://www.tstrich.com/articles/america.html)
- Billy Bean, former Florida Marlins pitcher, released shortly after declaring himself gay
- Amanda Bearse, American actor ("Married...with Children"), director
- Alison Bechdel, American cartoonist (Dykes to Watch Out For)
- Sandra Bernhard, American comedian, singer, author and actor
- Leonard Bernstein, U.S. composer and conductor
- Mark Bingham, United Airlines flight 93 passenger
- Ross Bleckner, American artist
- Chastity Bono, American activist, daughter of Cher and Sonny Bono
- Michel Marc Bouchard, Canadian playwright (Les feluettes)
- David Bowie, British bisexual singer, husband of Iman
- Karin Boye, Swedish poet and novelist
- Easter Bradford, American musician, actor and human rights activist
- Scott Brison, Canadian member of Parliament
- Benjamin Britten, English composer
- Lady Bunny, drag performer
- William S. Burroughs, American Beat author (Naked Lunch, Junky)
- Truman Capote, American author
- Nell Carter, Tony award winning singer and actress ("Give Me a Break")
- Luis Cernuda, Spanish playwright
- Graham Chapman, British comedian
- Richard Chamberlain, American actor
- Montgomery Clift, American actor
- Kate Clinton, American comedian
- Jean Cocteau, French director and artist, lover of Jean Marais
- Aaron Copland, American composer, documented in Howard Pollack's biography, Aaron Copland: The Life and Work of an Uncommon Man
- Quentin Crisp, British actor and wit
- Alan Cumming, Scottish actor
- Libby Davies, Canadian member of parliament
- Ellen Degeneres, writer, comedian and actor
- Divine, actor and transgendered performer
- Bertrand Delanoë, mayor of Paris
- Samuel Delany, science fiction author
- Lea Delaria, American comedian, jazz singer, author
- Ani DiFranco, American folk singer
- Hilton Edwards, actor, co-founder of Dublin's Gate Theatre, partner of Micheál MacLiammoir
- Melissa Etheridge, American singer, musician, composer
- Kenny Everett, British DJ and comic
- Rupert Everett, British actor
- Harvey Fierstein, American actor, playwright (Torch Song Trilogy)
- E. M. Forster, British author
- Pim Fortuyn, conservative Dutch politician
- Michel Foucault, French scholar
- Samantha Fox, British model and one time pop singer
- Barney Frank (D, MA), US Representative
- Stephen Fry, British actor, comedian, and novelist
- David Geffen, music producer and record executive
- Jean Genet, French writer
- Chrissy Gephardt, daughter of 2004 presidential candidate Dick Gephardt
- Boy George, British musician
- Andre Gide, French novelist and Nobel Laureate
- Candace Gingrich, activist, half-sister of former U.S. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich
- Allen Ginsberg, Beat poet ("Howl")
- Juan Goytisolo, Spanish writer
- Judy Grahn, American poet
- Gustav Gründgens, German actor and stage director
- Rob Halford, British singer (Judas Priest)
- Marc Hall, Canadian student and activist
- Vincent Hanley, Irish radio DJ who died of an AIDS-related illness
- Lou Harrison, American composer
- Richard Hatch, "Survivor" winner
- Nigel Hawthorne, British actor
- Harry Hay, American gay rights activist, founder of the Mattachine Society
- Anne Heche, American bisexual actress
- Sighsten Herrgård, designer, trendsetter. Became the face of AIDS in Sweden.
- A. E. Housman, English poet
- Rock Hudson, American actor
- Christopher Isherwood, British novelist
- Tony Jackson, American pianist and composer
- James I of England [2] (http://www.azurebloom.net/jamesi.htm)
- Joan Jett, lesbian singer
- Elton John, British singer, musician, composer
- Philip Johnson, American architect
- Angelina Jolie, American actress
- Mychal F. Judge, Franciscan priest, WTC terrorism victim
- Julius Caesar
- Pope Julius II
- John Maynard Keynes, British economist, winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics
- Billie Jean King, tennis player
- James Kirkwood, American playwright (A Chorus Line)
- David Kopay, American football player, outed self in autobiography
- Nathan Lane, American actor and singer
- k.d. lang, Canadian country and blues singer, musician
- Leonardo da Vinci, Italian Renaissance artist
- Hedda Lettuce, drag performer
- Jose Lezama Lima, Cuban poet
- Liberace, American musician
- Federico García Lorca, Spanish poet and playwright, martyred in the Spanish Civil War
- Audre Lorde, poet, author
- Greg Louganis, American olympic diver
- Micheál MacLiammoir actor and co-founder of Dublin's Gate Theatre
- Madonna, American singer, actress, writer, dancer, producer
- Thomas Mann, German author
- Robert Mapplethorpe, American artist
- Jean Marais, French actor, lover of Jean Cocteau
- Christopher Marlowe, Elizabethan playwright
- Armistead Maupin, American writer (Tales of the City)
- Ian McKellen, British actor (X-Men, The Lord of the Rings)
- Réal Ménard, Canadian member of parliament
- Gian Carlo Menotti, U.S. composer
- Freddie Mercury, British musician (Queen)
- Metrobius
- George Michael, British singer (Wham)
- Michelangelo Buonarroti, Italian Renaissance artist
- Harvey Milk, American politician
- Sal Mineo, American actor
- Yukio Mishima, Japanese author
- Richard Morel, singer, music producer
- Morissey, British singer (The Smiths)
- David Norris, Irish senator, James Joyce scholar [3] (http://karlbot.glasglow.com/~atticirl/norris.htm)
- Martina Navratilova, tennis champion
- Me'shell N'Degeocello, singer and guitarist
- Graham Norton, Irish actor, UK chat show host
- Rosie O'Donnell, American comedian
- Eoin O'Duffy, Irish police commissioner, leader of the 'Blueshirts' and aide to Michael Collins
- Sinead O'Connor, singer
- Joe Orton, playwright
- Pier Paolo Pasolini, Italian director and writer
- Peter Pears, English singer
- Danny Pintauro, American actor ("Who's the Boss?")
- Plato
- Paula Poundstone, comedian
- Michael Portillo, former UK Defence Secretary and defeated leadership candidate
- Francis Poulenc, French composer
- Queen Pen, bisexual rap singer
- Rio Reiser, German musician ("Ton Steine Scherben")
- Christopher Rice, American author (son of Anne Rice)
- Adrienne Rich, American poet and critic
- Herb Ritts, American fashion photographer
- Svend Robinson, Canadian member of parliament
- Ernst Roehm, leader of the Nazi SA
- Hilary Rosen, former CEO of the RIAA
- RuPaul, AKA RuPaul Andre Charles, American drag queen
- Jason Saffer, AKA Jolene Sugarbaker, drag performer and comedian
- Dan Savage, American columnist
- Franz Schubert, Austrian composer
- David Sedaris, American essayist and radio personality
- Matthew Shepard, hate crime victim, violently murdered in Wyoming, subject of Emmy winning films The Laramie Project and The Matthew Shepard Story
- Bessie Smith, American blues singer
- Socrates, Greek philosopher
- Solon, Greek statesman
- Jimmy Somerville, singer (Bronski Beat, The Communards)
- Dusty Springfield, singer
- Gertrude Stein, American author, partner of Alice B. Toklas
- Michael Stipe, American singer (R.E.M.), film producer
- Gerry Studds, US politician
- Lucius Cornelius Sulla
- Andrew Sullivan, conservative journalist
- Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Russian composer
- Neil Tennant, British musician (Pet Shop Boys)
- Scott Thompson, Canadian comedian and actor (Kids in the Hall)
- Lily Tomlin, American comedian, actress
- Pussy Tourette, drag performer and singer
- Michel Tremblay, Canadian writer
- Esera Tuaolo, former NFL player
- Alan Turing, British mathematician, computer scientist and theorist
- Gianni Versace, Italian fashion designer
- Gore Vidal, American writer
- Tom Waddell, American sports
- Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford
- Andy Warhol, American artist and pop icon
- John Waters, American film director (Pink Flamingos)
- Oscar Wilde, Irish playwright and bon vivant
- Tennessee Williams, American playwright
- Walt Whitman, American poet (Leaves of Grass)
- Johann Joachim Winckelmann, German classical archaeologist and art historian
- Virginia Woolf, British author
- Klaus Wowereit, mayor of Berlin
- Will Young, British "UK Pop Idol" winner
- Felix Yussupov, Russian prince
- Pedro Zamora, Cuban AIDS activist, The Real World participant
The following list includes those that some people believe there is evidence the person was gay, lesbian or bisexual. More information about what is known about each individual's sexuality should be available in the individual's
biography.
- Akhenaton, Egyptian pharoah
- Hans Christian Andersen, Danish author
- Susan B. Anthony, American feminist and womens' suffrage activist
- Aristotle, Greek philosopher
- Cepillin, Mexican clown
- James Dean, American actor
- Jodie Foster, American actress
- Juan Gabriel
- George Gershwin
- Thomas Gray, English poet
- Adolf Hitler, German dictator
- T. E. Lawrence, British soldier
- Jesus of Nazareth [4] (http://www.eeeb.org/newtestament/id5.html)
- Lena Katina and Julia Volkova (t.A.T.u.), Russian pop group
- W. Somerset Maugham, British author
- Walter Mercado
- Pope Paul VI, head of the Roman Catholic Church (1963-78)
- Patrick Pearse, Irish patriot and leader of the 1916 Easter Rising
- Elvis Presley
- Princess Margaret of the United Kingdom, outed on new ITV programme as bisexual
- Johnny Ray Puerto Rican actor
- Luis Raul Puerto Rican actor and show host
- Camille Saint-Saens
- Victor Santiago, mayor in Puerto Rico, accused of sexual harrasment by two men
- Some of the members of The Village People group
- Sappho, Greek poet
- Siegfried & Roy, entertainers
- Nancy Lieberman, basketball player
- Cheryl Miller basketball player and coach
See also:
homophobia,
Homophobic hate speech,
The Closet,
List of transgendered people,
List of heterosexuals
