The 30 Best LGBTQ+ Actors

Opening up about one’s sexual orientation or gender identity is not easy.

Even today, when these topics stopped being taboo in our society, it’s still difficult to talk about them without facing bullying or disapproval on social media, which is our public place in current times.

Celebrities always mark tendencies and become role models for a lot of people around the globe.

When they ‘come out of the closet’ and make it public that they belong to the LGBTQ community, they’re opening the path for more people to do the same.

Here is a list of 30 actors who decided to go public with their sexual orientation and gender identity. You’ll see a lot of famous and talented names that you probably didn’t know belong to the LGBTQ community.

Elliot Page

He’s a Canadian transgender actor formerly known as Ellen Page. He has worked in several films both theatrical and TV, and his most recent and popular role has been Viktor/Vanya Hargreeves in Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy.

Among his most relevant films are Hard Candy, X-Men: The Last Stand, Juno, Whip It, Inception, and Flatliners.

In 2014, Elliot, who at that time was still a female, came out as gay. In 2020, he began his transition and showed all the progress through his social media accounts. He goes for he/his, they/them pronouns.

Jonathan Groff

With a rich stage career on Broadway, Jonathan Groff jumped to the big screen voicing Kristoff in Frozen and reprising this role in the sequel shorts and Frozen II. He played agent Smith in Matrix Resurrections replacing Hugo Weaving and giving the character a new perspective.

He will be soon on the big screen under the orders of M. Night Shyamalan in Knock at the Cabin. Groff’s roles in TV include Jesse St. James in Glee, Patrick Murray in HBO’s Looking, and Holder Ford in Netflix’s Mindhunter.

He came out as gay in 2009, and in an interview he said about coming out that “When I came out, I made peace with the fact that maybe I wouldn’t be a huge movie star or a huge TV star. But I’d rather be a working actor and not hiding anything in my personal life.”

“Weirdly, after I came out, I began to get a lot more film and television work. That’s all a way of saying that the reason I don’t mind talking about it over and over is because that is the way acceptance happens, and that’s the way you break down those walls.”

Ben Whishaw

For a long time, this British actor kept his personal life a secret, stating that he saw no point as an actor in making it public.

In 2014, he ‘came out of the closet’, and in an interview for The Independent he said: “It’s hard to have a conversation with people you’ve known your whole life about a very intimate thing. It’s massively weighted with all sorts of stuff, whatever the wider world is saying… It’s an intimate and private and difficult conversation for most people.”

Whishaw has been working on stage, films, and TV series alike. His most notorious roles in films are Jean-Baptiste Grenouille (Perfume: The Story of a Murderer), Rene Antall (The International), Q (Skyfall), and Michael Banks (Mary Poppins Returns).

He also is the voice of Paddington bear, both in films and TV series. Regarding TV series, he’s mostly known for A Very English Scandal, Fargo, and This Is Going To Hurt.

Zachary Quinto

Quinto gained popularity thanks to his role of Sylar in the sci-fi TV series Heroes. Then, he played Chad Warwick in American Horror Story: Murder House and Oliver Thredson in American Horror Story: Asylum.

In films, he’s famous for his portrayal of Spock in the reboot of the Star Trek movies. He publicly came out as gay in 2011, a decision he took after Jamey Rodemeyer’s suicide.

He was quoted by the Huffpost: “In light of Jamey’s death – it became clear to me in an instant that living a gay life without publicly acknowledging it – is simply not enough to make any significant contribution to the immense work that lies ahead on the road to complete equality. Our society needs to recognize the unstoppable momentum toward unequivocal civil equality for every gay lesbian bisexual and transgendered citizen of this country.”

Ezra Miller

Although Miller has been on the news for their erratic and troubling behaviour, we can’t deny they are a terrific actor since their debut role in Afterschool.

His groundbreaker film was We Need To Talk About Kevin, followed by The Perks Of Being A Wallflower. In 2012, they came out as queer, although they clarified that they don’t like labels. Also, Miller affirmed to go for they/their pronouns.

In general terms, they considered themselves non-binary.

Tituss Burgess

His career is mostly on stage in Broadway musicals, and he’s famous for his high-tenor voice.

He gained wide popularity for his participation in Netflix’s Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt in the role of Titus Andromedon for which he got five nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award.

He’s a happily married gay man.

Luke Evans

This Welsh actor and singer started building his career on the stage, performing in popular London’s West End musicals like Rent, Miss Saigon, and Piaf, until he made his debut on the big screen in the Clash of the Titans 2010 remake.

Since then, he has been featured in many action and thriller movies like Immortals (2011), The Raven (2012), and The Three Musketeers (2011).

In 2013, he became the villain in the Fast and Furious franchise, impersonating Owen Shaw in Fast & Furious 6, and he also was part of The Hobbit trilogy as Bard the Bowman.

In 2017, Evans played Gaston, the antagonist in The Beauty and The Beast live action remake by Disney, where he could show his on stage musical formation. He’s openly gay and never hid it, although for privacy matters he tries to keep his life away from the press.

Jim Parsons

Parsons became famous for his role as Sheldon Cooper in The Big Bang Theory sitcom that lasted 12 seasons. He’s gay and has been married for more than ten years to art director Todd Spiewak.

BD Wong

Every time I hear his name, the first thing that comes to my mind is a dinosaur. BD Wong played Dr Henry Wu in the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World trilogies, but his career is far richer.

He has worked on Broadway, and one of his most important roles has been Song Liling in M. Butterfly, for which he won several awards. He’s also known for his roles in TV series such as Dr George Huang on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Father Ray Mukada on Oz, Dr John Lee on Awake, and Hugo Strange in Gotham.

He has always been openly gay, and currently, he’s married to Richert John Frederickson Schnorr.

Jesse Tyler Ferguson

This American actor is famous for portraying Mitchell Pritchett in the sitcom Modern Family.

This role earned him five consecutive nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. Just like Mitchell in the series, Jesse is openly gay and he’s currently a happy married man.

Brandon Flynn

This young American actor gained popularity for playing Justin Foley in the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why. He also has a recurring role in the TV series Ratched. He’s openly gay.

Chaz Bono

Chaz Salvatore Bono is Cher and Sonny Bono’s son. He’s an American writer, musician, actor and trans man.

Originally born as Chastity Sun Bono, when he still identified as a woman, he came out as a lesbian. Between 2008 and 2010, Bono began his gender transition.

Neil Patrick Harris

He is an American actor, singer, writer, producer, and television host, who has been working since a very young age. Recently, Patrick Harris is known for his roles as Barney Stinson in How I met your mother and Count Olaf in Netflix’s A Series of Unfortunate Events.

He has hosted the Tony Awards ceremony and the Oscars. In films, he recently was part of the cast of Matrix Resurrections. He came out as gay in 2006 and he’s married to American actor and professional chef David Burtka. They had twins, a son and a daughter, via a surrogate mother.

Wentworth Miller

This American-British actor and screenwriter is famous for his groundbreaking role of Michael Scofield in the Fox series Prison Break. He later joined the CW The Flash cast as Leonard Snart / Captain Cold.

He came out as gay in 2013 after years of being closeted and dealing with depression.

Sir Ian McKellen

Gandalf from Lord of the Rings and Magneto from X-Men are two iconic characters that have been immortalized by Sir Ian McKellen.

After 64 years of activity in theatre, films, and TV, his career is rich, contemplating many genres. Although his homosexuality was no secret to his fellow actors, he came out to the public in 1988.

He was a pioneer in publicly being gay in a time when prejudices and hate were the common reactions.

Harry Styles

I think he needs no introductions. This ex-One Direction that is currently making his path on the big screen is very secretive and private about his sexuality. And he has the right to be.

So, he’s on this list not because he’s openly something but for his ambiguity and honesty about hating labels and keeping something personal as his sexual orientation for himself.

He’s an advocate for the LGBT community, considered an icon and reference among his LGBT fans.

Alan Cumming

This Scottish actor, who has worked on stage, in films, and on TV, is bisexual. Cumming has a long career.

In films, his most famous roles are in Emma, GoldenEye and as Nightcrawler in X2 (X-Men 2), Loki in Son of the Mask, and Fegan Floop in the Spy Kids trilogy.

His works in TV series include Billie Blaikie in The L Word, Eli Gold in The Good Wife, and Dr. Dylan Reinhart in Instinct.

Justice Smith

This American actor gained popularity when he played Franklin Webb in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. He also played Tim Goodman in Pokémon Detective Pikachu and Theodore Finch in All the Bright Places.

In 2020, he came out as queer in a post on his Instagram. Currently, he’s dating actor Nicholas L. Ashe.

T.R. Knight

This American actor is famous for his role as Dr George O’Malley in Grey’s Anatomy, where he was part of the main cast during the first five seasons.

Currently, he plays Davey Bowden in HBO’s The Flight Attendant. He’s gay and is married to Patrick B. Leahy, a ballet dancer and writer.

Nathan Lane

Nathan Lane has been bright on stage, films, and TV alike, with a career spanning more than 40 years. In theater, his credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Waiting for Godot, and Angels in America.

In films, he’s known for being Timon’s voice in The Lion King, and for starring in The Birdcage and The Producers.

In TV, he has appeared in Modern Family, The Good Wife, and his role of Lewis Michener in Penny Dreadful: City of Angels, Teddy Dimas in Only Murders in the Building, and Ward McAllister in The Gilded Age.

He’s openly gay and married to theatre producer and writer Devlin Elliott.

Richard Chamberlain

This American actor and singer had his peak of popularity in the 80s thanks to his roles of Casanova in the telefilm of the same name, Ralph de Bricassart in the ABC’s miniseries The Thorn Birds, and Pilot-Major John Blackthorne in the Shogun miniseries.

He remained ‘in the closet’ for most of his career due to a matter of privacy and fear of losing acting opportunities. He was outed as gay in a Women French magazine in 1989, but he didn’t confirm it until 2003 when he published his autobiography Shattered Love: A Memoir.

Keiynan Lonsdale

This young Australian actor was part of the cast of Love, Simon, and he affirmed that his role helped him to come to terms with his sexuality.

He’s also known for his role of Wally West/Kid Flash on The CW series The Flash (2015–2020) and Legends of Tomorrow (2017–2018), he also was part of The Divergent Series: Insurgent (2015) and The Finest Hours (2016).

Kristian Nairn

You may know this Irish actor for his role of Hodor in Game of Thrones, and recently he played Wee John Feeney on the HBO Max series Our Flag Means Death. Hodor was his first job as an actor, he usually works as a DJ. He’s openly gay.

Dan Levy

This Canadian actor is a multitasking person, he’s known for being a writer, director, comedian, showrunner, host, and producer as well.

He’s famous for creating, along with his father Eugene Levy, Schitt’s Creek. Also, Dan and Eugene star in the series.

This sitcom was a huge success during the six seasons it lasted, and Dan was the first person to win a Primetime Emmy Award in all four major disciplines in a single year: producing, writing, directing, and acting.

Although he doesn’t like labels, he said he’s gay and he’s been ‘out of the closet’ since 2008.

Sean Hayes

Famous for playing Jack McFarland on the NBC sitcom Will & Grace, this American actor, comedian, and producer has won several awards and accolades for this character.

For many years he was reluctant to talk openly about his sexuality. In 2010, he implied he was gay during an interview, and later in 2014, he announced his marriage to his partner Scott Icenogle.

Chris Colfer

This American actor, singer, and author gained popularity for portraying Kurt Hummel on the television musical Glee (2009–2015). Besides his roles in films and TV, he’s a successful children’s book author.

He’s gay and he’s currently in a relationship with actor and producer Will Sherrod.

Billy Porter

Porter’s career origin is in Broadway, where he started acting in musicals.

In TV, he’s known for his role of Pray Tell in Pose. He’s gay and he has been out since he was 16 years old.

Dyllón Burnside

This American actor and singer gained popularity thanks to his role as Ricky Evangelista in the TV series Pose. He defined himself as queer and not gay.

He played Ronald Flowers in the new Netflix series Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.

Olly Alexander

This British singer and actor is known for being the lead singer of Years & Years and for his performance as Ritchie Tozer in the Channel 4 drama series, It’s a Sin.

He always has been openly gay, and also an advocate for LGBT rights. He has spoken about his struggles with depression, eating disorders, self-harm, and how he fights homophobia, racism, ableism, and sexism.

Anthony Rapp

He is the original actor who played Mark Cohen in the Broadway musical Rent. He reprised this role in the film version of Rent from 2005.

He also is the original actor in playing Lucas in the musical If/Then in 2014. Through different stages in his life, he has identified as queer and bisexual. He doesn’t like labels so much.

Since 2017, he’s a regular in Star Trek: Discovery, where he plays Lieutenant/Lt. Commander Paul Stamets.

Now you know the best LGBTQ+ actors, why not check out the 30 Best LGBTQ+ Actresses?