Gay closeted celebrities

Queen Latifah has yet to confirm her s*xuality with the public. After the allegations got out of hand, Cooper came out in an email to the journalist, Andrew Sullivan writing, “The fact is, I’m gay, always have been, always will be, and I couldn’t be any more happy, comfortable with myself, and proud.”

Although the decision to confirm his homos*xuality was ultimately his, Anderson was somewhat forced by the media to discuss his private, romantic life when he had clearly tried to keep that information to himself in the past. He said that he did not think it was “anyone else’s business” but that he believed in “standing up and being counted.”

Queen Latifah

Queen Latifah is an actress and talkshow host who has not ever spoken much about her s*xuality.

The actor said he realized he was gay when he was performing classics like Romeo and Juliet at the Utah Shakespeare Festival when he was growing up.

Jonathan Knight

Jonathan Knight is another boy band singer who was pushed out of the closet. I might tell you some people I had affairs with – maybe. Rock Hudson's agent, Henry Willson, used an arranged marriage (to Phyllis Gates in 1955) and leaks to tabloids to suppress rumors about the star.

During their 1958 divorce, Gates hired private detective Fred Otash to secretly record Rock admitting he was gay in order to negotiate alimony and property deals – highlighting the obstacles the studio and aides faced in trying to conceal his sexuality.

Raymond Burr

For over 30 years, TV's Perry Mason maintained a secret partnership with Robert Benevides while fabricating an elaborate heterosexual backstory.

The actress was "very, very nervous" about coming out of the closet publicly because she claimed she "just didn't want to be a lesbian." She said she "truly came out" at the Golden Globe Awards when Arrested Development was nominated in 2005.

She also opened up about her personal life on The Conversation With Amanda De Cadenet, saying she had previously considered it "strange" to be gay, mostly because she was not aware of too many publicly known gay women in the industry.

I had a lot of compassion for him because I knew how he was suffering with keeping this secret."

Barry Williams, who played the oldest son, said: "Had it ever come out that Robert Reed was gay, it probably would have caused the demise of the show."

After Reed died of colon lymphoma in 1992 at age 59, his death certificate details were made public, revealing he was also HIV-positive.

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Marlon Brando

Marlon Brando, the star of On the Waterfront and A Streetcar Named Desire – considered one of the best and most important actors of the 20th century – married three times and had 10 children.

Many closeted celebrities choose to keep their s*xuality a secret because they do not want it to destroy their careers, or endure scrutiny. But for those in the 1930s, '40s, '50s and beyond, authenticity came at too high a price.

While we now embrace diversity in the spotlight, it's bittersweet to look back and realize how many legends were denied the joy of living – and loving – out loud.

The media blew the arrest out of proportion and outed the celebrity.

But he was different from most men of his time – he never tried to hide his sexual escapades.

In 1976, he told a French journalist: "Like a large number of men, I, too, have had homosexual experiences – and I am not ashamed."

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Paul Lynde

Paul Lynde, the Hollywood Squares star, was known for his flamboyant comedy persona but never publicly addressed his sexuality.

He kept his sexuality a secret – and in 1954, married a woman named Marilyn Rosenberg, with whom he had a daughter. Off camera, he was an unhappy person. They might have conservative families but the media only cares about getting a juicy story out into the world.

Being outed without consent is a difficult experience that many celebrities have had to endure over the years.

Studio contracts, morality clauses and ruthless gossip columnists ensured that any hint of same-sex attraction could result in a swift fall from grace.

The singer had a sense of humor about the whole incident, even mocking it in a music video for his song "Outside." Several years later, George Michael admitted to hiding his true s*xuality because he did not want to upset his mother or have her worry about AIDS.

Lance Bass

Lance Bass is mostly known for being in the popular boy band, N'SYNC, which had hits like "Bye Bye Bye" and "Tearin' Up My Heart." He is known today as being a proud gay advocate but unfortunately, he did not get to make the decision to come out himself.

The actress and talkshow host is fairly active in the LGBTQ+ community. However, New York magazine contributing editor Mark Harris did not seem to take Quinto's feelings into consideration when he tweeted something that essentially ended up outing the actor to the world.

Quinto never outed himself with any "big announcement" but he did refer to himself as a "gay man" a few times during his interview with New York magazine.

Cook had defended the LGBTQ+ community in the past, saying people needed to "embrace immigration reform and eliminate discrimination of the LGBT community." He later confirmed that he was a "proud" gay man in an opinion piece for Bloomberg Businessweek.

Raven-Symone

Raven-Symone tried to keep her s*xuality a secret for many years but the Disney Channel star was outed as a lesbian when the tabloids published a story about her moving in with her girlfriend, AzMarie Livingston. The two live together in Symone's luxury New York City apartment and reportedly does not "care what her family thinks" and that she is a "lesbian and wants to live that way."

The actress did not speak much about her private life and has said that "it's about the work" when asked about it in the past.

Knight later confirmed his homos*xuality in a blog post but said that he had never "hidden the fact."

The singer said that he was also pressured by the celebrity blogger, Perez Hilton, clarifying that he was already gay and "living a gay lifestyle" but now he was being asked to talk about it. He also said that he felt "stupid" about having to make a public statement about his s*xuality.

He also commented that he realized that there was a lot that still needed to be "looked at and addressed." He has played a series of gay roles including one on Tori Spelling's TV show, So NoTORIous, and American Horror Story on FX.

Sources: people.com, eonline.com, huffingtonpost.com, huffingtonpost.com, independent.co.uk, dailymail.co.uk, usmagazine.com, huffingtonpost.com, rollingstone.com, people.com, huffingtonpost.com, forbes.com, out.com, dailymail.co.uk, nymag.com