The Human Rights Campaign, the country’s largest LGBTQ rights organization, is taking its LGBTQ equality message on the road with a multicity tour focused on changing more hearts and minds, particularly in red states.
The “American Dreams Tour” will kick off Wednesday in Columbus, Ohio, and travel to cities in predominantly Republican-led states through November. The tour’s goal, according to HRC, is to amplify LGBTQ people’s stories “at a time of rising political attacks and cultural erasure” and “celebrate the communities pushing back against hate and fighting for a future of equality for all.”
“For half a century, our movement has changed hearts and minds with our stories — Harvey Milk in the Castro, Pedro Zamora on the Real World, trans youth and parents coming forward in statehouses across the country. When people know who we really are, everything changes. This tour is about reclaiming that legacy,” Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, said in a statement. “We’re traveling to the places where harm is happening—and where hope is rising. We’re showing up for communities who’ve been told they don’t belong and reminding them, and the country, that they arethe American dream.”
The tour will “anchor” in six major cities — Columbus; Las Vegas; Washington, D.C.; Dallas; Atlanta; and Nashville, Tennessee — with other stops to be announced in the coming weeks, according to HRC. Each stop will be tailored to the issues queer people are facing in those particular locales. The Columbus stop, for example, will be centered on “Ohio’s legacy of LGBTQ+ activism while confronting today’s political backslide and barriers to HIV care,” according to HRC, while Atlanta’s stop will be in partnership with Atlanta Pride and will zero in on “Black LGBTQ+ leadership and community-led care models.”
The “American Dreams Tour” comes at a precarious time for LGBTQ rights — and particularly transgender rights. So far this year, nearly 600 anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced in statehouses across the U.S., according to a tally by the American Civil Liberties Union. And a report published last week by LGBTQ advocacy group GLAAD asserted that 300 anti-LGBTQ actions had come from the Trump administration since January. An NBC News analysis published in February found that lawmakers in at least nine states had recently introduced measures to try to chip away at same-sex couples’ right to marry.
“For the first time in decades, we’re actually seeing a backslide in LGBTQ+ rights across this country, and we’ve got to do something,” Robinson said Monday in an interview with MSNBC. “We’ve got to get back to basics in telling our stories and meeting people where they are, because we know that when we tell our stories, we not only change hearts and minds, we shift the way people behave, that they vote, that they advocate in their communities.”
When a celebrity comes out publicly as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer, it may no longer warrant a Time magazine cover or a prime-time television interview, but it’s nonetheless a meaningful revelation for the individual sharing their story and an important milestone for the community as a whole.
Psychologist Robert Eichberg, who co-founded National Coming Out Day with activist Jean O’Leary in 1988, spoke about the broader impact of a person coming out of the proverbial closet three decades ago: “Most people think they don’t know anyone gay or lesbian, and in fact everybody does. It is imperative that we come out and let people know who we are and disabuse them of their fears and stereotypes,” Eichberg said in a 1993 interview, according to his New York Times obituary.
National Coming Out Day is celebrated annually on Oct. 11, a date that was chosen to mark the anniversary of the 1987 National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, which drew hundreds of thousands of people to the nation’s capital. But lucky for us, LGBTQ people — celebrities or not — come out 365 days a year.
While it would be impossible to honor them all, here are just a few of the countless queer people who came out in 2023.
Noah Schnapp
Noah Schnapp in Paris, on Jan. 19.JM Haedrich / SIPA via AP file
“Stranger Things” star Noah Schnapp came out as gay in a TikTok video posted in January. In a written message that appeared on the video, the 19-year-old actor revealed that when he “finally told my friends and family I was gay after being scared in the closet for 18 years,” their response was simply: “We know.”
Bella Ramsey
Bella Ramsey in New York City, on May 1.Evan Agostini / Invision/AP file
“The Last of Us” star Bella Ramsey came out as gender-fluid in an interview published in The New York Times in January. The actor, who first rose to fame in HBO’s hit series “Game of Thrones,” told the paper that her “gender has always been very fluid” and said if she sees “nonbinary” as an option on a form, she will tick it. However, she added, “Being gendered isn’t something that I particularly like, but in terms of pronouns, I really couldn’t care less.”
Jakub Jankto
Jakub Jankto of Cagliari during a match in Turin, Italy, on Aug. 21. Jonathan Moscrop / Sportimage/Cal Sport Media via AP file
Czech Republic soccer player Jakub Jankto came out as gay in a video shared on social media in February. “I am homosexual, and I no longer want to hide myself,” he said in the video, which has nearly 18 million views on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Sparta Prague, the professional club Jankto was playing for at the time, retweeted the video, saying, “You have our support. Live your life, Jakube. Nothing else matters.”
Alison Brie
Alison Brie attends the Vanity Fair Oscar Party in Beverly Hills, Calif. on Mar. 12.Leon Bennett / FilmMagic via Getty Images file
“Freelance” and “GLOW” star Alison Brie came out as bisexual in a video for BuzzFeed News in February, where she and her husband, Dave Franco, were reading thirsty social media posts from fans about each other. At one point, Brie reads a tweet to her husband: “Listen, I am bisexual for a reason, and that reason is strictly to be used in a threesome by Dave Franco and Alison Brie.” Brie and Franco high-five, and then Brie says, “That’s also why I’m bisexual.” Franco responds, “You’ve been waiting for this tweet from someone you don’t know who they are or what they look like?” Brie shrugs and says, “Yeah.”
Mo’Nique
Mo’Nique appears in “My Name is Mo’Nique” in 2022.John Washington Jr.
Comedian and actor Mo’Nique came out as queer in her Netflix comedy special, “My Name Is Mo’Nique,” which debuted in April. She told a tearful story about how she never came out to her grandmother due to her grandmother’s tense relationship with Mo’Nique’s Uncle Tina, who was assigned female at birth but presented masculine, according to the Gay Times. Later in the special, Mo’Nique revealed that she came out to her husband, Sidney Hicks: “I said, ‘Daddy, I want to be with another woman sexually.’ And he look at me, so beautifully and so patient and so loving, and said, ‘B—-, me too.’”
Chloe Veitch
Chloe Veitch at the VIP Watch Party and Celebration for “Love Is Blind: The Live Reunion” in Los Angeles on April 16.John Salangsang / Variety via Getty Images
Chloe Veitch, the star of Netflix’s reality series “Too Hot To Handle,” came out in April in an interview with The Sun. She said “doing breath work forced me to dig deeper.” She added, “I realized, ‘This is what’s bothering you — you’re bisexual and you haven’t told anyone.’ I’ve definitely been battling it, to be honest. I mean, being in and out of little flings with girls. I felt like it was my dirty little secret so it has taken the weight off my shoulders.”
Lauv
Lauv performs during the iHeartRadio Jingle Ball in Washington, D.C., in 2022.Tasos Katopodis / Getty Images for iHeartRadio file
Lauv, the singer-songwriter known for his song “I Like Me Better,” came out in a TikTok in June. The video shows Lauv in what appears to be the back of a car under the text, “When ur dating a girl but ur also a little bit into men.” He added in the caption, “Does it have to be that big of a deal? i havent done much aside from kiss so tbh don’t wannna jump the gun but tbh i feel things and i dont wanna pretend i dont.” Many of his fans were supportive in comments, with one writing, “Lauv is lauv is lauv.”
Miss Benny
Miss Benny attends The Out100 Party in Hollywood, Calif. on Nov. 9.Presley Ann / Getty Images for Out.com file
The lead of Netflix’s show “Glamorous,” which also stars Kim Cattrall, came out as a transgender woman in a June essay for Time magazine. Miss Benny revealed that her character, Marco, would also transition in the show. She said she was afraid to come out as herself on a show featuring a trans character at a time when dozens of states have considered bills to restrict trans rights. “But then I am reminded that this fear is exactly why I wanted to include my transition in the show: Because I know that when I was a terrified queer kid in Texas, it was the queer joy I found in droplets online that guided me to my happiness,” she said.
Adore Delano
Adore Delano performs in San Francisco, on Aug. 12.Annie Lesser/imageSPACE / imageSPACE/Sipa USA via AP file
Former “RuPaul’s Drag Race”contestant Adore Delano came out as transgenderin July. In a video shared with her millions of Instagram followers, Delano said she initially came out as trans when she was a teenager but went back in the closet when she competed on “American Idol” in 2008.
Shinjiro Atae
Shinjiro Atae in Hollywood, Calif., on March 27.Frazer Harrison / Getty Images file
Japanese pop star Shinjiro Atae came out as gay at a fan event in Tokyo in July. “For years, I struggled to accept a part of myself … But now after all I have been through, I finally have the courage to open up to you about something,” he told his fans, according to the AP. “I am a gay man.” Atae, who is now based in Los Angeles, performed for 15 years in the popular group AAA before taking a break in 2020.
Gabby Windey
Gabby Windey on “The Bachelor.”Craig Sjodin / ABC via Getty Images file
Former “Bachelorette” star and Denver Broncos cheerleader Gabby Windeyrevealed that she’s in a relationship with writer and comedian Robby Hoffman. In an Instagram post shared in August, Windey included several photos of herself and Hoffman and cheekily wrote, “Told you I’m a girls girl!!”
Wayne Brady
Wayne Brady at the American Music Awards, in Los Angeles, in 2022.Chris Pizzello / Invision/AP file
“Let’s Make a Deal” host Wayne Brady came out as pansexual in an interview with People magazine that was published in August. LGBTQ media advocacy group GLAAD defines pansexual as a descriptor for someone “who has the capacity to form enduring physical, romantic, and/ or emotional attractions to any person, regardless of gender identity.”
Ncuti Gatwa
Ncuti Gatwa in London in 2022.Samir Hussein / WireImage
“Sex Education” star Ncuti Gatwa came out publicly as queer in an interview with Elle UK published in August. Gatwa, who played one of the Kens in this summer’s wildly popular “Barbie” blockbuster, shared a touching story about meeting “another queer Rwandan person” at Manchester Pride several years ago. At the time, he told the magazine, “I thought I was the only one in the world.”
Joe Locke
Joe Locke in London on July 13, 2023.Fred Duval / SOPA Images/Sipa USA via AP file
“Heartstopper” star Joe Locke plays an openly gay teenager who faces bullying for who he is in the popular coming-of-age series based on Alice Oseman’s graphic novels, but Locke didn’t publicly discuss his sexuality until August.
“People have assumed and written it,” he told Teen Vogue of his sexuality, “and I haven’t ever corrected anyone because I haven’t felt the need to. But I’ve never specifically stated my sexuality.”
He told the magazine that he can’t recall when he first knew he was gay, but that he’s been openly gay since he was about 12.
Sufjan Stevens
Sufjan Stevens.Colin Young-Wolff / Invision / AP file
Singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens seemingly came out in an Instagram post in October about his late partner, Evans Richardson, to whom he dedicated his latest album, “Javelin.” Stevens wrote that Richardson, who died in April, “was one of those rare and beautiful ones you find only once in a lifetime — precious, impeccable, and absolutely exceptional in every way.”
Jade Jolie
Jade Jolie at the Los Angeles premiere of “The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula: Titans” in Hollywood, Calif. in 2022.Araya Doheny / Getty Images file
“RuPaul’s Drag Race” Season 5 contestant Jade Jolie came out as transgender in a short post on X in October, writing, “Deciding to choose myself and move forward with my transition.”
Che Flores
Che Flores referees a basketball game in Phoenix on Nov. 21.Chris Coduto / Getty Images file
Che Flores became the NBA’s first out nonbinary and transgender referee after coming out in October. Flores, who uses they/them pronouns, told GQ being misgendered as she/her “felt like a little jab in the gut,” and that after coming out they could be more comfortable in the world and at work. “I just think of having younger queer kids look at somebody who’s on a high-profile stage and not using it,” Flores told GQ. “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.”
Karan Brar
Karan Brar at the premiere of “Murder Mystery 2” in Los Angeles on March 28.Charley Gallay / Getty Images for Netflix file
Karan Brar, who starred in the comedy “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” and the Disney Channel’s “Jessie,” penned an emotional essay for Teen Vogue in November in which he came out as bisexual. He wrote that his yearslong struggle with his sexuality and grief over the loss of his friend and fellow Disney star Cameron Boyce led him to develop a “deeply unhealthy relationship with alcohol” until he checked himself in to an inpatient treatment center in 2020. “I still keep things close to the vest online, but the gap between who I am and who I appear to be is shrinking,” Brar wrote. “It’s not closed yet, and it may never be.”
Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish performs in Leeds, England on Aug. 25.Matthew Baker / Getty Images for ABA file
Singer-songwriter Billie Eilish said she was surprised when she found out people didn’t know she isn’t straight. The 22-year-old described being attracted to women in a November interview with Variety, saying of women, “I’m attracted to them as people. I’m attracted to them for real.” Earlier this month, she told Variety at an event that she didn’t intend for her comment to be major news. “But I kind of thought, ‘Wasn’t it obvious?’ I didn’t realize people didn’t know,” she said. “I just don’t really believe in it. I’m just 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.”
About 710,000 (59.2%) of the same-sex couple households were married, and about 500,000 (41.7%) were unmarried.
The number of married same-sex households started to outnumber unmarried same-sex households in 2016, following the Supreme Court’s landmark 2015 Obergefell vs. Hodges ruling, which effectively legalized gay marriage across the U.S.
The release of this new data coincides with the advancement of landmark legislation that codifies federal protection for marriages of same-sex couples. The Respect for Marriage Act was approved 61-36 in the Senate and now returns to the House for a final vote before it can go to President Joe Biden, who has said he looks forward to enacting it.
Hawaii has the highest percentage of same-sex couple households of any state, at 1.4%, followed by Oregon and Delaware, both at 1.3%, the Census Bureau data reveals. The District of Columbia, however, blows them all out of the water at 2.5%.
South Dakota has the lowest percentage of same-sex couple households of any state, at 0.4%, followed by Kansas, Mississippi, Idaho, North Dakota and Montana, which are all at 0.5%.
There were some notable differences between same-sex and opposite-sex households.
Same-sex households, for example, are significantly more likely than opposite-sex households to be interracial: In 2021, 31.6% of married same-sex couples were interracial, compared to 18.4% of married opposite-sex couples.
Opposite-sex households, however, were much more likely to have children under 18. In 2021, 38.2% of married opposite-sex couples and 18% of married same-sex couples had children under 18 in their household.
There were also some notable differences between female-female and male-male households, which comprised 52% and 48% of total same-sex households, respectively.
For example, the median household income in male same-sex couple households ($116,800) was 26% higher than in female same-sex couple households ($92,470).
