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Culture November 27, 2016
Have you ever had a secret you desperately wished you could tell? Well, you’re in good company.
When Ash Beckham delivered a TED talk about coming out of the closet, many other women were in the same position. They were afraid of what their families, friends or loved ones would think of them if they were to tell their secrets.
Here are the stories of the women who became comfortable and confident enough to publicly come out.
On Oprah’s show “Master Class,” Ellen Degeneres spoke about her coming out story. She opens the video with “I didn’t think I was going to come out.” She battled with her sexuality for many years. In 1997, on her TV show “Ellen,” Ellen’s character on the show came out as gay; she later revealed that she came out vicariously through her character.
When she filmed that episode, she cried every time she said “I’m gay.” Now happily married to her wife, Portia, Ellen is one of TV’s greatest advocates for LGBTQ rights.
READ MORE: Ellen DeGeneres Tears up at Obama’s Medal of Freedom Ceremony (VIDEO)
Robin Roberts, a news anchor for “Good Morning America,”publicly came out in 2013 on one of her Facebook posts. She addressed the kindness of her sister as well as her girlfriend of 10 years, Amber, who supported her public confession.
According to a video on HuffPost Live, members of the LGBTQ community and Robin’s family knew she was gay for some time. She wasn’t necessarily hiding it from anyone but she had not announced it publicly until posting the news on Facebook.
A photo posted by Robin Roberts (@robinrobertsgma) on
In 2014, the beauty queen, actress and model became the first Miss Spain to publicly reveal that she is in a lesbian relationship. She has been Miss Spain, Miss World and Miss Universe Spain almost consecutively.
She came to the decision to reveal her sexuality “organically and impulsively.” The beauty queen was surprised to learn that her sexuality was news but was happy with the positive effect it has had on the world. She insists that is not the only queer beauty queen.
In February 2014, Ellen Page spoke at a Time to Thrive Conference. In her speech she describes what it feels like to be a closeted lesbian woman “You go home and feel like you can’t tell your parents the truth about yourself … wondering what on earth is gonna happen to you can crush you. It’s painful.”
When she announced that she is gay she said, “I’m tired of hiding and I’m tired of lying from omission.” Near the end of the speech she passionately cries “Love, the beauty of it, the joy of it and, yes, even the pain of it is the most incredible gift to give and to receive as a human being. And we deserve to love fully, equally, without shame and without compromise.”
READ MORE: Soccer Star Abby Wambach Scores Off the Field with Mommy Blogger
Patricia Velasquez, the first Latina supermodel to ever come out as a lesbian, has a story of fear and acceptance. Being of Venezuelan and Indigenous descent, it was especially hard for her to reveal her sexuality. She had successfully hidden her relationships for years in Venezuela despite being very popular and she had intended to keep it that way.
But after being afraid and silent for so long, she was determined to tell the one person she knew needed to hear the news first: her mother. After their long conversation, her mother replied “I don’t understand, it’s true. I can’t tell you that I ever will. It’s hard for me to understand that world, but I’m here for you and I love you.”
Ursula Halligan is the political editor of TV3, Ireland’s main independent television station. She, like many other women of her generation, felt trapped as a lesbian and a Catholic. She was taught and believed that being gay was wrong so she never admitted to anyone, but especially not herself, that she was gay.
It wasn’t until the referendum in Ireland to legalize gay marriage that she was finally able to reveal her true self. “Twenty years ago or 30 years ago, it would have taken more courage than I had to tell the truth,” she said via the Irish Times. “Today, it’s still difficult but it can be done with hope – hope that most people in modern Ireland embrace diversity and would understand that I’m trying to be helpful to other gay people leading small, frightened, incomplete lives.”
Beauty vlogger and YouTube Star Ingrid Nilsen came out last year in a 19-minute long video on her channel. One of the first things she says in the video is “I’m gay!” while throwing her hands up and then tearing up as she says, “It feels so good to say that.” She explains that she always knew she was gay ever since the age of four but denied her sexuality for many years.
During a trip to New York she heard a song with the lyrics “I cannot deny my true self.” That galvanized her to come out to her family, friends and YouTube audience. The advice she gives to anyone else is “I’m living my authentic life and so should you.”
READ MORE: David Bowie’s Sexual Liberation Promotes Diversity
