"I sit on the tailgate of my pickup truck, and I meditate, and I talk to God," country musician Ty Herndon told People. "That's really all I need to know. I have a connection to something bigger than myself, and no one's going to tell me that I can't have it. We get to choose who we love, and that includes God, and he loves us back."
"I am tired of hiding and I am tired of lying by omission," the actress said on Valentine's Day at the Human Rights Campaign's Time to Thrive conference benefiting LGBT youth. "I suffered for years because I was scared to be out. My spirit suffered, my mental health suffered and my relationships suffered. And I'm standing here today, with all of you, on the other side of all that pain."
VIDEO: Ellen Page Comes Out as Gay: 'I Am Tired of Lying by Omission'
"I am a gay man and I am happy to be one," said the NFL prospect during an interview with ESPN's Outside the Lines in February 2014. Sam encouraged younger players who are afraid to make that kind of statement to follow his lead. "They shouldn’t be afraid of who they are. They should be comfortable in their own skin."
"I wish I wasn't the kid in the classroom raising his hand and saying, 'I'm different.' If I had my way, someone else would have already done this. Nobody has, which is why I'm raising my hand," wrote first openly-gay NBA player Jason Collins in a Sports Illustrated essay in May 2013.
"It’s become clear to me that by remaining silent on certain aspects of my personal life for so long, I have given some the mistaken impression that I am trying to hide something – something that makes me uncomfortable, ashamed or even afraid. This is distressing because it is simply not true," wrote the longtime newscaster in an email to The Daily Beast in 2012. "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."
After getting arrested for lewd conduct in a Beverly Hills park restroom in April 1998, the musician apologized for his behavior, but not his sexuality in an interview with CNN. "I do not feel shame, neither do I think I should."
While promoting his lead in the stage revival of Harvey in the summer of 2012, the Big Bang Theory actor casually revealed in a New York Times profile that he is gay and has been in a relationship for 10 years. "I didn't think it was still that much hoopla, and that was really kind of rewarding," he told Out afterward. "That's progress — progress that I'm really happy to be a part of, making what was extraordinary ordinary without being boring, for God's sake."
"I can finally get married! Yay government! So proud of you," tweeted the child star in August 2013, weeks after the Supreme Court struck down the gay marriage ban.
STORY: Supreme Court Strikes Down Gay Marriage Ban: Hollywood's Best Tweets
"These years in silence and reflection made me stronger and reminded me that acceptance has to come from within and that this kind of truth gives me the power to conquer emotions I didn't even know existed," the singer wrote on his website in 2010. "I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man. I am very blessed to be who I am."
"I am grateful for my entire family, my longtime girlfriend, Amber, and friends as we prepare to celebrate a glorious new year together," she wrote in a Facebook note in December 2013. She then said on-air, "I have never been happier or healthier than I am right now."
After guest-starring as a lesbian character on an episode of Will & Grace in 2002, the comedian came out onstage while performing at Caroline's Comedy Club in New York. "It took me a while to understand and to figure out all that things that made me me, where I was most comfortable, who I was, and how I was going to define my life," she then said in an interview with Diane Sawyer. "And I found the coat that fit me."
The comedienne publicly acknowledged her relationship at a Las Vegas equality rally in 2008, also saying, "When my wife and I leave California, I want my marriage to be recognized in Nevada, Arizona, all the way to New York. How can you stop people from loving each other? How can you get upset about love?…I'm proud to be a woman, I'm proud to be black woman and I'm proud to be gay."
"And again, as a gay man I look at that and say there’s a hopelessness that surrounds it, but as a human being I look at it and say ‘Why? Where’s this disparity coming from, and why can’t we as a culture and society dig deeper to examine that?’ We’re terrified of facing ourselves," the actor said in a New York magazine profile in 2011, on the topic of gay teen suicides.
After her character on her ABC sitcom, Ellen, came out of the closet in April 1997, the comedienne noted her own sexuality in a now-iconic Time magazine cover story. "I always thought I could keep my personal life separate from my professional life. I mean, I really tried to figure out every way to avoid answering that question for as long as I could…Now, I feel completely comfortable with myself, and I don't have to be fearful about something damaging my career if it gets out, because now I'm in control of it — sort of."
"Rather than ignore those who choose to publish their opinions without actually talking to me, I am happy to dispel any rumors or misconceptions and am quite proud to say that I am a very content gay man living my life to the fullest and feel most fortunate to be working with wonderful people in the business I love," said the actor in 2006 in a People magazine story, also the medium of choice for Lance Bass and Clay Aiken.
"In an ideal world, I wouldn't be doing this video, because it shouldn't matter," said the Olympic diver in a YouTube video in 2013, the same format that Nickelodeon actor Lucas Cruikshank preferred to come out as well. "“I think people are going to make a big deal of this…I mean, is it a big deal? I don’t think so."
"I already did my coming out a thousand years ago, in the Stone Age," said the filmmaker when accepting her Cecil B. Demille award at the Golden Globes in 2013. "Those very quaint days when a fragile young girl would open up to friends and family and co-workers then gradually to everyone that knew her, everyone she actually met."