List of gay, lesbian or bisexual people
This is a list of confirmed and debated famous gay, lesbian or bisexual people (Lesbigay for short). The historical definition of a lesbigay person has changed greatly over time -- in fact, the word "gay" wasn't used to describe sexual orientation until the 20th century. See homosexuality for more about the primary (and by far the most controversial) distinguishing characteristic of GLBs.
Some historical figures on this list wouldn't be considered lesbigay by today's standards, but they are included here because they were known to have had same-gender relationships. But even by today's standards, a relationship or two doesn't necessarily mean one is bisexual. Many people who identify as gay or lesbian have had different-gender relationships in their youth, and many who identify as heterosexual have experimented with same-sex relationships. Due to social norms that have remained consistent throughout history, little information about such matters when discussing historical figures is available; therefore, one can only make educated guesses based on limited evidence.
Note that several of the people on this list were prosecuted for their behavior under existing "sodomy laws".
Wikipedians: Edit this list with caution, because "outing" living individuals can lead to a charge of libel. It has not been tested whether Wikipedia's sponsor, Bomis, is liable for libel in the 'pedia. Furthermore, "outing" historical figures no longer alive to define their own sexual orientation will inevitably lead to countless pointless debates. In either case, cite evidence on the individual's biography page for why you have added him or or her to this list. It is important that evidence about living persons be a self-description by that individual--evidence of homosexual behavior is insufficient, because some individuals who experiment with same-sex relationships do not describe themselves as lesbigay.
Please help move the following list of people into one of the lists below depending on whether or not the sexual orientation of these people is debated
- Roberta Achtenberg, American Politician
- Horatio Alger, American Author
Kevin Aviance, dance music singer
- Tallulah Bankhead, American actress
- Samuel Barber, American composer
- Alan Bates, UK actor
- Clive Barker, Author, director, artist. Known primarily for his work in the horror genre
- Brody (The Distillers) she claimed at a concert in Phoenix on November 17, 2002, she was dedicating a song to her wife.
- Willa Cather, American author
- Montgomery Clift, American actor
- Roy Cohn, American lawyer and henchman of Joseph McCarthy
- Aaron Copland, American composer
- Aleister Crowley, British occultist
- Samuel Delaney, science fiction author
- Ani DiFranco, American folk singer
- Divine, American actor
- Perry Ellis, clothing designer
- Bruce Lehman, director of the USPTO under the Clinton administration
- David Geffen, music producer and recording industry executive
- Gustav III of Sweden
- Gustav V of Sweden
- Manos Hadjidakis, Greek composer
- Hadrian, Emperor of Rome
- Hedda Lettuce, drag performer
- Joan Jett, musician
- Billie Jean King, world tennis champion
- David Kopay, American football player
- Lady Bunny, drag performer
- Bjorn Lomborg, critic of environmentalism
- Ashley MacIsaac, Canadian musician
- W. Somerset Maugham, British author
- Amelie Mauresmo, French Tennis player
- James Merrill, American poet
- Richard Morel, American DJ, singer and music producer
- Morrissey, lead singer for The Smiths
- Me'shell N'Degeocello, singer and guitarist
- Queen Pen, American Rap Singer
- Terence Rattigan English playwright
- Ernst Roehm, leader of the Nazi SA, killed by Hitler
- Sappho, Greek poet from the Isle of Lesbos, from whom the term lesbian comes
- Bessie Smith, American blues singer
- Chris Smith, British minister of culture
- Pussy Tourette, drag performer
- Umberto II of Italy
- Ludwig Wittgenstein, Austrian Philosopher
- Virginia Woolf, British author
Persons of confirmed sexual orientation
The following list includes those people who are self-proclaimed lesbigay or someone whose sexual orientation is not debated.
- Edward Albee, American Playwright, author of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
- Alexander the Great
- Chad Allen, American actor
- W. H. Auden, British poet
- Augustus Caesar
- James Baldwin, American author
- Amanda Bearse, American actress (Married...with Children), director
- Alison Bechdel, American cartoonist (Dykes to Watch Out For)
- Sandra Bernhard, American comedienne, singer, author and actress
- Mark Bingham, United Airlines flight 93 passenger
- Chastity Bono, American activist, daughter of Cher and Sonny Bono
- Michel Marc Bouchard, Canadian playwright most known for his hit play "Les feluettes".
- Easter Bradford, American musician, actor and human rights activist
- Scott Brison, Canadian member of Parliament
- Benjamin Britten, English composer
- William S. Burroughs, American Beat author (Naked Lunch, Junky)
- Truman Capote, American author
- Luis Cernuda, Spanish playwright
- Graham Chapman, British comedian
- Margaret Cho, American actress and comedienne
- Kate Clinton, American comedian
- Jean Cocteau, French director and artist, lover of Jean Marais
- Quentin Crisp, British actor and wit
- Libby Davies, Canadian member of parliament
- Bertrand Delanoë, mayor of Paris
- Lea Delaria, American comedian, jazz singer, author
- Hilton Edwards, actor, co-founder of Dublin's Gate Theatre and partner of Micheál MacLiammoir
- Melissa Etheridge, American singer, musician, composer
- Harvey Fierstein, American actor, playwright (Torch Song Trilogy)
- Rupert Everett, British actor
- E. M. Forster, British author
- Pim Fortuyn, conservative Dutch politician
- Michel Foucault, French scholar
- Barney Frank (D, MA), American Representative
- Stephen Fry, British actor, comedian, and novelist
- Ellen DeGeneres, American comedian
- Jean Genet, French writer
- Boy George, British musician
- Andre Gide, French novelist and Nobel Laureate
- Candace Gingrich, activist, half-sister of former U.S. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich
- Allen Ginsberg, Beat poet (Howl)
- Marc Hall, Canadian student and activist
- Vincent Hanley Irish radio DJ who died of an Aids related illness
- Lou Harrison, American composer
- Nigel Hawthorne, British actor
- Harry Hay, American gay rights activist, founder of the Mattachine Society
- Sean Hayes, American actor
- Rock Hudson, American actor
- Christopher Isherwood, British novelist
- Tony Jackson American pianist & composer
- Elton John, British singer, musician, composer
- Mychal F. Judge, Franciscan priest, WTC victim
- Julius Caesar
- John Maynard Keynes, British economist, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize
- James Kirkwood, American playwright (A Chorus Line)
- k.d. lang, Canadian country and blues singer, musician
- Nathan Lane, American actor and singer
- Liberace, American musician
- Federico García Lorca, Spanish poet and playwright, martyred in the Spanish Civil War
- Audre Lorde, poet, author
- Greg Louganis, American olympic diver
- Micheál MacLiammoir actor and co-founder of Dublin's Gate Theatre
- Thomas Mann, German author
- Robert Mapplethorpe, American artist
- Jean Marais, French actor, lover of Jean Cocteau
- Christopher Marlowe, Elizabethan playwright
- Armistead Maupin, American writer (Tales of the City)
- Ian McKellen, British actor (X-Men, The Lord of the Rings)
- Réal Ménard, member of the Canadian parliament
- Freddie Mercury, British lead singer for Queen
- George Michael, British singer
- Michelangelo Buonarroti, Italian Renaissance artist
- Harvey Milk, American politician
- Sal Mineo, American actor
- Yukio Mishima, Japanese author
- David Norris, Irish senator and James Joyce scholar [1]
- Graham Norton, Irish actor & UK chat show host
- Martina Navratilova, tennis champion
- Rosie O'Donnell, American comedian
- Eoin O'Duffy Irish police commissioner, leader of the 'Blueshirts' and aide to Michael Collins
- Sinead O'Connor, singer
- Joe Orton, playwright
- Pier Paolo Pasolini, Italian director and writer
- Plato
- Michael Portillo, former UK Defence Secretary and defeated leadership candidate
- Rio Reiser, German musician (Ton, Steine, Scherben)
- Christopher Rice, American author (son of Anne Rice)
- Adrienne Rich, American poet and critic
- Herb Ritts, American fashion photographer
- Svend Robinson, Canadian member of parliament
- Hilary Rosen, President of the RIAA
- RuPaul AKA RuPaul Andre Charles, American drag queen
- Dan Savage, American columnist
- Franz Schubert, Austrian composer
- David Sedaris, American essayist and radio personality.
- Matthew Shepard, famous victim of violent hate crimes murder (and subject of Emmy winning films "The Laramie Project" and "The Matthew Shepard Story")
- Socrates, Greek philosopher
- Solon, Greek statesman
- Jimmy Sommerville, lead singer for Bronski Beat, The Communards, and solo performer
- Gertrude Stein, American author, partner of Alice B. Toklas
- Michael Stipe, American singer (band R.E.M.) and film producer
- Gerry Studds, American politician
- Lena Katina and Julia Volkova (Tatu), Russian pop group
- Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Russian composer
- Neil Tennant, British musician (Pet Shop Boys)
- Lily Tomlin, American comedian, actress
- Michel Tremblay, Canadian writer
- Esera Tuaolo, former NFL player
- Alan Turing, British computer scientist and theorist
- Gianni Versace, Italian fashion designer
- Gore Vidal, American writer
- Tom Waddell, American sports
- Andy Warhol, American artist and pop icon
- John Waters, American film director (Pink Flamingos)
- Klaus Wowereit, mayor of Berlin
- Oscar Wilde, Irish playwright and bon vivant
- Tennessee Williams, American playwright
- Walt Whitman, American poet, author of Leaves of Grass
- Will Young, British winner of tv show UK Pop Idol
- Pedro Zamora, Cuban AIDS activist and The Real World participant.
Persons of debated sexual orientation
The following list includes those that some people believe there is evidence the person was gay, lesbian or bisexual. More information about what is known about each individual's sexuality should be available in the individual's biography.
- Hans Christian Andersen, Danish author
- Susan B. Anthony, American feminist and womens' suffrage activist
- Aristotle, Greek philosopher
- Walter Mercado
- Camille Saint-Saens (Reputedly had an affair with Tchaikovsky)
- Pope Paul VI head of the Roman Catholic Church (1963-78)
- Patrick Pearse, Irish patriot and leader of the 1916 Easter Rising
- Princess Margaret of the United Kingdom (outed on new ITV programme as bisexual)
- Juan Gabriel
- George Gershwin
See also: The Closet, Famous transgendered people.