Today marks the 28th anniversary of National Coming Out Day, a day to celebrate coming out as a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) person.
For some, coming out to even their nearest and dearest can feel like a scary task; for others, almost an insurmountable challenge. But the last year has been an excellent one for LGBTQ visibility, with a number of high-profile figures speaking honestly and forthrightly about their sexuality and same-sex relationships.
The Independent has rounded up the most galvanising quotes from politicians, actors, musicians, leaders, members of the clergy, athletes and royalty on coming out to commemorate the day.
Conservative MP Justine Greening
“[During Pride 2016] Today's a good day to say I'm in a happy same-sex relationship, I campaigned for Stronger In but sometimes you're better off out!"
“When I was dating a guy I was hiding everything that I did because everything personal felt like it was immediately trivialised, so I didn't like it. We were turned into these characters and placed into this ridiculous comic book, and I was like, ‘That’s mine. You’re making my relationship something that it’s not.’ I didn’t like that.
“But then it changed when I started dating a girl. I was like, ‘Actually, to hide this provides the implication that I’m not down with it or I’m ashamed of it, so I had to alter how I approached being in public. It opened my life up and I’m so much happier.”
“I used to identify as mostly straight. I’ve embraced the Bi/Queer label lately.
“The LGBTQ community has always felt like home, especially a few years later when I, uh, learned something about myself.”
Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale
“I have a female partner. I don’t talk about it very much because I don’t feel I need to. And there’s something too about how meteoric my career has been. I am generally calm, almost serene. I don’t get easily stressed or battered. But I need a bit of stability to do that, and that means my private life is my private life. That’s the thing I just have to have that nobody gets to touch, and that gives me the strength to be calm elsewhere.”
“I had a wife and kids. I’ve been a builder, doorman, worked in factories – I play rugby. I tick every macho box. How could I be gay? I’m from Batley for goodness sake. No one is gay in Batley.
“The only time I felt free of the torment was when I stepped on the rugby pitch. Now I feel free.”
Lord Ivar Mountbatten, the first member of the royal family to come out as gay
“‘Coming out’ is such a funny phrase but it's what I suppose I did in a rather roundabout way, emerging to a place I'm happy to be. I have struggled with my sexuality and in some ways I still do; it has been a real journey to reach this point.”
“It’s a really, really hard thing to be silenced and it's deeply bruising to fight against your identity and to mould yourself into shapes that you just shouldn't in.
“As someone who identifies as a black, bisexual woman, I've been through it and it hurts and it's awkward and it's uncomfortable...but then I realised because of Solange and Ava DuVernay and Willow [Smith] and all the black girls watching this right now that there's absolutely nothing to change. We cannot be suppressed. We are meant to express our joy and our love and our tears and be big and bold and definitely not easy to swallow.”
Nicholas Chamberlain, Bishop of Grantham
“I hope I’ll be able to be a standard-bearer for all people as a gay man. And I really hope that I’ll be able to help us move on beyond matters of sexuality.”
Passion Pit lead singer Michael Angelakos
“I am saying something that I’ve never said before publicly. I’m gay. And that’s it. It just has to happen.”
“It’s awkward because if I talk about relationships in my life or people that have been in my life … I’d like to be able to just say that, without having to stop and say, ‘so have you come out?’ No, I haven’t come out because I am out. I live out."
Professional skateboarder Brian Anderson
“I'm a skateboarder first, gay second.”
“To all the bros who hate social media, who pit it against 'real life'- I never would've had the courage to be me without Twitter's queer queens.”
Michael Sam, the US National Football League's first openly gay player
“I probably may be the first but I won't be the last. And I think only good things will come from this.”
Xavier Bettel, the Prime Minister of Luxembourg
“I could have hidden it or repressed it and been unhappy my whole life. But I told myself that if you want to be a politician and be honest in politics, you have to be honest with yourself and accept that you are who you are.”
Eva Gutowski, YouTuber
“Just because you haven’t dated someone of the same sex does not mean you can’t be taken seriously as a bisexual. I am ready for myself to fall in love with someone, no matter who they end up being, and have been since I was 12. Boy or girl.”
