100 Hottest Out & Proud Celebs

From: Out

Jake Shears

Musician

The openly gay former front man of Scissor Sisters first came out at age 15 – which according to an interview on Rucomingout.com, went badly. "There was never a question about whether we would be open about our sexuality because right away there was a dialogue happening in our lyrics that dealt with gay body image, coming out, pro sex-work, etc.," Shears told the website in 2012. "It was already part of the band so there was really no avoiding it."

Jason F. Sellards (born October 3, 1978), better known as Jake Shears, is an American singer and songwriter. He is best known as the lead male singer for the pop band Scissor Sisters.

100 Hottest Out & Proud Celebs

From: OUT

 Guillermo Diaz

Actor

Known for playing an affable drug dealer on Weeds and a gay nurse on NBC's short-lived Mercy, Diaz has never shied away from dark and sexy gigs. In an interview with The Advocate in 2012, he described his nude photo shoot in the gay magazine Pinups"

 "I'd never heard of the magazine," recalled Díaz, who met Pinups' creator and photographer Christopher Schulz at a party. "I was like, ‘When are you going to shoot me?' And he asked, ‘You want to do it?' I said, ‘Yeah, let's do it. I want to be naked in a magazine.' "

Guillermo Díaz (born March 22, 1975) is an American actor. He is known for films Half Baked (1998), 200 Cigarettes (1999) and Stonewall (1995). He currently stars as Huck in the ABC drama TV series Scandal.

Díaz has made guest appearances on shows such as Chappelle's Show, Law & Order, Weeds, ER, and Girls.

100 Hottest Out & Proud Celebs

From: OUT

Nate Berkus

Interior Designer 

& 

TV Personality

When The Nate Berkus Show premiered in September of 2010, the home makeover designer became the first openly gay man to host a nationally syndicated daily TV program. "My sexuality is something I never really hid," he told Out the same year. "It wasn't a situation of wondering if people were going to start digging into my personal life because we've already done that."

Nathan Jay Berkus (born September 17, 1971) is an American interior designer, author, and television personality. He runs the Chicago interior design firm Nate Berkus Associates and has been a regularly featured guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show, offering design advice to viewers as well as coordinating surprise make-overs for people's homes. He has released numerous lines of products and authored several books.

His own show, The Nate Berkus Show, debuted in broadcast syndication September 13, 2010, featuring make-overs, culture, design, and personal advice. It was co-produced by Harpo Productions and Sony Pictures Television, and was cancelled after its second season ended on May 24, 2012.

Alongside his husband, fellow interior designer Jeremiah Brent, he launched in 2017 the TV show Nate & Jeremiah By Design broadcast on TLC network.

100 Hottest Out & Proud Celebs

From: OUT

Prabal Gurung

Fashion Designer

His fans include Michelle Obama to Demi Moore to Oprah Winfrey. The young fashion designer from Nepal made his start working for Donna Karan, and now he has his own fashion label. His heart still belongs to his home country and when Nepal was hit with a massive earthquake in 2014, Gurung raised more than $600,000 in relief funds. "I was grateful and humbled by the unwavering support and love that I got from everyone, especially the fashion industry," he told Out in in 2015. "It was humanity at its best."

Prabal Gurung (Nepali: प्रबल गुरुङ) (born 1979) is an American fashion designer of Nepalese descent based in New York City.

100 Hottest Out & Proud Celebs

From: OUT

Michael Stipe

Musician

The former lead singer for R.E.M. has been living openly for more than two decades. Reflecting on his 20 years as a self-identifying queer man in 2014 in The Guardian, Stipe writes:

 "What I feel we have arrived at with all this, is that queerness – as I am happy to call an all-embracing, foundational tenet – is really a state of mind brought about by an understanding: it is understanding difference, accepting your own truth, desire and identity, and lovely, lovely choice."

John Michael Stipe (born January 4, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, film producer, music video director, visual artist, and philanthropist. He is best known as the lead singer and main lyricist of the alternative rock band R.E.M. from their formation in 1980 until their dissolution in 2011.

Possessing a distinctive voice, Stipe is noted for the "mumbling" style of his early career as well as his social and political activism. He was in charge of R.E.M.'s visual aspect, often selecting album artwork and directing many of the band's music videos. Outside the music industry, he owns and runs two film production studios, C-00 and Single Cell Pictures.

As a singer-songwriter, Stipe is considered to be an influence on a wide range of artists, including Kurt Cobain of Nirvana. Bono of U2 described his voice as "extraordinary".

100 Hottest Out & Proud Celebs

From: OUT

Ryan Steele

Actor 

& 

Dancer

Star of Broadway's Matilda and the gay dance drama Five Dances, Ryan Steele does not shy away from onscreen physicality. "Dancers have a certain amount of comfort that's a little weird to normal people," he told Out in 2013.

 "We're physical people. We're always changing in front of each other. There are no secrets in a dance company."

Ryan Steele (born August 3, 1990) is an American dancer and actor. He has performed on Broadway and in other performances, as well as in film and television. He is best known for the role of Specs in the 2012 musical Newsies.

100 Hottest Out & Proud Celebs

From: OUT

Brian Sims

Politician

"I don't mean to sound trite when I say this, but the single most important thing that we can do as LGBT people is to come out."-(Advocate)

Brian K. Sims (born September 16, 1978) is a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in the 182nd district. Elected in 2012, Sims is also a lawyer and activist on LGBT civil rights. Sims is the first openly gay elected state legislator in Pennsylvania history.

100 Hottest Out & Proud Celebs

From: OUT

Luke Macfarlane

Actor

The Canadian actor came out publicly in 2008 after years of speculation regarding his sexuality. Best known for his role as gay character Scotty Wandell on ABC's Brothers & Sisters, the actor told The [Toronto] Globe and Mail, 

"There is this desire in L.A. to wonder who you are, and wheat's been blaring for me for the last three years is how I can be most authentic to myself, so this is the first time I am speaking about it in this way."

Thomas Luke Macfarlane (born January 19, 1980), known professionally as Luke Macfarlane, is a Canadian actor and musician. His best known roles include Scotty Wandell on the ABC television drama Brothers & Sisters and RAC Agent D'avin Jaqobis on the Space television science fiction series Killjoys.

100 Hottest Out & Proud Celebs

From: OUT

James Whiteside

Ballet Dancer 

A dancer for the American Ballet Theatre, James Whiteside moonlights as his pop star alter-ego, JbDUBS, and performs with his longtime boyfriend Milk - a.k.a. Dan Donigan - a contestant on the sixth season of RuPaul's Drag Race. In 2014, he told Gayletter, "I've always been out, so to speak. I never thought that there would be any other way."

100 Hottest Out & Proud Celebs

From: OUT

Matthew Mitcham

Athlete

Olympian diver Matthew Mitcham first came out at age 16 in the Sydney Morning Herald. The headline read: "Out, proud and ready to go for gold" - and that's exactly what he did. Mitcham was the first openly gay gold medalist after recording the highest single-dive score in Olympic history

Matthew John Mitcham OAM (born 2 March 1988 in Brisbane, Queensland) is a retired Australian diver. He is the 2008 Olympic champion in the 10 m platform, having received the highest single-dive score in Olympic history. He is the first Australian male to win an Olympic gold medal in diving since Dick Eve at the 1924 Summer Olympics.

100 Hottest Out & Proud Celebs

From: OUT

Eli Lieb

Musician

The out singer Eli Lieb won hearts with his gay love songs and music videos - primarily "Young Love". "When I set out to make the video, I didn't set out to make a gay themed video," the singer told Gay Star News in 2013. "I just wanted to make a video that was an authentic representation of who I am and an authentic representation of love that everyone feels."

Eli Lieb is an independent American pop singer-songwriter from Fairfield, Iowa. He resides in Los Angeles, where he is working on his second album.

100 Hottest Out & Proud Celebs

From: OUT

Blake Skjellerup

Athlete

 & 

Activist

When the out speed skater went to compete in the Winter Olympics in Sochi in 2014, he had no plans to hide his sexuality - especially in the face of Vladimir Putin's so-called "gay propaganda" laws. 

"I was in the closet for a long time and who I am now is who I really am and who I always will be and I'm not going to tone down or change who I am just because I go to a different country. If it gets me in trouble, I guess so be it."-(Out)

Blake Skjellerup (born 13 June 1985 in Christchurch, New Zealand) is a short track speed skater who competed for New Zealand at the 2010 Winter Olympics; finishing sixteenth.

100 Hottest Out & Proud Celebs

From: OUT

Shaun Ross

Model

The gay albino model has challenged traditional beauty standards at every stage of his burgeoning career. When he walked in New York Fashion Week in 2013, he used the hashtag #InMySkinIWin across his social media. Ross recently broke the Internet with a massive prosthetic penis in the music video "Dust" by BRÅVES

Shaun Ross (born May 10, 1991) is an American model, actor and dancer best known for being the first male albino pro model. He has been featured in photo-editorial campaigns in fashion publications including British GQ, Italian Vogue, i-D Magazine, Paper Magazine and Another Man. He has modeled for Alexander McQueen and Givenchy.

100 Hottest Out & Proud Celebs

From: OUT

Le1f

Musician

"My ideal fantasy of great success would be to have a very diverse crowd, like a mosh pit of everyone; gay, black and Latino."- (Bullett)

Khalif Diouf, known by his stage name Le1f (/liːf/), is an American rapper and producer from New York City. He runs the hip hop label Camp & Street, a subsidiary of Greedhead Music. As a gay rapper he's garnered attention for his unique and subversive musical and performance styles. Following a series of well-received mix tapes and EPs, his debut studio album Riot Boi was released in November 2015.

100 Hottest Out & Proud Celebs

From: OUT

Gavin Creel

Actor

In 2009, The Advocate asked Gavin Creel, the Broadway actor known for his performances in Thoroughly Modern Millie and Hair, when he had decided to come out publicly. 

"About a month and a half ago," he said. "I was like, I'm too old for this shit. I love my life, I love my friends, and I love my family, so I decided it didn't really matter. I'll give you that information, but that's as much as I'd give anybody; the private stuff is private. I also want to be able to get married legally, and it doesn't make any sense for me to parade around trying to get marriage equality while not being open about who I am. It doesn't inspire young men and women struggling with their own sexuality to be confident in who they are if I'm not confident in who I am. And if I whisper about it, then I give other people the power to whisper about it, and there's nothing wrong with it. I definitely want to get louder."-(The Advocate)

Gavin James Creel (born April 18, 1976) is an American actor, singer and songwriter. Creel is best known for his work in musical theater, for which he has received three Tony Award nominations—for originating the role of Jimmy in Thoroughly Modern Millie, for his performance as Claude in Hair, and for his performance as Cornelius Hackl in Hello, Dolly!—and an Laurence Olivier Award for originating the West End version of Elder Price in The Book of Mormon at Prince of Wales Theatre. He also played the role of Elder Price in US National Tour and on Broadway at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre. He played Steven Kodaly in Roundabout Theatre Company's production of She Loves Me, which premiered in spring 2016.

100 Hottest Out & Proud Celebs

From: OUT

Darryl Stephens

Actor 

& 

Model

"I don't think there was ever a decision that I was going to represent the underrepresented black gay man in America. I met with casting directors who were responding to calls and the characters I played were the roles. There were a lot of lessons about what people expected of us as black gay men, and I learned to have a thick skin about how black gay men are representing themselves. Everyone has an idea of what we should look like."-(Salon)

Darryl Joseph Stephens (born March 7, 1974) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Noah Nicholson on the television dramedy Noah's Arc.

100 Hottest Out & Proud Celebs

From: OUT

Andrew Scott

Actor

When the Sherlock actor studied for his role as a KGB spy in the BBC2 drama Legacy, he practiced his Russian accent by watching videos of Vladimir Putin. Scott told The Independent in 2013:

"But then Putin introduced anti-gay legislation this summer,"  "So, being a gay person, I switched to Rudolf Nureyev videos instead. It was another Nureyev defection of sorts!" - (The Independent)

Andrew Scott (born 21 October 1976) is an Irish film, television and stage actor. He plays Jim Moriarty in the BBC series Sherlock and is currently starring as the lead in a production of Hamlet at the Almeida Theatre directed by Robert Icke.

Scott has received various awards including two Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre for his roles in A Girl in a Car with a Man at the Royal Court Theatre, along with his role in Cock, also at the Royal Court. He has also won two IFTA awards for his roles in the films Dead Bodies and The Stag, a British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Sherlock, a BIFA Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Pride, and two BBC Audio Drama Awards for his radio work.

100 Hottest Out & Proud Celebs

From: OUT

Andrew Haigh

Writer

Director

Producer

The man behind 2011's gay indie love story Weekend, Andrew Haigh was the executive producer of HBO's Looking. Even though the show was cancelled after only two seasons, it resonated with many audiences for its unflinching honesty. 

Andrew Haigh (born 7 March 1973) is an English film director, screenwriter and producer.

100 Hottest Out & Proud Celebs

From: OUT

Nik Thakkar

Designer 

& 

Model

Nik Thakkar is half of the androgynous menswear label Ada + Nik which is advancing queer fashion in London. His must-read style blog, karlismyuncle.com hawks trends in style and music for the urban gay reader.

Nik is an multi-platform artist, recording artist and creative. He was scouted for a Jean Paul Gaultier campaign in 2013 which was his gateway into the creative world, he has since partnered creatively with major design houses including LVMH, Jean Paul Gaultier, Tom Ford, Givenchy, Salvatore Ferragamo and more; Nik has led design projects with Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy, produced award winning fashion films featured on Andy Warhol’s Interview Magazine, Hypebeast, NYLON and Rankin’s The Hunger.

Listed as one of Time Out London’s Culture 100 top creatives, described by VICE as “one of the premier creative minds in London” and STYLE.COM as “push[ing] the boundaries of the industry”, Nik is currently working on a new sonic project as  NEO 10Y. 

As a style and cultural influencer, Nik has co-curated design-art projects and exhibitions, guest-edited style magazines and has been a judge for both the eponymous Global Fashion Awards and Fashion Journalism Awards. Nik also commentates regularly for Sky News (Oscars), BBC World News and has presented for major fashion brands at London Fashion Week. His work has been featured in publications including Vogue Italia, Metro International, Vogue, GQ, Time Out, Style.com, The Daily Telegraph, Interview Magazine, NYLON, Wonderland magazine and more.

Nik is also has a column on The Huffington Post and is the voice behind globally recognized creative content hub KARLISMYUNKLE.COM. 

Nik designed menswear for four years under his award-winning label Ada + Nik with Ada Zanditon  - showing at London and New York Fashion Week . 

100 Hottest Out & Proud Celebs

From: OUT

Wilson Cruz

Actor 

& 

Activist

A spokesperson for GLAAD, Cruz has spent his career as an out gay actor pushing for better LGBT representation on TV. 

"Yes, we have more GLBT characters. My issues are: What are those characters doing on those shows? Are they just saying so-and-so is gay, and then we don't actually deal with the fact that they're gay? We don't actually see them have a partner or even see their lives."-(Out)

Wilson Cruz (born Wilson Echevarría; December 27, 1973) is an American actor known for playing Rickie Vasquez on My So-Called Life, Angel in the Broadway production of Rent and the recurring character Junito on Noah's Arc. As an openly gay person of Puerto Rican ancestry, he has served as an advocate for gay youth, especially gay youth of color.