After the White Lotus alum confirmed that he was "90 percent gay, 10 percent straight," following years of speculation over his sexuality, he shared insight into embracing his queerness.Â
"I was comfortable with my sexuality with the people that I cared about," Gage told E! News in an exclusive interview. "It was the people that didn't know me that I was the most fearful about."
However, he revealed that his perspective eventually shifted.
"I don't know what happened, maybe it's growing older or maybe it's just life experience," he reflected, adding, "if people don't want to work with me because of how I identify or who I have sex with, they're probably people I don't want to work with anyway."
The Overcompensating actorâwho was previously married to celebrity hairstylist Chris Appleton in 2023 for seven monthsâemphasized that there was a "certain element of caring less" he developed as he got older.
"When you're younger, it feels more intense than it actually is, or more important," he said, "but ultimately, the right people are going to find you."
Gage, whose journey was also chronicled in his 2025 memoir I Wrote This for Attention, found a sense of peace when he became more comfortable with his sexuality.
"It was like I could take a deep breath," he recalled. "At first, having a secret can be fun and it can feel like you're mysterious. Then it starts to eat away at you and you just can't keep up with it anymore."
"Just being upfront was the thing that allowed me to be more free," he continued, "allowed my work to be better and allowed me actually to work with the right people. It aligned me in the right way."
Now, the 31-year-old's confidence has taken him to new heights, including a partnership with biopharmaceutical company Gilead for its HealthySexual campaign to empower conversations about sexual health.
"I feel very passionate about getting the message out about sexual health, about preventative options like testing, PrEP," he told E!. "It was something that I felt really passionate about and wanted to spread awareness about."
It was especially important for Gage, who once felt out of his depth when it came to sexual wellness.
"I've always been pretty open about sexuality as a conversation, but," he explained, "I felt like I was less informed about the sexual health aspect of it."
So, it was a perfect partnership, adding, "It was something that I felt really important and felt authentic to me."
For more celebs who've shared insight into their sexuality, keep reading.
The Dance Moms alum didn't give it a second thought when she came out in a 2021 Instagram story.Â
"I came out when I was 17 but I didn't understand at the time what a big deal that was," she told People in October 2023. "I didn't understand why that was scary."
"Of course there was a lot of positivity and love and acceptance but then there was a lot of negativity, and I did lose a lot," she continued. "I didn't care, and I still don't care [about] the things I lost and the people that I lost and if I lost a chunk of fans...because it's who I am."
While the "Flowers" singer was never a big fan of labels, she came out as pansexual in 2016.
"My whole life, I didn't understand my own gender and my own sexuality," she revealed to Variety in October 2016. "I always hated the word 'bisexual,' because that's even putting me in a box. I don't ever think about someone being a boy or someone being a girl."
She continued, "Also, my nipple pasties and s--t never felt sexualized to me. My eyes started opening in the fifth or sixth grade. My first relationship in my life was with a chick."
For Matt, coming out to his conservative Christian family marked the start of a new era in his life.Â
"Telling your family is a huge, huge deal," the White Collar alum, who shares three kids with husband Simon Halls, previously told OUT Magazine. "I really view my life as divided between the time before I told my parents, and the time after. And the decisions I made, and the life I lived, before and after, are vastly different. It's night and day."
The "Good Luck, Babe!" singer revealed that she isn't always as confident and comfortable as she may seem. And her Midwest roots played a huge role.
"I was scared of flamboyantly gay people because I was taught that," she told Rolling Stone. "[I realized] people hate flamboyantly gay people because it just exudes femininity, and people hate women. Just little things like that, you're like, 'Oh my God, this is just so f--ked.'"
"It took a lot of unlearning, and there's still things I"m still confused about, and [it's] why I feel so uncomfortable being gay sometimes," she continued. "I don't get why this is such an issue for me. It shouldn't be, but something's just going on and I need to just accept that."
The Bachelorette alum came out on an episode of The View, when she revealed she was in a committed relationship with Robby Hoffman, the comedian she wed in January 2025.
"I've been keeping it kind of private," she said in the August 2023 episode, "because it is a bigger story and a bigger conversation because I'm dating a girl."
"I think it was always a whisper in me that just got louder and louder," she continued. "I didn't really know to pay attention to it. When this happens there's some shame attached to it and I had to a little bit navigate through that shame; what is it, where is it coming from."Â
The Mean Girls star, having previously identified as bisexual, came out as lesbian in January 2024âon an episode of Saturday Night Live. And her friends played a supporting role in the decision.Â
âAll of a sudden, I had these people around me who were either nonbinary people, trans friends, or lesbians," she told Billboard months later, "and I was like, âI feel so happy when Iâm with you guys. And I also really want to call myself a lesbian when Iâm around you.ââ
The former late-night host officially came out as queer on the last day of Pride month in 2024.Â
âIn what will come as a shock to exactly zero people, Iâm using the last day of PRIDE to come out!â she wrote in a June 2024 Instagram post, wearing a tank with the word âQueerâ printed on the front.
âBe proud of who you are, little babies! I know I am!â she continued. âAnd I canât wait to be discriminated against for a new reason!!â
Before revealing her sexuality, the former Disney Channel star was actually nervous to publicly come out as queer.Â
"I've hinted about my sexuality for years while being afraid to spell it out for everybody," she told Gay Times in May 2021. "I did a lyric video last year, for 'We Belong.' It had moving line drawings of people falling in loveâŚIt was all a man and a woman making out and it was a weird moment for me."Â
"When the song came out, everybody got the idea that the song was a big LGBTQ+ anthem song and I found myself in this position where everyone thought I was queerbaiting," she continued. "I went on Instagram Live and said 'Guys, I really needed to explain something to you. Maybe I haven't said it, but I'm super queer. This is something I want to represent through my music because it's who I am.'"
The "Heart Attack" singer came out as nonbinary in a 2021 Instagram post.
"Every day we wake up, we are given another opportunity and chance to be who we want and wish to be," she wrote in the caption. "I've spent the majority of my life growing in front of all of you⌠you've seen the good, the bad, and everything in between. Not only has my life been a journey for myself, I was also living for those on the other side of the cameras."
"Today is a day I'm so happy to share more of my life with you all - I am proud to let you know that I identify as non-binary and will officially be changing my pronouns to they/them moving forward," Demiâwho has since gone back to using she/her pronounsâcontinued. "This has come after a lot of healing and self-reflective work. I'm still learning and coming into myself, and I don't claim to be an expert or a spokesperson. Sharing this with you now opens another level of vulnerability for me."
Though the Bachelor alum has been dating singer Hayley Kiyoko since 2018, she did not publicly come out until four years into her relationship. And though she admitted it felt weird once everyone found out, she saw the impact of publicly sharing her truth.Â
"I realized this is so much bigger than me and my relationship and my personal experience because if it helped anyone feel comfortable or brave to be comfortable with who they fall in love with, then that's way bigger than me and my fears and what I was scared of," she told E! News in June 2022. "It's very humbling to read comments like that and realize the significance of something as simple as falling in love and sharing that."
Three years after coming out to his family at age 15, Troye publicly shared his story in a YouTube video. And as he later recalled, his decision to come out occurred amid a pivotal moment in his life.
"I was about to sign my record deal, and I really wanted to be in charge of how I came out," he told People in February 2022. "I didn't want anyone to take that away from me. I wanted to start going out and going to gay clubs and meeting boys, and I wanted to write songs about love that were true and genuine."
The Selling Sunset starâwho is married to singer G Flipâstresses the importance of prioritizing yourself.Â
"If someone truly loves you, your happiness should always come before their beliefs," Chrishell, who began her romance with the Australian singer in 2022, told E! News. "Never conform to others ideas they have for your life. It's yours and you only get one."
The TikTokerâwho was openly gay at an all-boys high schoolâuses his platform to encourage others to be comfortable with who they are.Â
"My identity will already be something that can be of controversy, depending on who the audience is," Chris told E! News in October 2022. "So one of my passive-active missions in having this platform is to try to break that down and bring normalcy to this identity."
The Bravo star, who came out while in college, shared some valuable advice for having those big coming out conversations.Â
"My advice would be, find one friend that you can tell," he previously told E! News. "All it takes is one friend that you know will be supportive. And that friend can be your island and just kind of branch out from there. It's always worse in your head than it's going to be."Â