It's National Coming Out Day - Here are 10 Celebs Who Came Out in the Last Year

National Coming Our Day marks 25 years as of Oct. 11, 2023. Started by New Mexico psychologist Robert Eichberg and New York equality advocate Jean O'Leary, the first National Coming Out Day was in itself a commemoration of another anniversary, marking one year after the OCt. 11, 1987 Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights.

In the quarter century since it was launched, National Coming Out Day – and its famed logo, designed by openly queer artist Keith Haring – has moved from the fringes to red-letter status on the calendar, becoming an LGBTQ+ holiday. Wikipedia recalls Eichberg's own words for the day's rationale:

"Most people think they don't know anyone gay or lesbian, and in fact, everybody does. It is imperative that we come out and let people know who we are and disabuse them of their fears and stereotypes."

Everyone needs to be granted the chance to come out in his, her, or their own time. Some will choose today to shed fear and step forward into the embrace of the LGBTQ+ community, while others will emerge throughout the months to come; but all deserve to be celebrated, affirmed, and welcomed.

This year, as we observe a day that's intended to show support and encouragement to those who are ready to leave the closet behind – and wait to see who will take that life-affirming step into the light of authenticity – let's take a look back at those who have come out since last Oct. 11.

Eureka O'Hara

"RuPaul's Drag Race" alum and star of HBO's drag-tastic reality series "We're Here" Eureka closed out 2022 by sharing the news in December that she is transgender. Though Eureka and her "We're Here" co-stars served as missionaries of acceptance to middle America, bringing the theatrical art of drag to small towns in red states, she herself found her life changed after meeting two transgender people in Florida – ground zero for many of today's assaults on LGBTQ+ people.

In comments to People Magazine, where she shared the news, Eureka said, "I hope my story teaches people that gender is a journey, and we are ever-evolving people."

Noah Schnapp

Noah Schnapp's "Stranger Things" character, Will, was long the subject of fan speculation; it seemed evident that Will was not only gay, but crushing on his best friend, Mike.

When Schnapp revealed that Will was indeed gay, it wasn't long before the actor followed his character out of the closet, letting his fans know in a TikTok video that "It was never that serious. Quite frankly, will never be that serious," words played on a loop that Schnapp lip synched to. To Schnapp's fans, though, it was serious – seriously exciting.

Campbell Johnstone

Celebrated rugby team the New Zealand All Blacks had another reason to celebrate last January when Campbell Johnstone became the first All Black to come out as gay – albeit a team member who had played with the All Blacks years before and had since retired.

Perhaps the next All Black player who comes out will do so while still out on the field of play. Johnstone expressed the hope that, "If I can be the first All Black that comes out as gay and take away the pressure and stigma surrounding the issue, it can actually help other people."

Jakub Jankto

Czech Republic midfielder Jakub Jankto didn't wait until retirement to come out. The 27-year-old was playing for Sparta Prague, on loan from Spanish club Getafe, when he came out in a video posted to social media last February.

"Like everyone else, I want to live my life with freedom, without fear, without violence, without prejudice, but with love," Jankto said in the video.

He was immediately given a warm welcome by Sparta Prague, which posted the affirming message "you have our support" along with a retweet of Jankto's coming out message. Fans, too, showed their enthusiasm for the soccer champ – especially after he tied up a thrilling match with a spectacular play in his first match after coming out.

Josh Seiter

After being a contestant on dating reality show "The Bachelorette," Josh Seiter's emergence from the closet as pansexual was sure to be news – but Seiter didn't just come out; he also dropped the bombshell news that he had a boyfriend, identified by the Star Observer as an exotic dancer named David.

Though he had also said he was bisexual, Seiter told TV Shows Ace that he doesn't "like labels and I don't like being put into tiny boxes or categories. I would say I identify as pansexual.

"I love everybody equally regardless of gender," Seiter added, before saying things were "going really well" between him and his beau.

Josh Kiszka

When Josh Kiszka, the frontman for the rock band Greta Van Fleet, came out in an Instagram post last June, he kicked the closet door right off the hinges, blasting lawmakers in his adopted state of Tennessee for "proposing bills that threaten the freedom of love."

The singer added: "These issues are especially close to my heart as I've been in a loving, same-sex relationship with my partner for the past 8 years." Rock on!

Miss Benny

Starring alongside Kim Cattrall in the super-queer Netflix comedy "Glamorous," Miss Benny plays an oh-so-out makeup pro who lands a gig at a fading – but still major – cosmetics company headed by an aging (and still gorgeous) former model (Cattrall).

The show's aura of glitter and glam only grew brighter when Miss Benny, writing in an essay ahead of the show's premiere last June, came out as trans. Noting that the show was about to debut, Miss Benny wrote, "I too will come out as the transgender woman I've been privately living as for the last few years."

Recalling how she initially met skepticism in Hollywood, hearing that it "wasn't time for someone like me," Miss Benny found her moment and shared it with the world.

Wayne Brady

"Let's Make a Deal" host Wayne Brady showed off his Broadway chops – after all, he didn't star in Kinky Boots" for nothing – when he came out as pansexual in August with a musical number he captured on video and posted to Instagram.

"In doing my work, I've come to see a few truths, one of them being that I want to be free to love whomever I want," Brady wrote in the post. "This truth makes me Pan and part of the Igbtq+ family." He also might be the real fun at the next family reunion.

Paulie Calafiore

After starring as a cast member on "Big Brother," Paulie Calafiore went on to another reality show, "The Challenge." When he was eliminated from that contest last August, he met and surpassed a whole new challenge: Coming out as bi.

"I almost felt guilty that it's taken me this long," Calafiore told Anthony Allan Ramos of GLAAD a few days after his exit from the show – an exit in which he hinted at his truth.

"And I really had to change my perspective and be like, 'Well, you know there might be other people that are going through this exact same thing'," Calafiore added, "and maybe this is what they needed to hear and what they needed to see in order to do it themselves.'" We're hapy to see more of Calafiore any time – and he makes that easy, posting thirsty snaps at his Instagram.

Sufjan Stevens

Prolific singer and musician Sufjan Stevens might have seemed a little gay before he actually came out and said he was – those angel wings at the 2016 Pitchfork Music festival! – but when he did choose to come out publicly just last week, it was in the sweetest and most loving way possible: As a tribute to his late partner, Evans Richardson IV, to whom Stevens dedicated his latest album, "Javelin."

In a tender encomium at Tumblr, Stevens wrote that Richardson was "an absolute gem of a person, full of life, love, laughter, curiosity, integrity, and joy," and "one of those rare and beautiful ones you find only once in a lifetime – precious, impeccable, and absolutely exceptional in every way."

What better reason to embrace the truth of your life, if not for those you love and who share it?