2013 was another stellar year for ladies who like other ladies who want the world to know that they like other ladies! It was also another stellar year for challenging popular stereotypes about what queer looks like. Over half of this year’s coming out stories were women of color and almost half are over the age of 35, six are mothers, seven are married, five are divorced, nine are athletes, six are actresses, two are writers and one has an eight foot wingspan. Let’s meet these humans!
January
1. Jodie Foster, 51. Actress & Director.
The legendary Jodie Foster kicked off 2013 by officially coming out at The Golden Globes during her Cecil B. DeMille lifetime achievement award acceptance speech. She also announced that she was single, but has since hooked up with The L Word‘s Alexandra Hedison, who dated Ellen DeGeneres once upon a time because The Chart.
March
2. Jenna Wolfe, 39. News Anchor.
Jenna Wolfe, a correspondent for The Today Show, announced in March on Today that she was totally pregnant and also totally super-gay. Furthermore, Wolfe is totally gay for NBC News Correspondent Stephanie Gosk, and the two welcomed a new tiny human into the world this past August. If you’re interested in keeping up with baby Harper, good news: she has a twitter account.
3. Fallon Fox, 37. MMA Fighter.
Lesbian MMA Fighter Fallon Fox came out as transgender in March, after a reporter threatened to leak the story without her consent. There was unfortunately an ensuing controversy over her eligibility to fight and lots of really bigoted commentary and public response — but that didn’t stop Fallon, who returned to the ring in October. She recently appeared on the tumblr “hold hands in sochi” with her partner Amy Pierson and was honored at the 2013 Emery Awards for her LGBT advocacy efforts.
April
4. Brittney Griner, 23. WNBA Basketball Player.
I know it’s hard to imagine, but once upon a time many of us hadn’t even heard of Brittney Griner, let alone cast our homosexual eyes upon her impressive wing-and-fingerspan. Then, after securing the honor of 2013’s WNBA Top Draft Pick when she was snatched up by the Phoenix Mercury, Brittney Griner became the first major athlete to come out publicly upon turning pro. The highlight of Brittney Griner’s year was probably meeting us and taking a picture with me at the GLAAD Awards in San Francisco, but a bunch of other stuff happened too: she appeared on the cover of ESPN Magazine in May, designed a bowtie for the marriage equality organization Tie the Knot, hit the series-winning shot in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Los Angeles Sparks and was featured in Elle Magazine as a “slam-dunking girl-loving phenom who proves there are a whole lot of ways to be a woman.” Yup, a 6-foot-8 masculine-of-center lesbian was featured in a mainstream high fashion magazine. Progress!
May
5. Zoe Saldana, 35. Actress.
Zoe Saldana told Allure, “I might end up with a woman, raising my children…that’s how androgynous I am.” Although it was unclear what androgyny had to do with sexual orientation, we still considered it a promising tidbit of information because Zoe Saldana is really hot, talented and famous. Unfortunately, before you had a chance to make her marry you, she tied the knot with Italian artist Marco Perego. The most important element of this story is that for some reason I can no longer recall, I had to sign up for a subscription to Allure in order to read the full interview and compose this stellar follow-up post, so now I have access to a lot of information about hair serum if you’re ever in need.
June
6. Charice Pempengco, 21. Singer/Actress.
Charice, #2 Critter of All Time and #1 on the Autostraddle ALTERNATIVE Hot 100 (the list was in relatively random order, but I did intentionally put some of the most extra-special celebs in the top ten), was one of the most groundbreaking coming out stories of the year. The Filipino singer, who shot to stardom via YouTube and singing competitions with the help of big fans like Oprah Winfrey and Ellen DeGeneres, went on to guest-star on Glee and appear as a judge on The X Factor Philippines in 2012. In September, Charice said she hopes to one day marry her girlfriend Alyssa Quijano. Fans are eagerly awaiting her next album, Chapter 10.
7. Grace Bonney, 32. Design Blogger & Entrepreneur.
Grace Bonney, the enormously successful founder of the website Design*Sponge, came out on her blog this summer. She’s since shacked up with food writer, producer and private chef Julia Turshen!
8. Jenny Owen Youngs, 32. Musician.
Singer/songwriter Jenny Owen Youngs came out in a letter on everyoneisgay.com, and then did her first coming out interview right here! This very place! She also announced her engagement to Everyone is Gay’s Kristin Russo, who recently let you in on how you too can snag a kickass super-cute musician bride of your own.
9. Sharnee Zoll-Norman, 27. WNBA Basketball Player.
Chicago Sky guard Sharnee Zoll-Norman came out in June in an interview with the Windy City Times, saying, “I’ve never had an official coming-out, or something where I felt I had to announce that I was gay. But everyone knows. I wear my wedding ring proudly; I have matching tattoos with my wife, and also have her name tattooed on me.”
July
10. AB Chao, 38. Design Blogger.
Writer and interior stylist AB Chao, a top design blogger who hosts design camps nationwide, came out on her site this past July, writing, “I’ve described coming to the realization that I’m gay as having a void in my life, not knowing what it was, and trying to fill it with everything I could find: writing, decorating, career paths, expensive jeans, all of the bourbon. And then, one sunny fall day, getting on a roller coaster, careening down to the stomach-dropping part of the ride, and finally, finally understanding, “Oh. THIS is what that was.” Perfect.
August
11. Raven-Symone, 28. Actress.
Actress Raven-Symone, who you’ve loved for your entire life, kinda came out last year, but this year she totally came out to express her delight over marriage equality. It was shortly confirmed that indeed, she’s currently dating model/actress AZ Marie, making them the cutest couple of 2013.
12. Meleana Shim, 22. Soccer Player.
Portland Thorns midfielder Meleana Shim was never closeted, but wanted to take “the unique step of talking about it publicly for the first time” on OutSports the day before her NWSL championship game. Defying stereotypes on multiple levels, Shim told OutSports that she’s not usually pegged as gay because her long hair and style don’t fit the “stereotypical image” of what a lesbian looks like. Shim is a pro ambassador for Athlete Ally, saying, “I’m a lesbian who will continue to advocate for LGBT rights until sexuality isn’t used to make people uncomfortable or unsafe. I remember being a young girl and wondering if there were any professional athletes like me. Every aspiring athlete who is questioning his or her sexuality should have positive role models who are proud of who they are.”
13. Jasmine Jordan, 21.
The daughter of basketball and all-around legend Michael Jordan came out on Instagram in August, posting a photo of herself and her girlfriend Carmen Tyson-Thomas, a former Syracuse Orange basketball player, captioned “This Little Closet Is Holding Me Back.”
14. Layshia Clarendon, 22. WNBA Basketball Player.
Layisha Clarendon raised some admiring eyebrows when she showed up at the WNBA draft in “a skinny tie, blazer, and puffed Mohawk” — she was the 9th draft pick, heading to the Indiana Fever. In September, she came out publicly when she appeared in a campaign called Br{ache The Silence, aimed at “tearing down the walls of homophobia in women’s sports.”
15. Belle Brockhoff, 20. Snowboarder.
20-year-old Australian snowboarder and Olympics hopeful Belle Brockhoff was the first athlete to come out publicly as a lesbian in response the anti-gay laws in Russia, telling Australia’s ABC TV, “I want to be proud of who I am and proud of all the work I’ve done to get into the Olympics and not have to deal with this law.” Brockhoff, who is half Chinese, is ranked ninth worldwide.
16. Anastasia Bucsis, 24. Speedskater.
Canadian Olympic speedskater Anastasia Bucsis was the second athlete to come out in response to Russia’s anti-gay laws in anticipation of the Sochi Olympics.
October
17. Michelle Rodriguez, 35. Actress.
We waited, and waited, and waited, and we thought the day would never come. And then it did! And it was a big deal.
18 & 19. Abby Wambach, 33, and Sarah Huffman, 29., Soccer Players.
Soccer player Abby Wambach‘s sexual orientation was an “open secret,” but she made it official in October when she married her girlfriend, soccer player Sarah Huffman.
December
20. Maria Bello, 45. Actress & Activist.
Maria Bello came out in a touching Modern Love column in The New York Times, in which she wrote about her ever-evolving definition of “family.” She wrote about her exes, and her child, and her present relationship, which is with a woman — specifically social impact investor Clare Munn. It’s a really great column written by a really great lady we’re thrilled to have on our team.
21. Crystal Bowersox, 28. Singer.
American Idol contestant Crystal Bowersox “came out for Christmas” as bisexual! Yup, she’s the bisexual angel atop your Chirstmas tree who tweeted “let me set the record straight. I’m Bi. Pun intended” and released a new Christmas single called “Coming out for Christmas.” I look forward to her next single, “Moving In For Mother’s Day.” HEY-O!
22. YOU
You know who else came out this year? YOU WEIRDOS. Not all of you, of course, but according to Facebook, a whole bunch of y’all have taken the plunge in 2013. Whether it went surprisingly well or truly terrible, you did it. You took a deep breath and did it. Congratulations!
