There are more and more roles for LGBT characters in television and movies, but there aren’t enough to go around for every gay. That means a queer star might play some of the straight characters on your favorite TV shows. Here are some gay movie stars who have made it into mainstream Hollywood playing straight roles.
These are some of the biggest stars who you may not have known were gay but came out.
9David Hyde Pierce
Niles Crane – Fraiser
The petulant but loveable brother of Dr. Fraiser Crane played a straight character on the TV show, but he is gay in real life.
“The reason they had those gay jokes in Frasier, especially about Niles and Frasier was it was examining stereotypes and those two were very neat and persnickety and it was acknowledging the fact that a lot of their behavior [like] wine tasting and going to the opera and all, would be seen as gay by a lot of people. It was never jokes at the expense of gay people. We had gay people on staff. David Lee, one of the creators on the show is gay and so, to me, it was always acknowledging the preposterousness of stereotypes.”
He has been married to his partner Brian Hargrove since 2008.
