From Hannah Hart to Tyler Oakley, so many iconic LGBTQ+ internet celebrities have gotten their start on YouTube. However, if you haven't been keeping up with the creators you grew up watching, then you may have missed some of the amazing coming out stories they've shared in recent years.
Here are 17 YouTube stars who've come out as LGBTQ+ in the past five years:
1. Vlogbrothers and Crash Course creator Hank Green casually came out as bi on Twitter in 2023.
In a reply to a tweet about Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, he said, "I’m bi and Ryan is not in my interest house. Is this a known issue? Is he only hot to straights?"
2. In January 2023, Charlie McDonnell (aka charlieissocoollike) shared her identity as a transgender woman in the video "What happened to charlieissocoollike? | A Reintroduction Q&A."
She said, "I'm a transgender woman, my pronouns are she/they, and I am continuing to use the name 'Charlie.'"
3. When Anna Akana won an award for Acting in a Drama at the 2018 Streamy Awards, she came out in her acceptance speech, saying, "Please, please, please vote. People need us more than ever. Marginalized people need us more than ever. I'm not only a woman of color, but I'm also a queer woman, so please get out to the polls and vote."
In a follow-up YouTube video, she said that she'd never planned to come out publicly, but she was drunk at the Streamys and decided to speak out.
She also revealed that, before that, she came out to her parents by engraving, "Hi, I'm bi" on an award she won at Buffer Festival.
4. In 2019, Daniel Howell returned from a long hiatus with his iconic 45-minute coming out video, "Basically I'm Gay." He came out as both queer and gay.
In closing, he said, "To anyone watching this that isn't out, it's okay. You're okay. You were born this way. It's right, and anyone that has a problem with it is wrong. Based on your circumstance, you may not feel ready to tell people yet or that it's safe, and that's fine, too. Just know that living your truth with pride is the way to be happy."
5. Phil Lester (aka AmazingPhil) closed out Pride Month 2019 by telling his subscribers that he's gay in the video "Coming Out To You."
He said, "Part of me just wanted to make this a five-second video where I just [popped out of my closet and said, 'Hi, I'm gay'], but I thought it'd be nice to talk about it here [on my channel] because some gay people — most gay people — have a pretty similar story, which some people might not realize."
6. In 2023, Chris Tyson, who's often featured on the popular MrBeast channel, shared their decision to start hormone replacement therapy. According to their Instagram bio, their pronouns are "any for now!"
On Twitter, they said, "I'm genuinely so glad so many people are learning what HRT is and how it CAN and HAS helped so many people because of my tweet. I was super nervous to be public about this bc I've always been so private when it comes to this, but seeing conversations started bc of me is amazing."
7. Nikkie de Jager-Drossaers (aka NikkieTutorials) publicly spoke about being a transgender woman for the first time in her 2020 video "I'm Coming Out."
She revealed that she made the video because someone else was threatening to blackmail her and out her.
However, she also said that she wanted "to inspire little Nikkies around the world who feel insecure, who feel out of place, who feel misunderstood."
She said, "I hope by me standing up, and being free, that it inspires others to do the same — to truly live your life like you wanted and the way you deserve."
8. In her 2021 video "coming out for the last time...," Gigi Gorgeous shared that she's pansexual, which, to her, means, "falling in love with the soul of somebody."
She said, "It was actually through my husband Nats [Getty] that this kind of was unlocked inside of me. It's always been there, this girl has always been inside of me, but it took this stage of my life really to open up."
9. In 2022, Jaiden Dittfach (aka Jaiden Animations) shared that she's aromantic and asexual in her video "Being Not Straight."
She said, "I thought if I could help more people become more aware of this, then that would be awesome. I was confused as hell for a while and could've used something like this."
10. Pop singer Trevi Moran, who was part of Our2ndLife, began sharing her journey as a transgender woman publicly in June 2020 with the video "Coming Out. I Am Female."
She candidly shared, "I've dealt with this feeling my entire life, and I know that I'm a woman deep down inside. It's just a feeling you know."
11. Ricky Dillon, who's also a former member of O2L, came out in a 2020 video titled, "I'm Gay."
He said, "I've barely said this out loud, so I'm saying it several times to normalize it to myself. I am gay."
12. In June 2020, Tana Mongeau tweeted that she's "pansexual as hell."
She also wrote, "It's also pride month, and i haven't had the chance to go hard for my lgbtqia+ babies...i stand for u all [sic]."
They told Pride Source, "It's hard to even talk about what love is for me and what attraction is for me because it just keeps shifting. I still don't really know myself very well when it comes to relationships. So, I just don't think I can land solidly on talking about any of that. All I know is that I'm bisexual, and that means something to me."
14. In 2019, Eugene Lee Yang, a member of The Try Guys, came out in a stunning dance video titled "I'm Gay — Eugene Lee Yang."
Additionally, the video raised over $150,000 for The Trevor Project.
15. Lilly Singh (formerly known as IISuperwomanII) came out as bisexual via Twitter in 2019.
She wrote, "Throughout my life these [labels about gender, race, and sexuality] have proven to be obstacles from time to time. But now, I'm fully embracing them as my superpowers. No matter how many 'boxes' you check, I encourage you to do the same."
16. Jenn McAllister (aka jennxpenn) talked about her bisexuality for the first time on her channel in the 2020 video "addressing your assumptions about me..."
She said, "I've actually been out and openly identifying as bisexual with everyone in my life since I was about 19 years old. ... Personally, I just don't feel as if being a queer person requires a big announcement, which is pretty much the only reason why I haven't talked about it on YouTube."
17. And finally, in 2022, Adam B came out in a video titled, "I'M GAY."
He told Pink News, "What led me to doing it publicly is that I just didn't want to be the subject of another person's perspective on the story. Because this is my story. And I know exactly what happens in it. ... [Now], I don't have to watch my back anymore when I'm out in public with my boyfriend, Dom; I don't have to check if people are taking photos and posting them anywhere, because I was always conscious that this was my story. And I wanted to be the author, and I didn't want anyone else to tell it for me."
Looking for more ways to get involved? Check out all of BuzzFeed's posts celebrating Pride 2023.
