# Who is the most famous homosexual? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 14, 2009, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009 "2009-07-14T18:05:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/61 "2009-07-15T11:27:09Z")
Sports / Tennis Martina Navratalova is world famous. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/62 "2009-07-15T12:20:07Z")
> [@Electric\_Warrior](#): > > Not gay. He was married to a woman and had children with her. He was also a pedophile. I really think that being a child molester and being homosexual shouldn’t be put in the same category. Yes of course my mistake :smack: You say he _was_ a paedo, I say he still is ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/63 "2009-07-15T13:08:41Z")
Not exactly WORLD HISTORY FAMOUS, but the d-lister **Perez Hilton** is semi-notable. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/64 "2009-07-15T13:37:52Z")
> [@Other\_Dreams](#): > > :dubious: > **[Gay Book Of Lists: Rutledge, Leigh W.: 9781555831202: Amazon.com: Books](https://www.amazon.com/Gay-Book-Lists-Leigh-Rutledge/dp/1555831206)** > > Gay Book Of Lists \[Rutledge, Leigh W.\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Gay Book Of Lists This board is about fighting ignorance… you might want to Google before making a prat of yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/65 "2009-07-15T13:46:49Z")
And… Rutledge’s book has a list of “24 men who have admitted to having a homosexual experience,” but it doesn’t seem to be well sourced, and I’m not sure that having a homosexual experience makes one homosexual. Names like Winston Churchill and James Dean (no surprise there) are on the list. TGBoL is a really good reference and book for someone just coming out… I gave it to a friend when he was coming out, and he really appreciated knowing a lot of gay trivia (as well as history). I think Martina Natratilova and Billie Jean King are excellent choices on the lesbian side. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/66 "2009-07-15T13:56:10Z")
How about Richard I of England? Not to mention James I - he of the KJV. And possibly Isaac Newton. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/67 "2009-07-15T14:00:24Z")
I wouldn’t throw Newton in there–he seems to have been more asexual than homosexual. On the other hand, I’d mention Michelangelo before Leonardo. Arguably more famous, and definitely more likely to have been homosexual. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/68 "2009-07-15T14:55:43Z")
> [@Other\_Dreams](#): > > :dubious: > > Better than a gay president! :rolleyes: James Buchanan, so it is said. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/69 "2009-07-15T15:17:59Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > “We will rock you” and “We are the champions” are performed so often at sports events that it’s taken for granted that they will. Having your song played a lot =/= famous. Almost everyone has heard of Queen. Not as many people have heard of _Freddie Mercury_, specifically. Since the other members of the band aren’t gay, I don’t think that counts. Elton John is _certainly_ more famous worldwide than Freddie Mercury is personally. Of course, Elton has only been famous for thirty-odd years. Oscar Wilde has been famous for over a hundred, so in terms of “how many people have heard of him, ever?” he’d have to be #1. Difficult to say with any certainty that most of the figures mentioned from antiquity were actually gay in the modern sense. ETA: I hope the Adam Lambert people are kidding. You could hardly offer a more Ameri-centric answer. ---
**Author:** ![MarcusF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/67e7ee/32.png) [@MarcusF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarcusF)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/70 "2009-07-15T15:40:32Z")
Historically Alexander the Great and Oscar Wilde look to be the leading contenders but for current favourites it is bound to be country specific. For the UK there are four or five names from the Arts that I think of immediately: Ian McKellen, Steven Fry, Elton John, Graham Norton, and John Barrowman (from Torchwood). Other than Elton John I am not sure how well they are know internationally. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/71 "2009-07-15T15:43:59Z")
Stephen Fry is a good one–then again, I’m a pretty big fan of him. I didn’t know that Graham Norton was gay, though. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/72 "2009-07-15T16:00:38Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Stephen Fry is a good one–then again, I’m a pretty big fan of him. I didn’t know that Graham Norton was gay, though. I’m a Fry fan and I considered him, too. But I do think he’s a Western, English-speaking country phenom, though I often am surprised how many people know of him or his work - usually through _Peter’s Friends, Wilde_, or any number of cameos he’s made on other shows or movies. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/73 "2009-07-15T16:30:21Z")
I was stunned at the number of people here and elsewhere who knew that Hugh Laurie was English when _House_ first aired. I had thought his ouvre was pretty much enjoyed only in Britain. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/74 "2009-07-15T17:56:55Z")
> [@Lightray](#): > > Also, Odin. According to Loki, in some sagas. Yeah, but you can’t trust that guy. ---
**Author:** ![Electric\_Warrior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Electric\_Warrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electric_Warrior)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/75 "2009-07-15T18:07:34Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > ETA: I hope the Adam Lambert people are kidding. You could hardly offer a more Ameri-centric answer. Yes, it was basically a joke, but I do think that in terms of current US pop culture, fewer people are that famous because they are gay. Elton John remains my real answer. I think people know about him outside of the English speaking world, and think of him as being gay. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/76 "2009-07-15T18:33:45Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I was stunned at the number of people here and elsewhere who knew that Hugh Laurie was English when _House_ first aired. I had thought his ouvre was pretty much enjoyed only in Britain. Lots of PBS stations used to air Blackadder episodes. That was my first exposure to him. (I still quote that show, to the confusion of just about everyone). ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/77 "2009-07-15T18:37:53Z")
> [@Electric\_Warrior](#): > > Yes, it was basically a joke, but I do think that in terms of current US pop culture, fewer people are that famous because they are gay. Is he famous for _being_ gay? I’d never heard of him before this thread- I don’t watch _American Idol_- but I was dimly aware of the existence of other AI losers, like Clay Aiken (wasn’t _he_ gay?), Constantine Maroulis (only 'cause he’s on my fiancee’s “list”), Jennifer Hudson, Chris Daughtry (sp?) and that Sanjaya guy. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/78 "2009-07-15T18:39:05Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > Lots of PBS stations used to air Blackadder episodes. That was my first exposure to him. (I still quote that show, to the confusion of just about everyone). It’s the hallmark of civilization. “The path of my life is strewn with cowpats from the Devil’s own satanic herd!” ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/79 "2009-07-15T18:47:35Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > How about Richard I of England? Richard I falls into the _very speculative_ category. The biggest evidence usually trotted out being that at one point he ‘shared a bed’ with Philip II. However it’s been pointed out that that construction was used by contemporaries to indicate a political alliance ( which at that point they had ), making it a very uncertain phrase to parse. Other evidence is even flimsier and more ambiguous. He _may_ have been - situational same sex relationships were apparently quite common among the young Norman nobility, who tended to marry late and hung out in little bachelor herds, so casual bisexuality at least would have been quasi-normal. But it isn’t unequivocal. There is better evidence for his granduncle William II Rufus, but he actually seems to be one of the _least_ known English kings. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009/80 "2009-07-15T19:13:09Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Is he famous for _being_ gay? I’d never heard of him before this thread- I don’t watch _American Idol_- but I was dimly aware of the existence of other AI losers, like Clay Aiken (wasn’t _he_ gay?), Constantine Maroulis (only 'cause he’s on my fiancee’s “list”), Jennifer Hudson, Chris Daughtry (sp?) and that Sanjaya guy. Sort of. He was runner-up in _American Idol_, which usually guarantees a higher degree of success if not fame than the actual winner. But he got plenty of press before the finale for his flamboyant style and the usual ‘Is he or isn’t he?’ speculation about his sexuality. He played it pretty well, basically offering his official ‘I’m out of the closet’ statement in exchange for the cover of _Rolling Stone_. Not bad for second place in a reality show with slipping (though still respectable) ratings. ETA Yes, I’m embarrassed that I could even comment on that. Truthfully I dropped off as an _AI_ viewer halfway through. Damn me for still knowing this. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-homosexual/503009.md?page=5)