This article was originally published on WHerMoments
Everyone has their favorite queer celebrities, but can you name the many stars who were raised by queer parents? It turns out that some of the most famous people on the planet have LGBTQ+ parents, and their stories are fascinating. From Jay-Z’s mom to Robert De Niro’s dad, here's our list of iconic stars with gay parents who you might not know about.
1. Amy Adams
Amy Adams was 11 years old when her mom, Kathryn Adams, divorced her dad. After splitting with her husband, Kathryn became a bodybuilder and moved in with her female partner.
Adams and her siblings continued living with their dad, but from the looks of this picture, she and her mom are still very much besties!
2. Ally Sheedy
Ally Sheedy rose to fame after starring in The Breakfast Club, but fans of the coming-of-age movie may not know about her links to the LGBTQ+ community. Sheedy's mother, Charlotte, is gay, and she’s been very active in women's rights movements. Meanwhile, Sheedy's son, Beckett, is a trans man.
The actress explained to the Windy City Times in 2011, "It's difficult for me to understand a family member judging or not loving or accepting another family member because they are gay." She also mentioned that it all comes down to a simple question: "Do you love that person or not?"
3. Liza Minnelli
Liza Minnelli’s father, Vincente Minnelli, was one of the most celebrated filmmakers of the 1940s. He was also likely a closeted gay man. Many authors and critics have speculated about Vincente's orientation through the years, especially since the acclaimed director was married to four different women, but he kept his cards close to his chest.
And according to Mark Griffin, who wrote a biography about Vincente, "It was generally assumed that he was a closeted gay man who, due to the societal conditioning of his era, felt compelled to marry and procreate."
4. Mandy Moore
This Is Us star Mandy Moore seems to have it all: she has a skyrocketing career and a super-close family. When she was 23 years old, Moore’s mother left her father for another woman, but that doesn't seem to have gotten in the way of their family's close-knit bond. Both of Moore's brothers are gay, too, and it seems to only have brought them closer. "Nobody is hiding who they are," she has said.
"There are no secrets in our lives. I love and support my mom and my brothers with my whole heart. And nothing makes me happier than seeing anybody live their authentic self, and to choose love.”
5. Judy Garland
Judy Garland’s parents were vaudevillians in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, but the family relocated to California when Frances Gumm — as she was known then — was five years old. The reason for the move? Word had started to spread that her father had been making passes at the male ushers.
Decades later, LGBTQ+ magazine The Advocate would refer to the Wizard of Oz star as "the Elvis of homosexuals," a.k.a. the ultimate gay icon.
6. Jodie Foster
Evelyn “Brandy” Foster was not only Jodie Foster's mom, but also her manager. According to The Silence of the Lambs star, their busy schedule of traveling on the road resulted in "an interesting relationship that was fraught — wonderful but painful, too." After divorcing Jodie's father, Air Force Lt. Col. Lucius Foster, Evelyn reportedly raised her four children with the help of her female partner.
And, of course, who could forget how Jodie Foster revealed her sexuality to the public back in 2013? The star used her Golden Globe Awards speech to put speculation to rest about her preferences.
7. Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro, Sr. was an accomplished painter and sculptor who just so happened to also be Robert De Niro’s dad.
De Niro, Sr. had a long struggle with his homosexuality, and the younger De Niro revealed in an interview with OUT magazine that he wished he had been closer with his dad and “talked about it more.”
8. 50 Cent
Until the age of eight, rapper Curtis Jackson was raised by his mom, Sabrina Jackson, but tragically, she lost her life in a fire when 50 Cent was still only a boy. After losing his mother, he was raised by his grandmother, Beulah. The musician set the record straight about his mother's sexuality in an interview with Perez Hilton.
"My mom was a lesbian," he said. "Yeah, she liked women. My whole childhood was like that." 50 is also an advocate of marriage equality along with the likes of Jay-Z and Will Smith.
9. O.J. Simpson
It seems that this former American footballer struggled growing up in a single-parent household. Raised by just his mother, O.J. said that things were tough growing up without a male influence. "I really needed a man around then for guidance.
I get along with my father now, but it’s taken years for me to come to terms with my feelings" he said in a 1975 magazine profile. Simpson’s father, Jimmie Simpson, was a famous drag queen before he passed away due to AIDS-related complications in 1986.
10. Andy Richter
Conan O'Brien's sidekick Andy Richter may be well-known as a funny man, but as a young boy, he experienced something far less comical when his parents split. Aged just four years old, Richter became a child of divorce. And following the breakup, his father, Laurence, later came out as gay.
Although seemingly somewhat private about his home life, the comedian discussed his experience with Greg Fitzsimmons during a 2010 episode of his podcast.
11. Anne Heche
In her 2001 memoir Call Me Crazy, published a year after her high-profile breakup with Ellen DeGeneres, Anne Heche described the abuse she endured from her father. Aside from the traumas she faced, the actress also referred to the "very flamboyant homosexual lifestyle" that he lead before his AIDS-related death in 1983.
Anne was also estranged from her mother, perhaps partly because of her mom's involvement in the deeply controversial conversion therapy that supposedly "cures" homosexuality. Despite Heche's negative experiences, the actress championed LGBTQ+ rights throughout her life.
12. Natasha Richardson
Natasha Richardson's father, Tony Richardson, was probably best known for his high-profile marriage to British actress Vanessa Redgrave. Tying the knot in what some would consider a whirlwind romance perhaps wasn't such a smart move, however, as the pair split after only five years.
Some sources state that filmmaker Tony kept his bisexuality a secret during their relationship, although he left Redgrave to pursue a relationship with French actress Jeanne Moreau. As for Natasha, she found out about her father's sexuality when she was 11 years old.
13. Jay Z
Jay Z's mom, Gloria Carter, came out as a lesbian on the rapper's 2017 album 4:44. On the track "Smile," both Jay Z and his mom discuss her sexuality.
"Mama had four kids, but she's a lesbian/Had to pretend so long that she's a thespian... Had to hide in the closet, so she medicate/Society shame and the pain was too much to take."
14. Jennifer Grey
Rising to fame in hits such as Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Dirty Dancing, Jennifer Grey knows how to handle tough hands dealt by a life in the public eye. But what she couldn't have prepared for was the backhanded way she was first made to consider that her Oscar-winning father, Joel Grey, might be gay.
Back in the 80s when Grey was dating Matthew Broderick, her co-star's mother suggested that her father was attracted to men. Grey described the world-altering moment as a "sniper attack," but luckily, that didn't get in the way of the unbreakable bond she shared with her dad.
15. Rene Russo
Rene Russo's dad, Nino, was a sculptor and mechanic who left the family when Rene was just two years old. Following the split, Rene and her brothers and sisters were raised by their mom, Shirley.
In 2002, Rene Russo shared with Rosie O'Donnell that her mom was a lesbian and that she'd enlisted help from her community of lesbian friends to raise her and her siblings.
16. Jena Malone
Jena Malone is one of those actresses who you're sure you recognize, but just can’t remember where from! Well, she’s best known for playing quirky characters in Donnie Darko and The Hunger Games, but she also had a somewhat unconventional upbringing, too. Jena was raised by her mom, Debbie, and her mom’s girlfriend Donna Mason.
Despite losing contact with her father as a young girl, Jena reconciled with him when she was a teen. And along with her father's new wife, that brings Jena to a grand total of three moms!
17. Dorothy Dandridge
Dorothy Dandridge's mother, Ruby, left her father, Cyril, to be with another woman, and it was then that things got tough for the budding actress. With two moms came the added pressure to perform and "make it" on both the stage and screen.
Tragically, Dandridge's biological mother, along with her new partner, Geneva Williams, would force Dorothy and her sister to practice until they physically couldn't go on. Despite such a problematic start, Dorothy became the first African-American to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress.
18. Joe Valentine
Mother's day in former Major League Baseball player Joe Valentine's world must be hectic because he has not one, but two wonderful moms. In fact, Valentine never actually knew his father. Luckily, he had his biological mom, Deb, along with her partner, Doreen Price, to provide him with everything he needed growing up. And the pitcher clearly isn't phased.
"It's no different than having a mother and father," said Valentine. "These are the two women who raised me, and they are wonderful people. It's just not a big deal to me. Why should it be?"
19. Alison Bechdel
"If there was ever a bigger pansy than my father, it was Marcel Proust," writes Alison Bechdel in her acclaimed graphic memoir Fun Home. Bechdel's novel is cram-packed with detail and combines memories of her closeted gay dad with her own coming-of-age story. Sadly, Alison's father died just four months after she came out. And according to the author, she had an empowering way of processing both her father's death and his life of secrecy.
"I threw myself into the gay community, into this life as a lesbian cartoonist, deciding I was going to be a professional lesbian," she wrote. "In a way, that was all my way of healing myself."
20. Vanessa Redgrave
The actress Vanessa Redgrave comes from a long lineage of acting greats. Her father, Sir Michael Redgrave, was among some of the first "theatrical knights" — thespians who were granted knighthoods for their contribution to the theater.
As well as being fully immersed in life on-stage, Sir Michael was bisexual throughout his life but only later came out. The stage star said it straight to his son, Michael, "I am, to say the least of it, bisexual."
21. Magic Johnson
Now a new generation of celebrities are having children, and these famous kids are starting to embrace their own LGBTQ+ identities. Back in 2013, for example, Magic Johnson’s son E.J. faced the unpleasant situation of being outed as gay by gossip website TMZ. But E.J.’s parents were there for him.
Speaking to the YouTube show Gwissues that year, the young man said, “I am very, very, very blessed to have the family that I do. My parents have always been super supportive.”
22. E.J. Johnson
Three years later, Johnson confessed on Good Morning America that he “didn’t want” E.J. to be gay but soon changed his mind. He said, “I had to come to realize that this is who he is, and he’s going to be happy. And so why am I judging him?
I’m his father, so I got to be the first one to say, ‘it’s okay and I love you. Now, how can I help you?’”
23. Marcia Gay Harden
Hudson, the 18-year-old son of actress Marcia Gay Harden, came out as gay while still a young teenager. Harden quickly began working to support him.
In 2018 she attended the Family Equality Council’s Impact Awards and while there told Us Weekly magazine, “The cause is dear to me, yes. My son is gay. I just want to make sure he gets to have a family when he wants one.”
24. Hudson Harden Scheel
And in 2019 Harden filmed a clip in support of the Equality Act. She said “Over half of LGBT people live in states where they are not protected.
That makes me think about my son, who is part of the LGBT community, and I would never in a second think that he should not have the same rights that his twin sister does, who is not gay.”
25. Mia Farrow
Critically acclaimed actress Mia Farrow is the mother of journalist Ronan Farrow.
He was one of the people who helped bring Harvey Weinstein to justice by uncovering many of the sexual abuse allegations against him in 2017. And a year later, Ronan Farrow came out as part of the LGBT community.
26. Ronan Farrow
During an acceptance speech at the Point Foundation, Ronan said, “Being a part of the LGBT community – which recognized that reporting I was doing early on and elevated it, and has been such a stalwart source of support through the sexual assault reporting I did involving survivors who felt equally invisible – that has been an incredible source of strength for me.”
27. Isiah Thomas
In 2010 retired NBA star Isiah Thomas and his gay son Joshua joined the NOH8te campaign, which was working to oppose California’s ban on same-sex marriage.
On the campaign’s website the pair announced, “It is time for full equality and equal rights for everyone, regardless of race, sexual orientation, religion, or gender.”
28. Joshua Thomas
A few years later in 2013 Joshua told Out magazine, “I came out in 2008, my sophomore year at college. My parents like to say they always knew I was gay. I came out to them, and they were very accepting. I always knew they would be accepting.
Growing up, I had gay uncles, like every kid in America. I never was so scared that my parents were going to shun or disown me – the horror stories you hear.”
29. Ally Sheedy
Ally Sheedy of The Breakfast Club is the daughter of a lesbian mother and a mom herself to a transgender son.
Speaking to the Windy City Times in 2011, she said, “I feel that if you are a well-known person and you have a voice to bring attention to something, it’s nothing but honorable to do so. I specifically have my heart in the LGBTQI cause and a lot of it is very personal.”
30. Beckett Lansbury
Sheedy’s son is named Beckett, and in 2017 both mother and son spoke to the Boom! Lawyered podcast, and Sheedy remembered, “I didn’t have a judgment call on Beck himself, I was just afraid.
I was really afraid of the whole process… I needed him to educate me in a very patient, loving way, not feel like I was making judgements just because I didn’t understand.”
31. Sally Field
When Sally Field’s son Sam Greisman came out as gay, she was instantly supportive of him. In 2018 the young man told the Liverpool City Champion newspaper, “A lot of young gay men would kill to have Sally Field as a mom.
And a lot of parents of gay kids could learn a lot from her. I’m very, very lucky.”
32. Sam Greisman
Sally Field herself is considered a gay icon. Sam also said in the interview, “She still doesn’t get it. I didn’t understand it myself until I came out and started dating.
I said you’re a strong woman who wears her heart on her sleeve and you’re a protective mother and you’re emotional and you celebrate being emotional. And she says: ‘But I don’t sing!’”
33. Marlon Wayans
Marlon Wayans fiercely defends his gay daughter, Amai Zackary Wayans, against internet trolls. In 2019 he posted a picture of her on Instagram with the caption, “Happy pride to my pride and joy.
I wouldn’t change one effing thing about you. Love you to the moon around the sun through the galaxies and back again.”
34. Amai Zackary Wayans
There were a few nasty responses on the post, and Marlon responded in kind to them. When asked why he didn’t delete the comments, the actor said, “I thought of erasing them but I need the world to see the ignorance that still exists.
Objective without obstacles is a worthless triumph. We all will some day get to unconditional love. Because of my daughter, I am one step closer.”
35. Donal Logue
Gotham star Donald Logue's daughter, Jade, is a transgender woman. Her gender identity was brought to wide attention when she went missing in 2017. The actor posted via his Twitter account, “Jade.
We miss you and love you. Please come home. If you can see this, just know I love and miss you dearly.”
36. Jade Logue
Several of Donal’s fellow actors went to social media to spread the missing person post, including Stana Katic and Olivia Wilde. And thankfully, Jade was found. A few weeks after she disappeared Donal posted, “Thank you ALL for the love and support.
We are good. Kasey (Jade’s mother) and I wish to thank the NYPD, FBI, @MissingKids and countless others.”
37. Sting
Sting’s daughter Eliot Sumner never used to discuss her sexuality publically. But come 2015 she talked to the Evening Standard newspaper about it and the girlfriend she lived with, Austrian model Lucie von Alten.
Then the conversation turned to when and how the young singer-songwriter came out to her parents.
38. Eliot Sumner
In fact, Eliot said she never actually had to talk to her famous parents – her mother is actress Trudie Styler – about her sexuality, because “they knew already.” She added, “So I didn’t need to. I’ve never come out to anyone.”
She also mentioned that she didn’t identify as any gender but was “very happy” in her own skin.
39. Alec Baldwin
The daughter of Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger, Ireland, came out as part of the LGBTQ+ community back in 2014.
Although Baldwin had an apparently difficult relationship with Ireland when she was younger, he stepped up to the plate to support her. And during an interview with another celebrity, he revealed more about their relationship.
40. Ireland Baldwin
Yes, during a 2015 interview with Amy Schumer on his own podcast, Alec said of his daughter, “She had a girlfriend for a while, and she said to me, ‘You don’t sleep with a man or a woman – you sleep with the person.
I’m attracted to that person.’ So she slept with somebody who was a woman. And I was like, ‘Wow.’”
41. Barbra Streisand
In 1988 Barbra Streisand’s son Jason Gould told his parents he was gay, but the tabloids only got wind of the story years later and outed him.
Come 1999, Streisand was interviewed by The Advocate magazine, and she launched a blistering attack on the homophobes of the world.
42. Jason Gould
Streisand declared, “I would never wish for my son to be anything but what he is. He is bright, kind, sensitive, caring, and a very conscientious and good person. He is a very gifted actor and filmmaker.
What more could a parent ask for in their child?... Nobody on this earth has the right to tell anyone that their love for another human being is morally wrong.”
43. Cynthia Nixon
Sex and the City actress Cynthia Nixon is a lesbian, an activist for LGBTQ+ rights, and the mother of a transgender son, Samuel Joseph Mozes, known as “Seph.” She’s spent so much of her life campaigning for equality that she’s won awards for her work.
In 2018 she spoke to US Weekly magazine about her child’s transition and how very proud she was of him.
44. Samuel Mozes
Nixon told the magazine, “It’s one of those things. I felt really weird using the other pronoun in public, but people didn’t know yet.
… He was good with it, and it was really nice, actually, when we announced it. There was some general, you know, voicings of support but generally it was not a big deal.”
45. Cher
Cher’s son Chaz Bono came out as transgender in 2008, after a period of identifying as a lesbian.
The music icon has admitted in the past that she found it difficult, telling PrideSource in 2018, “I didn’t go through it that easily. Both times. When I found out Chaz was gay, I didn’t go through it that easily.”
46. Chaz Bono
Cher went on, “And what I think is, there’s such a fear of losing the child you love, and what will replace that child…I felt, who will this new person be?
Because I know who the person is now, but who will the new person be and how will it work and will I have lost somebody?” But, she concluded, “Chaz is so happy now and we get along better than ever.”
47. Annette Bening & Warren Beatty
Married Hollywood icons Annette Bening and Warren Beatty have a transgender son named Stephen, who is also gay. Stephen has been known to campaign on Twitter about LGBTQ+ issues, including the well-known Leelah Alcorn case.
And both his parents have spoken to the media about how proud they are of him.
48. Stephen Beatty
In 2016 fifteen-time Academy Award nominee Beatty told Vanity Fair magazine, “He’s a revolutionary, a genius, and my hero, as are all my children.”
And in November 2019 Bening said of Stephen to AARP, “He’s managed something that’s very challenging with great style and great intelligence. He’s an articulate, thoughtful person, and I’m very, very proud of him.”
49. Marie Osmond
Marie Osmond, one of the highest profile Mormons in show business, has a gay daughter. However, Marie was adamant that she wouldn’t choose religion over her child. In 2009 she told Entertainment Tonight, “So what if she’s gay?
She’s my daughter and she’s an amazing woman and a good kid. I raised her, she better be good.”
50. Marie's daughter
The singer went on, “A lot of women out there have gay children. Who cares? It’s so sad that we have to even segregate all these things. The thing I want is love. You know, I’m a Christian and Christ was that way.
He loved everybody.” To this day Marie supports her daughter, even though she says she’s been shamed for it.
51. Billy Ray Cyrus
Most people know that Billy Ray Cyrus is the father of headline-grabbing pop sensation Miley Cyrus, even though she’s arguably even more famous than he is now.
However, many folks might not necessarily know that Miley doesn’t identify as straight. In 2015 she came out to the world as pansexual and gender-fluid.
52. Miley Cyrus
In 2019, after getting married to actor Liam Hemsworth (they’re already divorced), Miley told Vanity Fair magazine, “We’re redefining, to be f***ing frank, what it looks like for someone that’s a queer person like myself to be in a hetero relationship.
A big part of my pride and my identity is being a queer person.”
53. Charlize Theron
Charlize Theron’s daughter Jackson is a transgender girl. And the actress is incredibly supportive.
In April 2019 she told the Daily Mail newspaper, “Yes, I thought she was a boy, too… [My kids] were born who they are and exactly where in the world both of them get to find themselves as they grow up, and who they want to be, is not for me to decide.”
54. Jackson Theron
And in December of that year, Charlize told Pride Source that she’d revealed the news because “I was still talking about her in the press using the wrong pronoun. It really hurt her feelings.
I don’t want to be that mom, and that was really why I said what I said a while back.” But she hoped Jackson would tell her own story one day.
55. Dwyane Wade
When Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union learned their child was transgender, they immediately began supporting her. In March 2020 Dwyane wrote on Instagram, “Everyone allow her to re-introduce herself her name is Zaya Wade.
Last night was Zaya’s first red carpet and we couldn’t have been prouder of how she handled the questions that were asked of her.”
56. Zaya Wade
Gabrielle Union did a similar thing after Zaya’s first red carpet.
She wrote on her own social media account, “It was important for Zaya to be a part of such a beautiful night and reminding her of all the love & support she has.” She also added, “Stay put and stay mad if you want. We keep it pushing. Always.”
57. Johnny Depp
A-list actor Johnny Depp had one daughter with Vanessa Paradis, Lily-Rose.
And in 2015 the teenage Lily-Rose decided to contribute to a campaign about people in the United States who “identify as anything other than 100 percent straight.” She revealed that she considered herself “somewhere on the vast spectrum” of sexuality.
58. Lily-Rose Depp
Johnny Depp was completely fine about this. In November 2015 he told the Daily Mail, “She’s got thousands of followers on social media, and they were all taken completely by surprise. But not me.
I already knew because she tells me everything – she’s not afraid to say anything to me. We’re super-tight and I’m very proud of our relationship.”
59. Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith
Acting couple Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith always said they would raise their children to be individuals and “live their truth.” Well, son Jaden not so long ago said he was in a gay relationship with rapper Tyler, the Creator.
And their daughter Willow Smith casually revealed her sexuality in 2019, while on an episode of Red Table Talk with her mother and grandmother.
60. Jaden and Willow Smith
On the show Willow said, “I love men and women equally, and so I would definitely want one man, one woman. I feel like I could be polyfidelitous with those two people...I feel like if I were to find two people of different genders that I really connected with...
I don’t feel like I would feel the need to try to go find more.” Her family were surprised, but very supportive.