27 celebrities who proudly identify as lesbians

For many people, the term 'lesbian' holds all the power in the world.

Accepting and loving yourself as the lesbian that you are, in a world that hates lesbians (and women), is one of the hardest things you can do. Unfortunately, this has become especially true in recent years.

Not only do lesbians have to deal with compulsory heterosexuality, people associating the word with porn for straight men, and homophobic bullying around the term, but there is a whole new slew of reasons why people might not disclose that they identify as lesbians.

A lot of people, especially young people, have adopted very prescriptive definitions of what it means to be a lesbian. These individuals believe, for instance, that if you've ever been attracted to anyone who isn't a woman — whether they're nonbinary, a man, trans masc, or anything else — you have no right to call yourself a lesbian.

Others avoid the term because they think it's been co-opted by TERFs (trans-exclusionary radical feminists), who claim to be the only "true lesbians." That's all nonsense, of course, but it still makes identifying as a lesbian an act of radical bravery and strength in today's sociopolitical climate.

If you're looking for inspiration from others who are loud about being lesbians, we've got the perfect list for you. Check out some of the amazing lesbians who are proud to use the term!

Hayley Kiyoko

Singer Hayley Kiyoko is known as "Lesbian Jesus" by her adoring fans. While Kiyoko initially said that she rejected labels, she's come to embrace identifying as a lesbian and hopes she can inspire others to do the same.

"I didn't want a label at all, but once I released my music, there was this outpour of support for the fact that I did like girls," Kiyoko said, as reported by Gay Times. "I learned that by embracing my label as a lesbian, I was helping normalize that for so many other people."

Kehlani

Kehlani has long identified as queer and bisexual, and previously said she didn't identify as a lesbian.

In 2021, however, Kehlani posted a video clarifying her current identity. "You wanna know what's new about me?" they asked in the video. "I finally know I'm a lesbian!"

Brandi Carlile

One of the greatest living singer-songwriters, 11-time Grammy Award winner Brandi Carlile came out as a lesbian back in 2002 during an interview. 20 years later, she's one of the biggest artists in country, Americana, and folk music genres, and one of the most famous lesbians around.

Peach PRC

Even though Peach PRC (real name Shaylee Curnow) had previously identified as bisexual, she came out as a lesbian to her fans in January 2022. After her queer song "God Is a Freak" became a viral hit, she posted a TikTok video clarifying her sexuality.

"I guess now is a good time to tell you all, I'm a lesbian," Peach PRC said in the video. She also shared a post that read, "Came out as a lesbian today (to be fair, the closet was made of glass lol)."

Jasmin Savoy Brown

Jasmin Savoy Brown identifies as lesbian, queer, and pansexual, and is famous for playing queer characters like Mindy Meeks-Martin in Scream and Taissa Turner in Yellowjackets.

Julien Baker

Indie rocker, and member of Boygenius, Julien Baker had a lot of fears about coming out as a young girl raised in a religious household in Tennessee. However, when she did come out as a lesbian, her father grabbed a bible and "spent the next hour pointing out, like, 'Here's this thing that says there's nothing wrong with you and god loves you.'"

Jessica Betts

Jessica Betts is much more than the wife of Niecy Nash. She's a musician and singer who won the 2005 singing competition series The Road to Stardom with Missy Elliott. Betts is also a proud lesbian.

Dee Rees

One of the greatest living screenwriters and directors is a proud lesbian. Dee Rees has released four feature films: Pariah (which is loosely based on her teen years), Bessie, Mudbound, and The Last Thing He Wanted.

Dee Rees became the first Black woman nominated for an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for Mudbound. She was nominated for Emmys for writing and directing the movie Bessie about queer singer Bessie Smith.

Megan Rapinoe and Sue Bird

Megan Rapinoe and Sue Bird are both superstar athletes who came out as lesbians and became the first same-sex couple to grace the cover of ESPN's The Body Issue. Rapinoe, a soccer player, came out as a lesbian in 2012. Bird came out in 2017 upon announcing that she was in a relationship with Rapinoe.

Tegan and Sara

Twin musicians Tegan and Sara both identify as lesbians. They've been out since they started their music career. And, most recently, their coming-of-age memoir has been made into a TV show about the two teen sisters forming a band and coming out.

Brandy Clark

Brandy Clark is a talented country musician and songwriter. In addition to releasing her own music, she's also written hit songs for Miranda Lambert, LeAnn Rimes, The Band Perry, and Kacey Musgraves, for whom she wrote "Biscuits" and "Follow Your Arrow."

"I'm one hundred percent a lesbian," Clark said in 2021. "There's no gray area. There's no man that's going to come out and say, 'Well, Brandy Clark had a sexual relationship with me in my twenties.' Nope. Wasn't going on."

Brittany Howard

Brittany Howard was the former lead singer of the band Alabama Shakes. With the band, she was nominated for nine Grammys and won four.

As a solo artist, Howard's been nominated for seven more Grammys, and won one. She came out as a lesbian at age 25.

Zolita

One of the leaders of the current "sapphic pop" wave, Zolita, is a proud lesbian who sings about her sexuality and experiences in her songs.

"I'm a feminist, lesbian woman. And, as an artist, I want to explore my experiences and write stories about them," she told Gay Times.

Da Brat

Rapper Da Brat didn't come out as a lesbian until she was in the public eye for around 25 years. Looking back, Da Brat said that she was afraid to come out as a lesbian because of the backlash she saw Ellen DeGeneres facing. She's now married to Jesseca "Judy" Dupart.

Nat Puff

Nat Puff first became famous Vine, a social network that hasn't existed for many years. Now, she's best known for her impressions and musical ability.

Nat Puff identifies as a trans lesbian. "In true lesbian fashion, I started doing music to impress girls," she told Forbes.

Reneé Rapp

Reneé Rapp, a singer and actor who's starred in projects like Mean Girls and The Sex Lives of College Girls, first came out as bisexual and then came out as a lesbian while she was appearing on Saturday Night Live. In one sketch with Bowen Yang and Jacob Elordi, she was referred to as their "little lesbian intern Reneé."

Rapp subsequently shared in an X post, "If I say I'm a lesbian, I am a lesbian. And if someone says they're bi, they are bi. I've had enough of you witches."

Chappell Roan

Chappell Roan is one of the biggest breakout singers of the last five years, winning the Best New Artist Grammy in 2025 and having several hits off her album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess. Over time, she's been very open about being a lesbian, and told Rolling Stone that coming out "changed everything."

Roan, who confirmed to fans that she is a lesbian at a concert in Ohio, said that she used to sleep with men but never enjoyed it. "Finally, it's like, 'Oh, I know why. It's because I'm gay and nothing's actually wrong with me.' I just wasn't supposed to be sleeping with men, and now I'm a little repulsed at the thought of even kissing a guy because no one's going to be as good as girls," Roan declared.

Lauren Chan

Lauren Chan made history in 2025 as the first out lesbian to be on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. The model and former fashion editor at Glamour came out in an essay for Vogue that ran alongside her first Swimsuit Issue appearance in 2023. Overall, she credits Reneé Rapp with helping her find her lesbian pride.

"You know, Reneé Rapp changed my brain chemistry," Chan told Out in an interview. "When I saw her at the GLAAD Awards get on stage and call herself a lesbian as she was accepting her award… Truly, until that moment, I was not completely comfortable with it."

Abigail Thorn

In a 2022 interview with Diva Magazine, the actor, podcaster, and creator of Philosophy Tube said, "It's not easy being any kind of woman in the public eye, never mind a trans lesbian." Abigail Thorn has appeared on TV shows like Django, The Acolyte, and House of the Dragon.

Kate Moennig

Kate Moennig is best known for playing lesbian legend Shane on The L Word, but she didn't come out until she joined the show.

In an interview on RuPaul's former podcast What's the Tee, Moennig said that her Catholic upbringing made it so she "didn't have the vocabulary for it yet. "Oddly enough, when I got The L Word, that's where my wheels started turning," she explained. "Everyone was open and proud and confident. I'd never seen that before. Never in my life."

Leisha Hailey

When The L Word star Leisha Hailey first joined the show, she was the only out lesbian in the main cast. Hailey played bisexual icon Alice Pieszecki on the show, and has formed a long-term relationship with fellow lesbian cast member Kate Moennig.

Sasheer Zamata

Sasheer Zamata, a comedian and actress known for starring on Saturday Night Live and Agatha All Along, came out as a lesbian in 2024 at the age of 38.

"I'm out in my life and I do keep my personal life kind of private, but I also don't necessarily want my identity to be private," Zamata told Them. "I guess I'm one of those late-in-life lesbians. I just feel very comfortable and confident in my life."

Tommy Dorfman

Tommy Dorfman, who starred in 13 Reasons Why on Netflix, came out as a trans woman in 2021. Then, in 2022, Dorfman posted a TikTok saying, "Can someone tell me how I went from being a straight boy to a gay boy to a nonbinary person to a trans straight woman, I thought, to I guess I am a trans lesbian?"

Chrissy Chlapecka

Chrissy Chlapecka is known for her "bimbo persona" on TikTok, as well as her sassy and sexy pop songs like "I'm So Hot" and "Clam Casino." She often talks about being a lesbian on stage, and shared a video where she is asked, "How many boyfriends?" She said, "10, but also none. I'm a lesbian."

Julia Fox

Supermodel and "it girl" Julia Fox came out as a lesbian in 2024 on TikTok. She shared a video where queer comedian Gracin joked, "I love when I see a lesbian with their boyfriend. It's like, 'Awww, you hate that man. You literally hate him." Fox also stitched her own video to that one, saying, "Hey, that was me, I was that lesbian. So sorry, boys. Won't happen again."