1. Sheryl Swoopes
Basketball legend Sheryl Swoopes separated from her husband, Eric Jackson, in 1999. In 2005, she publicly got here out as homosexual whereas in a long-term relationship with former basketball participant and coach Alisa “Scottie” Scott.
Throughout an interview with OutSports that yr, Swoopes mentioned she felt “free” after popping out.
“I used to be telling my companion the opposite day, once I take a look at TV, I see Rosie and everybody is aware of, and Rosie is Rosie, and it’s not a problem anymore, ” she defined. “And I take a look at Ellen Degeneres and her companion, and see Ellen internet hosting the Emmys, and so they’re on the crimson carpet, and it’s like, ‘Oh, there’s Ellen and her companion.’ It’s not like, ‘Oh, there’s Ellen, she’s homosexual….’ I see that and I wish to try this. I would like to have the ability to go to the ESPYs with my companion and stroll down the crimson carpet and have individuals say, ‘Oh, there’s Sheryl and her companion,’ and be okay with it, as an alternative of me having to fake. I’ve taken associates and brothers to totally different occasions as a result of I couldn’t take my companion with me. These kinds of issues are so necessary to me.”
Sadly, the couple later separated in 2011.
Years later, Swoopes’ journey took one other flip. She grew to become engaged to, and married, Chris Unclesho in July 2017, displaying that love doesn’t at all times observe a straight line.
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2. Porsha Williams
Porsha Williams finalized her divorce from Simon Guobadia in June 2025 after marrying him in November 2022. The break up adopted a really public and generally contentious separation that started when she filed in February 2024.
Just some months after her divorce was finalized, she publicly launched her girlfriend, Patrice “Sway” McKinney, in an affectionate Instagram birthday put up — marking her first introduced romantic relationship since her break up.
In an unique Dec. 11 interview with PEOPLE, the Actual Housewives of Atlanta star defined why she selected to go public. The mom of 1 mentioned she “simply wished to proceed to reside” in her “reality.”
She added, “I’ve been in actuality TV for 10-plus years, okay. However sure, this was positively totally different for apparent causes,” she mentioned from the crimson carpet at A 12 months in Time in New York Metropolis, noting that that is her first public relationship with a girl.
Reflecting on her determination, Porsha defined that she didn’t wish to “disguise” any a part of her life.
“I felt if I did disguise it and it needed to be caught someplace, it simply wouldn’t really feel genuine,” she continued. “I wish to reside in my reality, and so in doing that, I’ve discovered somebody who I actually get pleasure from attending to know, and it’s been nice.”
When discussing what drew her to Sway, she defined:
“I believe one of the best factor is if you discover somebody that you may see your self in, and also you guys match, and every thing is comfy, it’s heat.”
She added, “You positively wish to be with somebody heat who you possibly can get pleasure from — and household. So I’m very blessed.”
3. Frida Kahlo
Frida Kahlo married fellow artist Diego Rivera on August 21, 1929. She was 22; he was 42. Her dad and mom famously described their union as a wedding between “an elephant and a dove,” referencing their hanging bodily variations.
Supply: Getty
Their relationship was passionate, inventive, and tumultuous. After a decade of mutual infidelities and intense arguments, they divorced in November 1939 — solely to remarry on December 8, 1940, in San Francisco.
Although typically remembered for her marriage, Kahlo was overtly bisexual, as famous by YouTuber Jessica Kellgren-Fozard. She had well-documented affairs with each women and men, together with singer Chavela Vargas, entertainer Josephine Baker, and artist Jacqueline Lamba.
Kahlo lived boldly and unapologetically, refusing to restrict her love — or her artwork — to expectations.
4. Anne Heche and Ellen DeGeneres
The late Anne Heche was in a groundbreaking, high-profile relationship with Ellen DeGeneres from 1997 to 2000. On the time, they had been thought of one among Hollywood’s first “homosexual supercouples.”
Popping out within the public eye wasn’t straightforward. In response to Web page Six, Heche shared on Season 29 of Dancing With the Stars that assembly DeGeneres at a Vainness Honest get together in 1997 modified her life “endlessly.”
When the couple deliberate to attend the premiere of her movie Volcano in 1997, Heche was allegedly warned her job could be in jeopardy if she went public. She introduced DeGeneres anyway — and the pair had been reportedly “ushered out by safety earlier than the film even ended.” Heche was allegedly informed she was not allowed to attend her “personal after-party” as her administration group feared she could be pictured with Ellen.
Regardless of the backlash, their romance lasted three-and-a-half years. In August 2000, they introduced what they described in a joint assertion to PEOPLE as an “amicable” break up.
Following her relationship with DeGeneres, Heche dated and married males, together with Coleman Laffoon. In her posthumous memoir, Name Me Anne (2023), she mirrored on her identification, writing: “Homosexual didn’t really feel proper, and neither did straight.” She typically described her attraction as being to a “particular person as an alternative of their gender” and as soon as joked that “alien” may be one of the best match for her sexuality.
5. Julie Cypher and Melissa Etheridge
Director and LGBTQ+ advocate Julie Cypher divorced actor Lou Diamond Phillips in 1990 to be with singer Melissa Etheridge.
Their relationship grew to become one among Hollywood’s first high-profile same-sex partnerships within the Nineties. Collectively for 12 years, they welcomed two youngsters by way of synthetic insemination with sperm donor David Crosby earlier than parting methods in 2000.
In a joint assertion launched by Etheridge’s administration firm, they mentioned:
“With the utmost love and respect for each other, we’ve determined to separate. As dedicated dad and mom, our high precedence continues to be what’s in one of the best curiosity of our kids. Although components of our lives will change, our household will at all times stay intact.”
Cypher later remarried in 2004 to actor Matthew Hale.
6. Wanda and Alex Sykes
Wanda Sykes was married to file producer David Corridor from 1991 till their divorce in 1998.
In 2008, she publicly got here out as homosexual and married Alex Niedbalski the identical yr. The couple now shares twin youngsters collectively.
7. Meredith Baxter
Greatest identified for enjoying Elyse Keaton on Household Ties, Meredith Baxter was married 3 times earlier than popping out as homosexual in 2009.
She was first married to Robert Lewis Bush (1966–1971), then to David Birney (1974–1989), and later to Michael Blodgett (1995–2000).
After publicly popping out, she married Nancy Locke in 2013, stepping confidently into a brand new chapter of her life.
8. Portia de Rossi and Ellen Degeneres
Portia de Rossi was married to Mel Metcalfe, an Academy Award-nominated sound engineer, from 1996 to 1999.
She later publicly got here out as homosexual and, in 2008, married Ellen DeGeneres, solidifying one among Hollywood’s most acknowledged same-sex marriages.
9. Alice Walker
Alice Walker, creator of The Shade Purple, was married to civil rights lawyer Melvyn Rosenman Leventhal from 1967 to 1976. They married at a time when interracial marriage was nonetheless unlawful in elements of america and had one daughter collectively, Rebecca Walker.
After their divorce, Walker had relationships with each women and men, together with a largely personal romance within the mid-Nineties with singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman.
In a 2022 interview with Gayle King, Walker revealed it was Chapman’s voice that made her fall in love. She later wrote about their transient relationship in her memoir Gathering Blossoms Underneath Fireplace: The Journals of Alice Walker.
“It was her voice. there are some voices in our tradition that may carry the entire tradition and actually make an emotional sense of it and liberate you right into a deep love,” she gushed.
Sadly, Walker later revealed that the 2 now not converse.
Love doesn’t at all times observe the trail individuals count on, however for these girls, selecting authenticity over appearances modified every thing.
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