With the 2015 Supreme Court decision recognizing same sex marriage as legal, these 10 comedians can now get married (or have their marriages legally honored) in any state they wish.
Beloved stand-up, actress and Emmy award-winning talk show host Rosie O'Donnell didn't come out until 2002. This was after she hosted her own incredibly successful daytime talk show but before she spent several tumultuous seasons as a co-host of ABC's The View, where she publicly clashed with conservative colleague Elisabeth Hasselbeck. Since coming out, O'Donnell has married and divorced twice and is very involved with the LGBT community, even sponsoring her own gay-friendly family cruise. She talks in detail about her relationships with women and meeting her second wife in her 2015 comedy special A Heartfelt Stand-up. More »
Perhaps the only comedian whose coming out was bigger news that Rosie O'Donnell, Ellen DeGeneres graced the cover of Time magazine when she announced in 1997 that she is a lesbian. The episode of her sitcom Ellen in which her character came out was a ratings sensation, and since starting her own daytime talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2003, Elle is bigger than ever. She began dating actress Portia de Rossi in 2004 and the two wed in 2008.More »
Kevin Meany was a fixture of stand-up comedy throughout the '80s and '90s, where became best known for his signature catchphrase "That's not right!" Though twice married to women, Meany came out as gay in 2008, stating that the seven years he spent performing in Hairspray on Broadway gave him the courage to be honest with himself. Meany later began appearing regularly on Jay Thomas' SIRIUS XM talk show.
Band promoter turned stand-up comic Mathilde "Tig" Notaro is recognizable for her appearances on close friend Sarah Silverman's Comedy Central series The Sarah Silverman Program. Her 2012 Grammy-nominated comedy album Live, which talks about her bout with breast cancer, is the stuff of comedy legend. Though she doesn't talk much about her romantic life in her act, Notaro announced she was engaged to actress Stephanie Allynne on her Professor Blastoff podcast in early 2015.
Unlike some of the other comics on this list, comedian Billy Eichner, the host of the Funny or Die web series and a regular cast member on later seasons of Parks and Recreation, has been out as a gay man since his career took off. His aggressive, hysterical comic style is always funny but never more so than when he's confronting people who don't know what to make of his endless energy.
An outspoken humanitarian and supporter of LGBT rights, comedian Margaret Cho is openly bisexual and has been advocating for the legalization of same sex marriage since 2004 with her "Love is Love is Love" campaign. She was even deputized to perform same sex marriages in San Francisco after the city began legally recognizing them in 2008.More »
Comedian, actress and talk show host Wanda Sykes is famous for her brutal honesty and ability to tell it like it is -- she's a comic in the tradition of Richard Pryor. Though married to a man for seven years in the 1990s, she came out as gay in 2008, when she married her wife Alex. The two had twins in 2009 and are raising a happy family. Now Sykes' marriage will be recognized in all 50 states.More »
Comedian and impressionist James Adomian (a former contestant on Last Comic Standing) is a fixture on the comedy podcast circuit, probably because he does so many incredible characters -- everyone from George W. Bush to former Governor Jesse Ventura to Paul Giamatti to fellow comedian Andy Kindler. Though not yet a household name the way some of these other comedians are, the openly gay Adomian is beloved by comedy nerds.
The breakout star of Saturday Night Live (picking up the mantle left by Kristen Wiig's absence) is the sketch show's first openly lesbian cast member and only the third gay cast member in its history. She spent three seasons on Logo TV's sketch comedy Big Gay Sketch Show and in 2016 will be seen alongside Wiig, Leslie Jones and Melissa McCarthy in the all-female reboot of Ghostbusters.
Philadelphia-born comedian Todd Glass has been a fixture in the comedy community for 30 years. Though his friends and family already knew that he was gay, Glass didn't come out publicly until 2012 on an episode of Marc Maron's WTF podcast, claiming he was motivated to do so by the growing number of LGBT kids committing suicide.
1. Rosie O'Donnell
Beloved stand-up, actress and Emmy award-winning talk show host Rosie O'Donnell didn't come out until 2002. This was after she hosted her own incredibly successful daytime talk show but before she spent several tumultuous seasons as a co-host of ABC's The View, where she publicly clashed with conservative colleague Elisabeth Hasselbeck. Since coming out, O'Donnell has married and divorced twice and is very involved with the LGBT community, even sponsoring her own gay-friendly family cruise. She talks in detail about her relationships with women and meeting her second wife in her 2015 comedy special A Heartfelt Stand-up. More »
2. Ellen DeGeneres
Perhaps the only comedian whose coming out was bigger news that Rosie O'Donnell, Ellen DeGeneres graced the cover of Time magazine when she announced in 1997 that she is a lesbian. The episode of her sitcom Ellen in which her character came out was a ratings sensation, and since starting her own daytime talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2003, Elle is bigger than ever. She began dating actress Portia de Rossi in 2004 and the two wed in 2008.More »
3. Kevin Meany
Kevin Meany was a fixture of stand-up comedy throughout the '80s and '90s, where became best known for his signature catchphrase "That's not right!" Though twice married to women, Meany came out as gay in 2008, stating that the seven years he spent performing in Hairspray on Broadway gave him the courage to be honest with himself. Meany later began appearing regularly on Jay Thomas' SIRIUS XM talk show.
4. Tig Notaro
Band promoter turned stand-up comic Mathilde "Tig" Notaro is recognizable for her appearances on close friend Sarah Silverman's Comedy Central series The Sarah Silverman Program. Her 2012 Grammy-nominated comedy album Live, which talks about her bout with breast cancer, is the stuff of comedy legend. Though she doesn't talk much about her romantic life in her act, Notaro announced she was engaged to actress Stephanie Allynne on her Professor Blastoff podcast in early 2015.
5. Billy Eichner
Unlike some of the other comics on this list, comedian Billy Eichner, the host of the Funny or Die web series and a regular cast member on later seasons of Parks and Recreation, has been out as a gay man since his career took off. His aggressive, hysterical comic style is always funny but never more so than when he's confronting people who don't know what to make of his endless energy.
6. Margaret Cho
An outspoken humanitarian and supporter of LGBT rights, comedian Margaret Cho is openly bisexual and has been advocating for the legalization of same sex marriage since 2004 with her "Love is Love is Love" campaign. She was even deputized to perform same sex marriages in San Francisco after the city began legally recognizing them in 2008.More »
7. Wanda Sykes
Comedian, actress and talk show host Wanda Sykes is famous for her brutal honesty and ability to tell it like it is -- she's a comic in the tradition of Richard Pryor. Though married to a man for seven years in the 1990s, she came out as gay in 2008, when she married her wife Alex. The two had twins in 2009 and are raising a happy family. Now Sykes' marriage will be recognized in all 50 states.More »
8. James Adomian
Comedian and impressionist James Adomian (a former contestant on Last Comic Standing) is a fixture on the comedy podcast circuit, probably because he does so many incredible characters -- everyone from George W. Bush to former Governor Jesse Ventura to Paul Giamatti to fellow comedian Andy Kindler. Though not yet a household name the way some of these other comedians are, the openly gay Adomian is beloved by comedy nerds.
9. Kate McKinnon
The breakout star of Saturday Night Live (picking up the mantle left by Kristen Wiig's absence) is the sketch show's first openly lesbian cast member and only the third gay cast member in its history. She spent three seasons on Logo TV's sketch comedy Big Gay Sketch Show and in 2016 will be seen alongside Wiig, Leslie Jones and Melissa McCarthy in the all-female reboot of Ghostbusters.
10. Todd Glass
Philadelphia-born comedian Todd Glass has been a fixture in the comedy community for 30 years. Though his friends and family already knew that he was gay, Glass didn't come out publicly until 2012 on an episode of Marc Maron's WTF podcast, claiming he was motivated to do so by the growing number of LGBT kids committing suicide.
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