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As Lili Reinhart comes out as 'proud bisexual woman', we celebrate other celebs who have made their sexuality public

Lili Reinhart has come out publicly as a “proud bisexual woman” in a post on Instagram.

The actor posted on her stories to reveal she was attending an LGBTQ+ Black Lives Matter protest in Hollywood, and at the same time the 23-year-old opened up about her sexuality.

“Although I've never announced it publicly before, I am a proud bisexual woman. And I will be joining this protest today. Come join,” she wrote alongside a poster for the march.

The Riverdale star most recently dated her co-star Cole Sprouse, but there have been recent reports that the couple may have ended their relationship. However, neither have confirmed the news.

Read more: No one's 100% straight and sexuality's a spectrum, study reveals

Lili Reinhart has revealed she is a bisexual, pictured at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party February 2020 (Getty Images)
Lili Reinhart has revealed she is a bisexual, pictured at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party February 2020 (Getty Images)

Of course Reinhart certainly isn’t the only celebrity to have spoken out about their identification of the LBGT+ community.

In recent years a number of high profile stars have revealed they identify as pansexual, where gender is not factored into attraction at all.

Plus-size model Tess Holliday recently revealed in an interview with NYLON magazine that she’s spent time reflecting on her sexuality and would consider a relationship with a woman, if she wasn’t happily married to husband Nick – who she wed in 2015.

An last year, actor Bella Thorne came out as pansexual after recently discovering what the term actually means.

“I’m actually pansexual and I didn’t know that,” she told Good Morning America. “Somebody explained to me really thoroughly what that is. You like beings. You like what you like. Doesn’t have to be a girl or a guy or a he or she or they or this or that. It’s literally you like personality. You just like a being.”

Read more: Comedian Kate McKinnon makes touching Golden Globes speech about sexuality

Bella Thorne has previously discussed her sexuality, pictured at the Annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party February 2020. (Getty Images)
Bella Thorne has previously discussed her sexuality. (Getty Images)

Musician Janelle Monáe also came out as pansexual in 2018, telling Rolling Stone: “I read about pansexuality​ ​and was like, ‘Oh, these are things that​ ​I identify with too. I’m open to learning​ ​more about who I am.”

Additionally, singer Miley Cyrus, who has been romantically linked to both men and women in the past, came out as pansexual back in 2015.

Meanwhile Alyson Stoner has also previously opened up about her sexuality.

In an open and honest essay, the former Disney Channel star came out as gay and discussed the struggles she went through while confronting her identity.

Telling Teen Vogue the story of how she fell in love with a woman she met at a dance workshop she wrote: “I spent years—not months or weeks or days, but years—trying to identify the source of my attraction to her.

“Like many, I had internalised some of the harmful beliefs and misconceptions about LGBTQ people and identities. At the time, I thought, Maybe it’s because I moved away from my father as a child and didn’t have typical male guidance in my life.”

Stoner says it was only when she decided to accept who she was that she gave in to her sexuality, despite the consequences.

Read more: Hallmark apologises for removing adverts featuring lesbian couple kissing

Last year Willow Smith revealed she was open to having a bisexual, polyamorous relationship.

The 18-year-old daughter of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith spoke out about her curiosity for having an unconventional romantic relationship involving multiple people.

Speaking on Facebook series ‘Red Table Talk’, she revealed she had researched polyamorous relationships after coming across a couple who followed this lifestyle on Instagram.

She said she would be happy to be in a “throuple” relationship with “one man and one woman”.

Back in 2018 Anna Kendrick opened up about her “fluid sexuality” revealing that she has “never had that emotional love for a lady, which isn’t saying it could never happen”.

Later in the interview with Pride Source, the Pitch Perfect star recalled the very first time she kissed another woman romantically: “There’s somebody I’m still friends with, and when we met we kissed.”

“This was after high school, and it was the first time I had kissed a girl where it wasn’t just like, we’re at a party and boys are watching! That horrible performance silliness.”

While refusing to put a label on her sexuality, Kirsten Stewart previously touched on the subject after being linked to male and female partners.

“Me not defining it right now is the whole basis of what I’m about. If you don’t get it, I don’t have time for you,” she told Variety magazine.

“There’s acceptance that’s become really rampant and cool. You don’t have to immediately know how to define yourself.

“I had to have some answer about who I was. I felt this weird responsibility, because I didn’t want to seem fearful. But nothing seemed appropriate. So I was like, ‘F*ck, how do I define that?’ I’m not going to.”

Read more: A quarter of British parents 'would not feel proud' to have an LGBT+ child

It was during an explanation behind the inspiration for her single Girls that Rita Ora also hinted at her own sexuality.

Girls was written to represent my truth and is an accurate account of a very real and honest experience in my life,” Ora tweeted in May 2018. “I have had romantic relationship with women and men throughout my life and this is my personal journey.”

Rita Ora used Twitter to open up about her sexuality, pictured at the International Women's Day for The Caring Foundation March 2020. (Getty Images)
Rita Ora used Twitter to open up about her sexuality. (Getty Images)

Jameela Jamil also used Twitter as a platform to discuss her personal journey with her sexuality earlier this year.

The Good Place star made the reveal after a backlash following an announcement that she was to be a judge on the series Legendary.

“Twitter is brutal. This is why I never officially came out as queer,” Jameela wrote. “I added a rainbow to my name when I felt ready a few years ago, as it’s not easy within the south Asian community to be accepted, and I always answered honestly if ever straight-up asked about it on Twitter.

“But I kept it low because I was scared of the pain of being accused of performative bandwagon jumping, over something that caused me a lot of confusion, fear and turmoil when I was a kid.”

And of course, earlier this year TV presenter Phillip Schofield came out as gay aged 57, proving you are never too late to reveal your true self.

Read more: 'Phillip Schofield interviewed me when my husband came out as gay'

Myley Cyrus has revealed she identifies as a pansexual, pictured at the The Metropolitan Museum of Art, May 2018 (Getty Images)
Myley Cyrus has revealed she identifies as a pansexual. (Getty Images)

While celebrities opening up about their sexuality might not seem like a big deal, it can help those struggling with their own feel less lonely and isolated.

What’s more, many still live in fear about revealing their own sexual orientation.

Recent stats from the Office for National Statistics published by the Guardian suggest only 2% of people identify as gay, lesbian or bisexual.

But these figures don’t match up to the numerous scientific studies which suggest around 10% of us have same-sex attractions at some point in our lives.

So it seems many people are still feeling afraid or unable to unveil their true selves.

That’s why it’s so important that celebrities still continue to open up about their own sexual journeys, to not only offer others some form of representation of their own feelings, but also let them know they’re certainly not alone.

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