Gay american idol contestants

Randy Jackson Opens Up About Gay Contestant on 'American Idol'

Feb. 13, 2014 -- "American Idol" reached a milestone Wednesday night when the show welcomed its first officially openly gay contestant -- M.K. Nobilette -- to the Highest 30. And Randy Jackson, who's now moved from existence a judge on the show to being its "in-house mentor," says he's happy about that, but is surprised that it's taken this long.

Certainly, "American Idol" has had gay contestants in the past -- Adam Lambert and Clay Aiken are the two who come to soul -- but both men only came out after the show; during their time on the program they never talked about their sexual orientation on camera. Meanwhile, as Entertainment Weekly points out, "The Voice" has featured any number of openly gay contestants since it debuted, so it's surprising that it's taken "Idol" until 2014 to do the same.

What's Next for Simon Cowell?

During a smartphone press conference on Thursday, Jackson told reporters that he's "really proud" and "really happy" for Nobilette, who on Wednesday night was chosen by the judges to participate the Top 1

First Openly Gay Contestant Makes Top 30 on 'American Idol'

Feb. 13, 2014 — -- For the first time an openly gay "American Idol" contestant has made the slash for the terminal 30.

Other contestants favor Clay Aiken and Adam Lambert later admitted to entity gay, but M.K. Nobilette is the first to accept she's gay while competing for the top prize.

Nobilette, 20, impressed the judges on Wednesday night's show, even giving Jennifer Lopez goose bumps during her performance of Ed Sheeran's "A Team."

After the judges brought up that she's not the characteristic "American Idol," she talked about her sexuality.

"I'm very obviously gay and there are always going to be people in America and everywhere else, who will definitely detest me," she said. "But I consider that in the last two years there have been a lot of things that contain really changed that and have really made it a positive thing."

Lopez followed her comments up by saying she also believed "the world is switching, I think."

She continued, "We think that you could be an 'American Idol' and we'd love you to be in our highest 15 girls

American Idol Season 7 runner-up David Archuleta has discussed the journey he went on with his sexuality in a recent social media post.

On Instagram in June (aka Pride Month), the singer and Mormon revealed that he discussed coming out as male lover to his family in 2014, six years after being on Idol.

The upload describes how Archuleta struggled to find a excel description of his sexuality than simply "gay." He wrote: "I've been expose to myself and my close family for some years now that I am not sure about my own sexuality. I came out in 2014 as gay to my family. But then I had similar feelings for both genders so maybe a spectrum of double attraction. Then I also contain learned I don't hold too much sexual desires and urges as most people which works I guess because I own a commitment to store myself until marriage."

Though many American Idol contestants hold been members of the LGBTQIA+ community, most appreciate Archuleta didn't come out until the end of the show – in fact, the show didn't have its first contestant who was out on the show until MK Nobilette in Season 13.

Here are the other Queer alumni of the Fox-turned-ABC singing show.

American Idol contestants who came out after t

American Idol Stars Who Have Been Open About Their Sexuality

While surpass known for her stage entitle and for being a finalist on Season 6 of "RuPaul's Drag Race," Adore Delano was once a contestant on "American Idol" who presented as a man known as Danny Noriega. But before appearing on the show in 2008 at 18, she had come out to her family, first as pansexual at 12, then shortly after as gay, and, finally, as transgender in high school, she revealed in a July 2023 Instagram video.

However, when she appeared on the popular show, she went back into the closet to be able to oppose . "I threw it away, I burned it," she said. "I reinvented myself into something that was so uncomfortable. It was almost like a sacrifice in order to get what I wanted career-wise," she said. In the video, Delano also revealed she is transitioning, a process she described as life-changing. "I've found that it's been very enlightening and has made me probably the happiest I've ever been in my adult life," she said.

Before coming out as transgender, Delano had defined her gender identity in different terms. "I am non-binary & completely valid. You are important & alive. Always know that," she share