Top 10 Coming Out of The Closet Scenes
These small screen characters showed true courage. Join http://www.watchmojo.com as we count down our picks for the Top 10 Coming Out of the Closet TV scenes. For this list, we ranked the best and most memorable scenes on TV where a character came out of the closet about his or her sexuality. We're limiting it to one per series.
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#10: Callie Torres “Grey’s Anatomy” (2005-)
While this medical drama has plenty of happy moments, things aren’t all good all the time - and the admission of this orthopedic surgeon’s true sexuality to her father certainly wasn’t. We first witnesses her bisexual interests in her relationship with cardiothoracic surgeon Erica Hahn. She later starts dating Arizona Robbins – and although the two hit it off, Callie’s declaration of their relationship to Mr. Torres strains things between father and child. As shown in “Sweet Surrender,” he’s not the most understanding type, and his strict Catholicism means he does not take the news well, but it’s still a memorable episode nonetheless.
#9: Justin Suarez “Ugly Betty” (2006-10)
Although this character often seemed stereotypically gay due to his interests in fashion and Broadway, it took him nearly four full seasons of the show for him to finally tell his family. He has a gay mentor in Marc, but he still can’t quite bring himself to tell all. Once he decides it’s time, though, he reveals the truth in moving fashion, locking lips on the dance floor with his boyfriend Austin at his mother’s wedding.
#8: Mickey Milkovich “Shameless” (2011-)
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Some choose to come out quietly, but others are much more aggressive about it, and this character from the American remake of the British series “Shameless” is certainly in the latter camp. He keeps his relationship with Ian secret for a long time in large part to his insane father, Terry. In season 3, the senior Milkovich caught his son having sex with Ian and forced Mickey to sleep with and marry a prostitute. Things come to a head during the next season though when pressure from his wife as well as Ian, leads Mickey to tell the truth to everyone attending his son’s christening at a local bar. The results are catastrophic, especially considering the violent and homophobic Terry is in attendance.
#7: Max Blum “Happy Endings” (2011-13)
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Luckily for this character, the conclusion to him coming out to his folks was exactly like the name of the sitcom in which he’s featured. Although Max Blum appeared comfortable with his sexuality from the minute we met him, he’d yet to tell his parents at the beginning of the first season. In fact, he even told them that the gay porn under his mattress belonged to his buddy Dave. Thankfully, Mr. and Mrs. Blum end up being a-okay with everything, and they even try to set their son up with some of their friends’ gay sons.
#6: Jack McPhee “Dawson’s Creek” (1998-2003)
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Even if it weren’t an amazing scene in and of itself, we’d still pretty much have to include this character on our list, because he broke ground by taking part in the first gay male kiss aired on U.S. network TV. Before that though, Jack McPhee, reveals his sexuality to his father and friends, and it’s an especially poignant moment considering his budding romance with Joey. Unfortunately, Mr. McPhee denies the truth, making for a sad but moving scene of television.
#5: Emily Fields “Pretty Little Liars” (2010-)
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Next on our list, sadly, is another unhappy coming out. After the teenage swimmer Emily Fields tells her father the truth, he tells her mother, who doesn’t take the news well. Luckily for Emily, her friends are quite a bit more supportive, but it’s not until Mrs. Fields gets her daughter’s girlfriend Maya out of the picture in a later episode that she can begin to accept Emily for who she is. However it’s the coming out episode we’re concerned with here; and while we feel bad for Emily in “Moments Later,” we certainly admire her.
#4: Willow Rosenberg “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (1997-2003)
This Scooby gang member was a longtime fan favorite on the show, and we appreciated her even more for her relationship with Tara. Although she previously dates the werewolf Oz, she eventually falls for Tara, forming one of the first all-female couples on American TV. As she makes clear to Buffy when she comes out to her, though, she’s just in love with this girl, and doesn’t identify as a lesbian, and this makes her admission all the more powerful.
#3: Oscar Martinez “The Office” (2005-13)
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Michael Scott has never been the most politically correct guy, and his treatment of this character didn’t help his reputation. After calling Oscar “faggy,” Michael then apologizes to him in front of everyone, ensuring that the accountant’s sexuality is now public information. The boss’ later kissing of Oscar in an attempt to fix things reveals Michael’s true stupidity, but it also makes for a hilarious scene. Things work out just fine for Oscar, though, since he is offered three months of paid vacation and the company car so that he doesn’t sue Dunder Mifflin for everything that’s happened.
#2: Kurt Hummel “Glee” (2009-15)
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Although this character’s father doesn’t completely accept his coming out, this fact makes this scene from “Glee” no less powerful. As Mr. Hummel explains, he never doubted his son’s sexuality due to Kurt’s proclivity towards feminine clothing, but he still can’t quite wrap his head around the idea. Despite this, he’s clearly trying, which makes for a moving scene. Even better, show creator Ryan Murphy took the scene from his life, thus explaining its realistic feel. Before we unveil number one pick, here are some honorable mentions: - Riley Stavros “Degrassi: The Next Generation” (2001-) - Korra & Asami Sato “The Legend of Korra” (2012-14) - Jude Adams Foster “The Fosters” (2013-) - Angela Montenegro “Bones” (2005-) - Marshall Gregson “United States of Tara” (2009-11)
#1: Ellen Morgan “Ellen” (1994-98)
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We had to give this scene the top spot on our list due to its awesome real-life parallels. Actress and comedian Ellen DeGeneres came publicly to Oprah on her talk show and this was followed the same day by her eponymous character coming out on her sitcom to her therapist played by—you guessed it—Oprah herself! Given the year of its broadcast, the episode set a powerful precedent for LGBT characters on TV that would soon be matched, as we’ve seen. Still, Ellen’s frankness and self-comfort make this scene the gold standard of them all. Do you agree with our list? What coming out of the closet TV scene inspired you? For more revealing top 10s published daily, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.