Days of our lives gay characters

Peter Porte 

The soap-hopper, who’s gone from playing Ricky Williams on Young & Restless to Dimitri Von Leuschner on Days of Our Lives, married Jacob Jules Villere in 2018.

(And no, we’re not counting Helm’s unrequited crush on Meredith Grey.) In real life, Mika’s portrayer also identifies as queer.

Ricky Martin

At the height of his career, “I could high five God, but I wasn’t living to the fullest,” the General Hospital alum told NBC News in 2020.

“I think it’s important to see that other people exist, that their lives are real, and in real life, I am a drag queen who does travel around and perform in drag,” he told Soap Opera Digest in 2023, “so there’s no reason why that kind of person couldn’t exist in Salem as well.”

Matt Bomer

The Guiding Light alum who played disturbed call boy Ben Reade came out during a 2012 award-show speech in which he thanked his husband, publicist Simon Halls, and their children.

On their fourth anniversary, the actor said that he remained eternally “grateful I went into that audition for that play where we met, adopted that dog who got your attention in rehearsals and for you saying yes to coming on that camping trip during tech week. “If I can fill spaces that I didn’t have growing up,” he told the New York Times, “then I feel like that’s a really brilliant thing.”

Maureen Garrett

Three years after CBS shut off Guiding Light, Holly Norris’ portrayer shared with Out that she is a lesbian and for decades had been with her partner Janet Morgan, with whom she has three grown sons.

Four years later, they announced that they were nonbinary. Who does that?!”

RuPaul

Arguably history’s most famous drag queen, the LGBTQ+ icon has amassed such a long and varied list of credits — including a Port Charles guest gig as psychic Madame Alicia — that he can make it rain anytime he pleases.

She has two children with her former partner, Danny Mozes, and has been married since 2012 to Christine Marinoni, with whom she has another child.

Thom Bierdz

The Young & Restless vet whose character Phillip played dead for years rather than come out to his family is also gay in real life.

While it only lasted a few months from when an amnesiac Will came back from the dead until he remembers his love story with Sonny, the relationship "Horita" was a cherished one.

Despite ending in disaster when Paul finds out Will kept his regained memories and desire for Sonny from him, the couple had instant chemistry.

And we’re not going anywhere. In 2022, the actor appeared as singer Darren Hayes’ romantic interest in the music video for “Let’s Try Being in Love.”

Anthony Geary

The eight-time Emmy winner for his work as General Hospital renegade Luke Spencer never publicly came out. Honey, I knew that.’ That felt like the biggest weight lifted off my shoulders,” de la Fuente exclaimed.

The Family Ties mom — who also played Nikki Newman’s drinking buddy Maureen Russell on Young & Restless in 2014 — has been married to Nancy Locke since 2013.

Wayne Brady

In 2023, the Let’s Make a Deal host and alum of The Bold and the Beautiful (as Zoe and Paris’ baby-snatching doctor father, Reese Buckingham) came out as pansexual.

“It is not necessary to hate someone to feel better about yourself,” he said. Despite an attempted murder, a brain tumor, and adoption woes, Will and Sonny left Salem in 2020 happier than ever.

WilSon Walked So They Could Run

After Will and Sonny, DAYS showcased a thriving LGBTQ+ cast of character, starting with Paul, who played a crucial role not only as Sonny’s love interest during Will’s death, but for John (Drake Hogestyn) after learning he was his son.

As in, “What does a lesbian bring on a second date? “Once I opened that gate, it all just kind of naturally happened.”

Gordon Thomson

Speaking of Dynasty, the powerhouse who played Adam Carrington on the OG series has always wanted to be openly out. During a speech at Trans+ Pride in the summer of 2022, she called out England’s then-prime minister Boris Johnson.

I’m proud of who I am and love who I am.” The Emmy winner even created After Forever, a Web soap in which he plays a gay widower.

Jonathan Bennett

The All My Children grad — he replaced Jesse McCartney as JR Chandler — was for years best known as the dreamboat in Mean Girls. Now, however, he’s earning a reputation for blazing new trails for the LGBTQ+ community.

Knight

The Grey’s Anatomy vet’s coming-out wasn’t exactly the easiest: His sexual orientation was made known after castmate Isaiah Washington used a gay slur on set, leading to a widely reported altercation. A decade later, he told People that “being part of the transgender tipping point in entertainment isn’t about being ‘the first,’ it’s about making sure there won’t be a last.

Since 2015, the Emmy winner has been married to writer/producer Robert Sudduth (Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies), with whom he has a son, Montgomery.

Joanna Johnson

Just before Bold & Beautiful revealed that Bill Spencer’s sister Karen is a lesbian, her portrayer toldTV Guide that she is, too.

Darius Rose

When the veteran of RuPaul’s Drag Race was invited to recur on Days of Our Lives as his drag alter ego, Lisa Rinna lookalike Jackie Cox, he was thrilled — and not just because the part of Leo’s ex was so juicy.