2012 proved to be a remarkable year for gay celebrities, several of whom decided to get personal with the public on their own terms.

Anderson Cooper

The CNN news anchor contended that he'd never hidden his sexuality from friends, family and colleagues in a e-mail to journalist Andrew Sullivan in July, who posted it on The Daily Beast with Cooper's permission. "The fact is, I'm gay, always have been, always will be, and I couldn't be any more happy, comfortable with myself, and proud," Cooper wrote, adding that by remaining silent, "I have given some the mistaken impression that I am trying to hide something - something that makes me uncomfortable, ashamed or even afraid. This is distressing because it is simply not true. I've also been reminded recently that while as a society we are moving toward greater inclusion and equality for all people, the tide of history only advances when people make themselves fully visible."

Jim Parsons

Glaring "Yep, I'm gay" magazine headlines became a thing of the past when TheNew York Times quietly confirmed in May that Parsons was gay. , The revelation was couched in a profile about the Big Bang Theory star's Broadway turn in The Normal Heart, about a gay activist in New York in the '80s. The Times wrote, "The Normal Heart resonated with him on a few levels: Mr. Parsons is gay and in a 10-year relationship, and working with an ensemble again onstage was like nourishment."

Matt Bomer

White Collar's Matt Bomer simply thanked his longtime partner Simon Halls while receiving a humanitarian award from the Desert AIDS Project in February. "I never really endeavored to hide anything," the Magic Mike star later told E! News. "But there were times I chose not to relegate my history to the back page of a magazine, which to me is sort of akin to putting your biography on a bathroom wall." He added, "Equality comes from treating everybody the same regardless of who they are. I hope the media and the press catches on to that, because it's time to move out of 1992."

Frank Ocean

Critics caught on early that in his smash debut album Channel Orange, Ocean's songs referenced being in love with both men and women. Ocean wrote an open letter acknowledging that at 19 he had fallen in love with a man. "I don't know what happens now, and that's alright," he wrote. "I don't have any secrets I need kept anymore...Thanks to my first love, I'm grateful to you." Celebrities widely praised his bravery, and later, Ocean told GQ that he had been told he was risking his burgeoning career by becoming the first openly gay hip-hop artist. "The night I posted it, I cried like a (expletive) baby," he said, adding, "I hadn't been happy in so long. I've been sad again since, but it's a totally different take on sad. There's just some magic in truth and honesty and openness."

USA Today