8 conventional queer relationships

Billy Porter, left, and Adam Smith arrive at the 73rd annual Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall on Sunday, June 9, 2019, in New York. Picture: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

Billy Porter, left, and Adam Smith arrive at the 73rd annual Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall on Sunday, June 9, 2019, in New York. Picture: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

Published Mar 22, 2021

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Now more than ever, representation is important, and while it’s always great to celebrate new kids on the block, there have been queer celebrities who have pushed the boundaries for decades.

Love is beautiful in all its forms and the celebrities on our queer celebrity power couples list have proved that.

From Elton John and David Furnish, who started dating in 1993, to Billy Porter and Adam Smith, who got married in 2017, here is our list.

Ricky Martin and Jwan Yosef

Jwan Yosef, left, and Ricky Martin arrive at the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. Picture: AP

In January 2018, the couple took fans by surprise by announcing their marriage. "When I first saw him, I said, 'I am going to marry this guy.' And apparently, he said exactly the same thing," Martin told Attitude magazine in March 2018.

"We know that we carry this flag, and if we're going to carry this flag, let's sway this flag really loudly. Because at the end of the day, we're proud of who we are. Just being visible is a lot of help. That's my activism."

The duo share four children: twins Matteo and Valentino, daughter Lucia and son Renn.

Sarah Paulson and Holland Taylor

Sarah Paulson and Holland Taylor. Picture: Bang Showbiz

After meeting years earlier, the American Crime Story actress and Taylor officially confirmed their romance in 2016.

"If my life choices had to be predicted based on what was expected from me from a community on either side, that's going to make me feel really straitjacketed, and I don't want to feel that,“ Paulson told The New York Times that year. "What I can say absolutely is that I am in love, and that person happens to be Holland Taylor."

Billy Porter and Adam Smith

Billy Porter, left, and Adam Smith arrive at the 73rd annual Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall on Sunday, June 9, 2019, in New York. Picture: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

Before they tied the knot in 2017, the Kinky Boots star viewed Smith as the one that got away.

The couple met in 2009 and went their separate ways the following year after a brief fling. After five years of friendship, they rekindled their romance — and the rest is history as they say.

"It was so much fun and it was a whirlwind," Smith told Playbill of their nuptials in 2017. "But it all turned out more beautifully than I could ever imagine."

Caster Semenya and Violet Raseboya

Caster Semenya and Violet Raseboya: Picture: Instagram

Olympic gold medallist Caster married her long-term partner, Violet, in December 2015. The couple have a daughter, Oratile, together.

In 2017 when Being Caster Semenya aired on BET, the Olympic champion said that her first encounter with her wife was a "funny" meeting.

"We met in a restroom in 2007. She was a runner and was being escorted by doping officials.

“She thought I was a boy and said 'What is a boy doing in here?'" Caster said the comment immediately got her back up and she was on the defensive.

"I'm not a boy. You think I'm lost? You think I can just walk in here?" It took a while for them to start dating and Caster said it was she who told Violet about her feelings for her.

Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Justin Mikita

The actor and lawyer first met at the gym (although they tell people it was "through mutual friends") and got engaged in Mexico in September 2012 after two years of dating.

Ferguson and Mikita tied the knot on July 20, 2013, in a lavish ceremony officiated by screenwriter Tony Kushner in New York City.

"We wanted to get married in New York because that’s where it’s legal, so we want to support the state that’s in support of us," the “Modern Family” star told Us Weekly of the big day. In July 2020, the pair welcomed their first child, son Beckett Mercer.

George Takei and Brad Altman

George Takei and Brad Altman attends the 21st Annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party at Pacific Design Center on February 24, 2013 in West Hollywood, California. Picture: Bang Showbiz

The “Star Trek” actor and his long-time partner agreed to live long and prosper together in September 2008 during a multicultural ceremony at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles after being together for 21 years.

The pair exchanged vows they wrote themselves, during which Takei called Altman an "organised, detail-obsessed, punctuality-driven control freak."

Elton John and David Furnish

Sir Elton John, left, and husband David Furnish attend the Ninth Annual Elton John AIDS Foundation benefit 'An Enduring Vision' at Cipriani Wall Street in New York. Picture: AP Photo/Evan Agostini, File

No list of gay couples would be complete without this duo.

The couple, who have been together since 1993, were "instantly" attracted to one another when they met, John told Parade magazine in 2010.

"Every Saturday for 16 years, we've sent each other a card," he said at the time.

Ellen Degeneres and Portia de Rossi

Portia de Rossi, left, and Ellen DeGeneres Picture: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

A match made in powerhouse heaven! DeGeneres is the queen of the talk show realm, and her wife starred in “Arrested Development” and ABC's hit show “Scandal”.

The pair wed during an intimate ceremony in 2008 and have supported each other each day since. "Being her wife is the greatest thing that I am," the comedian wrote on their anniversary in 2017.

Read the third issue of Queer+ Magazine here.

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