List of people who have publicly denied being gay

This list includes both heterosexuals and homosexuals who have denied being gay.

• Clay Aiken - American pop singer, runner-up from the second season of American Idol...denied in People Magazine, has avoided question several times including when once asked by The Advocate magazine.

• Israel Ayala - model...denied on October 13, 2004, at the Super Exclusivo Puerto Rican television show, after nude photos of him appeared at a gay magazine the day before. Ayala is married with children.

• Boy George - British pop singer...denied in London newspaper, 1984: "I'm not gay, and I'm not a transvestite." At other times he has characterized himself as "bisexual", "very confused", "not confused", and "not really all that keen on sex". He has also stated "I have never penetrated a woman in my life." However, he eventually came out as gay.

• Carrot Top - American comedian...denied in New York Post, October 23, 2003, after claims that he had "turned heads" at a popular gay bar with his muscle shirt and "incredibly ripped arms."

• Prince Charles - Prince of Wales...In 2003, it was rumoured that a certain unnamed "senior member of the Royal Family" was observed in a "compromising situation" with a servant of the same sex. Charles immediately publicly issued a statement saying that he was unable to mention just what it was that was being alleged, but whatever it was, it wasn't he who was involved. In June 2004, George Smith, a former servant to the British Royal Family, revealed that he was the source of the story, but that it was a complete fabrication on his part. He was paid a large sum of money by a newspaper for his allegations, although a British court banned the media from publishing details of the alleged incident. Smith later said that for a similar sum of money he would deny the story.

• Tom Cruise - American actor...denied in Vanity Fair, 1994.

• Troy Donahue - American actor...denied in People Magazine, 1984.

• Jason Donovan - Australian actor and entertainer...successfully sued accusers in England.

• Matt Drudge - American Internet gossip columnist...denied on a C-SPAN call-in show in September of 1999.

• Prince Edward - Earl of Wessex...denined comments in tabloid press that linked him to a popular actor.

• Dawn Fraser - Australian Olympic swimming legend...her slightly masculine features combined with a short and never-repeated marriage and a career as a hotel proprietor all pointed to lesbianism, in the eyes of the rumour mongers. In 2001 she acknowledged that, at a time of great difficulty in her life, one short-term female sexual relationship had occurred, but that she does not consider herself to be a lesbian.

• Richard Gere - American actor...his brief marriage to model Cindy Crawford was frequently denounced as a sham, and rumors of homosexuality persist.

• Rock Hudson - American actor...denied repeatedly. His spokeswoman, announcing his impending death from AIDS, said Hudson had "no idea how he contracted it."

• Michael Jackson - American pop singer...denied in national press conference in 1984.

• Magic Johnson - American NBA basketball player...denied in press conference following announcement he was HIV positive.

• Sandy Koufax - American baseball player (Dodgers).

• Lennox Lewis - world champion boxer...denined on July 10, 2000 in London's Daily Telegraph.

• Liberace - American singer and entertainer...denied in sworn testimony in lawsuit vs the London Daily Mirror in 1959.

• John Lydon - denied in autobiography.

• Walter Mercado - astrologist...denied several times.

• Pope Paul VI - denied in public speech following allegations made by Tempo magazine, 1976.

• Mike Piazza - American baseball player (New York Mets)...denied on May 22, 2002.

• Iggy Pop

• Lou Reed

• Keanu Reeves - American actor...denied in Interview magazine (adding "but, ya never know").

• Henry Rollins - denied in interview with The Advocate.

• Arnold Schwarzenegger - American actors and governor of California...denied in autobiography.

• John Travolta - American actor...denied the National Enquirer allegation in 1990 that he had had sex with former Colt model Paul Barresi.

• Randy Travis - American country musicsinger...denied a 1991 supermarket tabloid report: "It could have been worse. They could've said I wasn't country."

• Michael Turnbull - Bishop of Durham...denied on September 27, 1994, after the News of the World newspaper reported that Turnbull had been convicted in 1968 of an act of gross indecency with a male farmer in a public lavatory. He was chaplain to the Archbishop of York at the time of the offence.

• Michael Vick - American NFL football quarterback (Atlanta Falcons)...denied on a radio show, after a website jokingly declared that he was gay. The website had an asterisk towards the end of the page, admitting that their allegation was only a joke.

• Oscar Wilde - British writer and playwright...denied rumors, but lost his libel case when a number of rent boys were brought in to testify.

• Oprah Winfrey - American talk show host...denied after a Liz Smith blind gossip item claimed a "large" black television star was "in the closet."

• Elijah Wood - Denounced internet rumors of homosexual relationships with his Lord of the Rings costars in several 2004 interviews.

Special "non-people" mentions:

• Sesame Street - a popular American children's television show...issued a press release denying that two puppets, Bert and Ernie, who appear as roommates on the show, were gay.

• SpongeBob SquarePants - American cartoon character...creator Stephen Hillenburg, says, in the Wall Street Journal: "Not gay!"

• Popeye - American cartoon character...the makers of Minute Maid orange juice denied on January 9, 2002 allegations that their commercial depicted Popeye and Bluto as a gay couple.

• Teletubbies - popular children's television show...February, 1999 article in the National Liberty Journal, published by Jerry Falwell, warned parents that the Tinky Winky character could be a hidden gay symbol, saying "he is purple -- the gay pride color, and his antenna is shaped like a triangle -- the gay pride symbol." Tinky Winky's favorite item is his "Magic Bag" which is a red purse.