From secret relationships in less accepting eras to weddings and family life, some celebrity same-sex couples have built partnerships lasting over 20 years. Here are our favourite long-running LGBTQ+ couples, with the milestones they have marked and how they’ve stayed the course.
Elton John and David Furnish made it official
Elton John and David Furnish have been a couple since 1993, and in December 2005 they held a civil partnership ceremony at Windsor Guildhall on the first day civil partnerships were legally possible in England and Wales. In 2013, John said exchanging vows made their relationship stronger. They have two sons, Zachary and Elijah.
Lily Tomlin and Jane Wagner’s long creative partnership
Grace and Frankie star Lily Tomlin and her partner, writer Jane Wagner, first met in 1971 and have been together for more than 50 years. They have collaborated on multiple projects during their careers. Tomlin and Wagner legally married on December 31, 2013.
George Takei and Brad Altman’s museum wedding
George Takei and Brad Altman have been together since 1985, and on 14 September 2008 they married in Los Angeles at the Democracy Forum of the Japanese American National Museum. In 2026, Takei wrote that they had been together for 40 years and married for 18 years. Their timeline spans decades of public change.
RuPaul and Georges LeBar’s Limelight love story
RuPaul met Georges LeBar in January 1994 at the Limelight nightclub in New York City, and RuPaul said the song in his mind was “100% Pure Love”. The pair have been together for over 30 years since meeting in 1994. They later married in 2017.
Michael Kors and Lance LePere’s barefoot beach vows
Michael Kors met Lance LePere in 1990 when LePere started working as an intern for Kors’s company, and the couple married in August 2011. They married in Southampton, New York, in a private ceremony officiated by the city’s mayor. Kors said marrying Lance barefoot on a glorious beach was more than he could have dreamed of.
Jonathan Murray and Harvey Reese’s home life milestone
Jonathan Murray has been together with his partner Harvey Reese since 1992. Murray is a television producer and co-creator of MTV’s The Real World. Murray and Reese adopted a son, building family life alongside a long-running relationship.
Steven Cox and Daniel Silver’s Fire Island beginning
Steven Cox and Daniel Silver met on a Fire Island beach in 1992 or 1993, and became a couple months later after initially being friends. In 2001, they started their clothing label Duckie Brown. Silver said of commitment: “You can only promise to love someone forever, today.”
Karen E. Peterson and Vikki Bandy’s Delaware milestone
Karen E. Peterson had been with her partner Vikki Bandy for 24 years when they married on 1 July 2013 in Delaware. Peterson came out as a lesbian during Delaware Senate debate on same-sex marriage on 7 May 2013. They were the first same-sex couple to convert an existing civil union into a marriage in Delaware. Bandy passed away, aged 76, in September 2026.
Peter Mandelson and Reinaldo Avila da Silva’s London vows
Peter Mandelson and Reinaldo Avila da Silva have lived together since 1998, and in October 2023 they married in London at the Old Marylebone Town Hall. Avila da Silva is a Brazilian-born translator. The couple had been partners for 27 years at the time of their 2023 marriage.
Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka’s family life
Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka went on their first date on 1 April 2004, after meeting in 2004 and starting out as friends before their relationship became romantic. They welcomed twins Harper Grace and Gideon Scott via surrogate in 2010 and married in a private ceremony in Italy in 2014. In 2021, Harris wrote: “David is the glue that holds our family together.”
Jim Parsons and Todd Spiewak’s “act of love”
In October 2013, Jim Parsons said he was proud of his relationship with Todd Spiewak, noting they had been together for about a decade. Parsons said: “I’ve never considered my relationship with Todd to be an act of activism… Rather simply, it’s an act of love.” He made the comments while being honoured at the GLSEN Inspiration Awards in Beverly Hills.
Robin Roberts and Amber Laign’s blind date match
Good Morning America co-anchor Robin Roberts and her partner Amber Laign have been together since 2005, after meeting on a blind date arranged by mutual friends. Roberts and Laign married in September 2023, turning a first meeting into a long-running partnership.
Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi
Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi began dating in late 2004, making them a couple for 22 years as of 2026. They married on August 16, 2008, and in August 2026 DeGeneres marked their 18th wedding anniversary with an Instagram tribute, writing: “Happy anniversary to my favorite person in the entire world,” and, “I can’t believe how lucky I am that I get to spend the rest of my life with you. What an adventure we are having!!” In June 2026, DeGeneres also wrote: “Being married is the greatest joy of my life. It has been for 18 years,” adding, “Happy Pride.”
Caroline Ouellette and Julie Chu
Canadian hockey player Caroline Ouellette and American hockey player Julie Chu turned their on-ice rivalry into a relationship, and by 2026 they had spent two decades together (20 years) and had two children. In November 2026, they spoke to Sarah Spain on her podcast Good Game with Sarah Spain about keeping their relationship private while competing and being rivals. Ouellette said: “I had to work really hard to make that happen. I had to be patient,” while Chu recalled: “In 2005 was actually when I shared with my family that I was gay. I think it kind of all came into place a little bit more at that point. And by the way, I’m dating Caroline Ouellette, that’s on the Canadian team.”
Colman Domingo and Raúl Domingo
Colman Domingo met Raúl Domingo in 2005 after spotting him outside a Walgreens store in Berkeley, California, then finding a Craigslist “Missed Connections” post that read: “Saw you outside Walgreens, Berkeley”. The pair met up three days later, and Domingo later told The Graham Norton Show: “I think I love you and you’re about to change my life”. In March 2025, he said: “We’ve been together for almost 19 years now.” The couple married in 2014.
Cassandra Peterson and Teresa ‘T’ Wierson
Cassandra Peterson, the actor behind Elvira, revealed in September 2021 that she had been in a relationship with Teresa ‘T’ Wierson for 19 years. Peterson wrote in her memoir Yours Cruelly, Elvira that she first met Wierson at the Hollywood Gold’s Gym and that their friendship “eventually evolved into more”. She said she felt the “need to protect Elvira” to “keep my career alive” because the character “always had a thing for men” and she worried fans would “abandon me” if she was “no longer living the ‘straight life’.”
Matt Bomer and Simon Halls
White Collar and Magic Mike star Matt Bomer publicly revealed he was gay in 2012, thanking his partner Simon Halls and their three children at an awards show and saying: “Thank you for teaching me what unconditional love is. You will always be my proudest accomplishment.” In April 2014, Bomer revealed to Details magazine that he and Halls had secretly married in 2011. Bomer and Halls have three sons together: 6-year-old twins, and an 8-year-old.
Tan France and Rob France
Queer Eye fashion guru Tan France and freelance illustrator Rob France have been married since 2007. In April 2021, Tan announced they were expecting their first child, a baby boy, via surrogate that summer, writing: “With the greatest gift/help of the most wonderful surrogate, Rob and I are lucky enough to be on our way to being parents, this summer.” Rob celebrated the news with an illustration and wrote: “We have a beautiful little angel on the way and I didn’t think it was humanly possible to feel like this.” Since then, Queer Eye ended in January 2026 after its tenth and final season.
