Doogie, We Hardly Knew Ye, Or Did We?

Neil Patrick Harris has confirmed the rumors that have swirled around him for years...he's gay. His announcement closely follows those of T.R. Knight (Grey's Anatomy) and Lance Bass (N'Sync). That makes three big name celebrities in the past two months. But who's counting?

His Doogie Howser MD co-star Mitchell Anderson (3rd from the left in this cast photo) publicly disclosed his homosexuality at the GLAAD Media Awards way back in March of 1996. His pronouncement, "I'm here to tell you I'm a gay actor playing a gay character," was absolutely trailblazing at the time and he was heralded as a hero in the GLBT community. He took a huge risk with his career by making the personal revelation about his role as a gay violin teacher on Party of Five.

It's hard to believe that fully 10 years after that event, these types of things are still news. But they are. And we're making progress, albeit slowly.