What Other '80s Teen Stars Have to Say About Equality

Comic Geri Jewell, who played the cousin of Blair Warner (Lisa Whelchel) on the long-running sitcom The Facts of Life, last year published her memoir I'm Walking as Straight as I Can: Transcending Disability in Hollywood and Beyond, in which she came out publicly as lesbian.

Whelchel's conservative views are well-known. In 2006, when answering a question from a mother who thought her son might be gay, Whelchel wrote on her website that she believes "it is possible to leave behind a homosexual lifestyle" and recommended "ex-gay" ministries such as Exodus.

Mindy Cohn, who costarred in the series as Natalie, has long embraced her LGBT following. Last year Cohn spoke to  The Advocate  about her relationship with the gay community, saying, "I don’t know why, but by God’s grace I’ve always had really close relationships with gay people."