Lesbian celebrities coming out: Food Network's Anne Burrell confirms, Queen Latifah's coy comments

Food Network star Anne Burrell has officially come out as a lesbian.

The Secrets of a Chef host confirmed that she is in a committed relationship with a woman, after Chopped host Ted Allen made references to it during a radio interview on Romaine Patterson's Sirius XM show on May 21. Burrell had previously never publicly spoken about her personal life but also did not hide her relationship in the culinary world.

According to reports, she did not feel outed by Allen's comments.

Burrell also appears on Iron Chef America and Worst Cooks in America.

Meanwhile, Queen Latifah, another female celebrity who has long been the subject of speculation about her sexuality, made comments at a gay event that some media sources have been hasty to interpret as her coming out.

The Golden Globe and Grammy Award–winning actor and singer performed at the 2012 Long Beach Pride festival in California on May 19. It was her first appearance at a gay pride event, and she performed her hits "Ladies First" and "U.N.I.T.Y."

She told the audience, "I've been waiting to do this for a long time" and "Y'all my peeps. I love you!"

Of course, those comments could be taken as simply being friendly as any performer, straight or gay, might be in establishing rapport with the audience. But she was also reported to have said that she was proud to be among "my people" that evening.

She additionally made several inspirational comments between songs, such as “Let your inner light shine in the world” and “Conquer hate with love.”

Was it her coming out? Perhaps. It could be her first tentative steps towards edging out of the closet. But we'll have to wait for a much more definitive announcement to know for certain.

You can follow Craig Takeuchi on Twitter at twitter.com/cinecraig. You can also follow the Straight's LGBT coverage on Twitter at twitter.com/StraightLGBT.