‘Two And A Half Men’ Star Holland Taylor Comes Out As A Lesbian

Seventy-two-year-old actress Holland Taylor from Two And A Half Men has opened up about her sexuality and revealed that she is dating another woman. After playing many confident women of varying sexual orientations on television, Holland Taylor has revealed to the world that she is a proud lesbian.

In an interview with the “Death, Sex & Money” podcast, Holland Taylor openly admitted that she is in a relationship with another woman, but would not reveal the name of her partner to protect that woman’s privacy. According to After Ellen, the woman that Holland Taylor has been dating is easy to find with some quick internet searches, but chose not to print the woman’s name. However, Holland Taylor did reveal that the woman she’s with is considerably younger than her.

The actress played the selfish and emotionally distant mother of Jon Cryer and Charlie Sheen on the CBS show Two And A Half Men for 12 seasons, for which she won an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress. She also portrayed Judge Roberta Kittleson on The Practice and billionaire Peggy Peabody on The L Word. She was also nominated for a Tony for her one-woman Broadway show Ann.

Though Holland Taylor was known for her acting success, the public knew very little about her private life until this week. However, Taylor did not explicitly plan to reveal to the world that she was dating a woman. The subject came up when WNYC asked her if she was tempted to get married to her current partner.

“My relationship is with a woman… Given my generation [marriage] would not be something that would automatically occur to me,” Holland Taylor said. “But as a symbol, as a pledge, as a plighting one’s troth, it would be a wonderful thing to do.”

The actress admitted that she hasn’t brought up the topic of her sexuality because she didn’t want to start a political debate over her private life.

“Well I feel at this point in the conversation it feels kind of awkward. Now I feel very very shy of it. I’ve been really wrestling with this lately because most of my relationships have been with women and I don’t like talking about them because I don’t like talking about the politics of it all because I’m not political about it. I think we’re ridiculous in this country (the US) about it. Ridiculous.”

In fact, Holland Taylor seems to have rejected the very notion of “coming out,” because she would prefer a world where people can simply talk openly about having same-sex relationships without people having to ask if they are officially “out” as a gay or lesbian individual.

“It’s awkward because if I talk about relationships in my life or people that have been in my life, or somebody I’ve been seeing for a while or this, that and the other thing, I’d like to be able to just say that, without having to stop and say, ‘So have you come out?’ No, I haven’t come out because I am out,” Holland Taylor explained. “I live out.”

Despite the difficulties of being in a same-sex relationship and the major difference in age, Holland Taylor says she and her partner are considering marriage.

“I’m finally wised up to the fact that I haven’t got that much longer and I would like to have a more fulsome experience of relationships in life than I have. Holland told WNYC. And I’m lucky I have the opportunity to. Very lucky I have the opportunity to.”

What do you think about Holland Taylor opening up about her sexuality?

[Photos by Jason Kempin and Frazer Harrison/Getty Images]