Born December 27: Wilson Cruz

In 1992 when he was 19, Wilson Cruz told his Afro-Puerto Rican parents he was gay, shocking and "hurting" his mother, and enraging his father, who banished him from their Brooklyn home. For two months, Wilson stayed with friends or lived in his car. He moved to Hollywood, determined to be an out actor of color, and within two years he was cast as Ricky, the gay teen on the critically acclaimed series My So-Called Life starring Claire Danes. Oliver Stone cast him as Hoover's servant Joaquin in Nixon, and he appeared in 11 episodes on the sixth and final season of Party of Five. In the decade since then, he has guested on many series and had small roles in big films (He's Just Not That Into You) and larger roles in smaller films, like The Ode, co-directed, co-produced, and adapted by Ghalib Shiraz Dhalla from his debut novel Ode to Lata [Kindle]. Wilson Cruz reconciled with his parents long ago and is a tireless advocate for LGBTQ youth. He is also, apparently, always on Twitter, where he asked ppl to support The Trevor Project for Christmas and donate to GLSEN for his birthday. Today he's 38 and celebrating in Puerto Vallarta.