Matt Bomer is "optimistic" for the future

Matt - who has Kit, 15, and twins Walker and Henry, 12, with his spouse - recalled: "I look at our children's friends and I see they don't even bat an eyelid about our boys having two dads. That makes me very optimistic about the future."

But the 'Boys in the Band' actor admitted he'd be "upset" if the "heroes" who came out as gay at a time when it wasn't so easily accepted are forgotten or unappreciated as time goes on.

He said: "I would be upset if these heroes that came before us were forgotten or went unappreciated. The younger generation I hope will take the time to understand everything our community has been through over the years and to recognise the shoulders we now stand on."

The 42-year-old star has been aware of his sexuality since his early teens, but his experiences were made more complex because of his "hyper-conservative" religious upbringing.

Asked if he'd always known he was gay, he told The Guardian newspaper: "I did once I reached my early teens. But I was also part of a very religious family living in a hyper-conservative environment in the bible belt in Texas so it became a bifurcated experience for me.

"The boundaries shifted quite a bit. Sometimes they'd be relaxed, sometimes more stringent, depending on where my family's religious values were at any given time.

"If Dad was really on fire for the Lord all of a sudden, you knew the hammer would come down. Although my brother and I as kids always found a way to access everything we wanted to see."

Matt came out to his parents in a letter, after which they blanked him for six months before having a huge argument, and eventually accepting him several years later, and he came out publicly at a 2012 awards ceremony, a move he admitted had an impact on his career.

He said: "I'd be lying to you if I said certain things didn't change for me.

"Certain rooms I used to frequent - suddenly the door was closed. But I also engaged with artists who don't care, who just want the actor they believe is best for the role, and those are the artists I wanted to be working with anyway so I don't count it as any kind of loss."