Wentworth Miller graces the special issue of Out, which celebrates the year's 100 accomplished and compelling gay people from different walks of life.

The magazine has released three more different covers for the issue, which feature Big Bang Theory's Jim Parsons, director Lee Daniels, and Edie Windsor.

Wentworth is the magazine's newsmaker of the year, Parsons is recognized as entertainer of the year, Daniels is noted as the artist of the year, and Windsor is celebrated for a lifetime achievement.

The actor chose to come out in August this year in a letter declining an invitation to attend the St. Petersburg International Film Festival in Russia because of the country's anti-gay laws. The 41-year-old actor said he could not be involved in an event held in a place where people like him were "being systematically denied their basic right to live and love openly." 

He spoke to the publication about the feelings of shame and guilt he had to combat because of his sexual orientation earlier in his life.

"I remember carrying around deep feelings of shame after I tried to kill myself, feeling like I'd stumbled or failed life's exam," he said. "That I was now 'damaged goods.' What I would say to that younger self - what I'd say to anyone who's walked a similar road - is to focus less on the fact that you nearly ended your life and more on the fact that you survived, that you lived to tell the tale. And then tell it. I'd say, 'What you think of as scars are medals. They're badges of honor, testifying to something inside you that is determined and tenacious and enduring."

Tags: Wentworth Miller big bang theory Jim Parsons