\nThe 51-year-old, who played Tom Cruise\u2019s love interest in the film about a fighter pilot training school, has long been the subject of rumours but always denied being gay.
\nThe actress, who is single, \u2018came out\u2019 in an interview with lesbian website SheWired.com.
\nWhen asked if she was looking for a man or woman, she said her next partner would \u2018definitely be a woman\u2019.
\nShe added: \u2018I\u2019m done with the man thing. I did that, I need to move on in life.
\n\u2018It\u2019s a part of being true to yourself. That\u2019s been a challenge for me.\u2019
\nKelly has been married and divorced twice.
\nShe has two daughters, Kelsey, 19, and Sonora, 16, from her 13-year marriage to California millionaire Fred Tillian. They split in 2002.
\nKelly said it took her a long time to accept she was a lesbian. \u2018I think that was an ongoing process from the time I was probably 12.
\n\u2018It was a long arduous journey for me. I had a lot of bad things happen to me that made me think God was punishing me for being gay.
\n\u2018Life is a freaking journey about coming to terms with who and what you are.\u2019
\nThe star admitted she was hoping to return to acting again now that her children had grown up.
\nShe said: \u2018I\u2019m finding at 51 I\u2019m starting my life in a whole different phase.
\n\u2018I love acting but I don\u2019t want to do it at the point of losing who I really am.\u2019
\nDespite her two marriages, rumours have surrounded Kelly\u2019s sexuality for years.
\nIn 2000, she further fuelled speculation when she filmed a lesbian sex scene in 2000 thriller The Monkey\u2019s Mask.
\nAt the time, she said: \u2018I knew this movie would start all that lesbian thing up again and it doesn\u2019t bother me.
\n\u2018It isn\u2019t about me coming out but if people want to think that, that\u2019s fine. I don\u2019t care. If anyone has a problem with the scenes, they can kiss my big, fat butt.\u2019
\nIn 1982, Kelly was assaulted and raped in her New York apartment by convicted rapist Leroy Johnson.
\nThree years ago, he apologised to the actress after he was convicted of raping two other women.
\nThe experience inspired Kelly to play a sex crimes prosecutor alongside Jodie Foster in the 1988 film The Accused.
\nKelly also played Harrison Ford\u2019s partner in the Oscar-winning 1985 film Witness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"