Gately made his sexuality known in 1999 and came out to publicity. He married Andrew Cowles, first in a commitment ceremony in Las Vegas in 2003 and more formally in a civil partnership ceremony in London in 2006. Upon Boyzone's reformation, Gately featured as part of the first gay couple in a boyband music video for "Better", in what was to be his last with the band. Gately died of a congenital heart defect in a flat that he and Cowles owned in Mallorca, Spain in 2009. Brian Boyd in "The Irish Times" stated: "Stephen Gately's death represents the first time that the boyband genre has had to deal with such a tragic situation". Tim Teeman of "The Times" (UK) heralded Gately as a hero of gay rights for his response to being "smoked out of the closet".