Andi Mack actor Joshua Rush comes out as bisexual
Joshua Rush. (Rich Fury/Getty)
Joshua Rush, the first Disney Channel actor to say the words “I’m gay” on screen, has come out as bisexual.
Rush played Cyrus Goodman on Andi Mack, who came out as gay in a 2017 episode of the Disney Channel series.
The character made history again in the July 2019 series finale, becoming part of the Disney Channel’s first teenage same-sex couple with classmate TJ Kippen.
Now, a week after the finale aired, the 17-year-old has opened up about his own sexuality.
I am an out and proud bisexual man.
“I saw so many of you watch Cyrus come out and said ‘Hey! I can be me!” Rush tweeted on Tuesday (August 6).
“How ironic, isn’t it, that me, playing that character, never had mustered up that courage?
“Instead of feeling the courage to tell you today that I am an out and proud bisexual man because of the character I played for four years, I feel that courage thinking of all of you, who felt emboldened by Cyrus to come out.”
Joshua Rush comes out, reveals ‘internalised homophobia’
Rush revealed while filming the Andi Mack scenes in which Cyrus came out as gay, he was struggling with his own “internalised homophobia.”
“I stuffed the existential crisis of talking about my sexual orientation into a box in my mind for years. Today, I release it into the world,” he added.
The actor signed off by highlighting one of the most important issues in the LGBT+ community today.
Cyrus Goodman and TJ in the last ever episode of Andi Mack (YouTube)
“Bi erasure and issues like it are important, but trans women of colour still have a life expectancy of THIRTY FIVE YEARS and that is absolutely unacceptable,” he wrote.
Fans were quick to applaud Rush for his honesty and for using his platform to support trans women of colour.
“Ok but are we going to talk about how josh used his coming out tweet to ask ppl do donate to another causes? He’s a king,” one wrote.
“Thank you for sharing your truth with us, and for feeling safe and comfortable enough to do so,” added another.
