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| Actor Joshua Rush (image via Instagram) |
Joshua Rush, who played the gay teen ‘Cyrus Goodman’ on the Disney Channel series Andi Mack, just came out as bisexual on his Twitter account Tuesday.
Rush gained national attention when his Andi Mack character came out in 2017 becoming the first openly gay Disney Channel character.
In last month’s series finale, his character was revealed to be part of the first gay couple on a Disney series.
Now that the series has wrapped, Rush appears to have had one more ‘coming out’ to do.
On Twitter, the 17-year-old wrote, “First to respond to this tweet is bi.” He quickly followed that with his own response, “First! I win! It’s me. I’m bi.”
first! i win! it's me. i'm bi. And now that I've said that, I have a few things to rant about. There are more important things to talk about than me liking a whole bunch of genders, but I do want to share a few things with you guys.— joshua rush (@JoshuaRush) August 6, 2019
He added there were “a few things” he wanted to share with his fans.
The actor told his fans he thought it ‘ironic’ that his TV character’s coming out could send a message of empowerment to young LGBTQs, but until today he hadn’t found the courage to come out himself.
In fact, he says it’s his fans reaction to Cyrus’s journey that inspired him today.
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 (@JoshuaRush) August 6, 2019
Sharing that he had a close friend come out to him in fifth grade, Rush admitted he “suffered with some level” of his own “internalized homophobia” while playing a gay character on TV.
His solution at the time? “I stuffed the existential crisis of talking about my sexual orientation into a box in my mind for years,” he wrote, adding, “Today, I release it into the world.”
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.— joshua rush (@JoshuaRush) August 6, 2019
Noting that sexual orientation doesn’t make up “all” of his identity, Rush pointed to bi erasure and the challenges that trans women of color face every day as more pressing issues than his sexual identity.
Being bi isn't all of my identity, nor is it the most important part of my identity. Bi erasure and issues like it are important, but trans women of color still have a life expectancy of THIRTY FIVE YEARS and that is absolutely unacceptable.— joshua rush (@JoshuaRush) August 6, 2019
I also want to encourage you to read their page on bisexuality. It has been incredibly helpful to me, and their resources have helped me to find where I fit on the spectrum of sexuality.https://t.co/oKjfKxFmTc— joshua rush (@JoshuaRush) August 6, 2019
He asked folks to donate to GLAAD (which promotes positive messaging for LGBTQs in the media) because his Disney Channel series “wouldn’t have existed in the form that it did without them.”
He also gave a shoutout to The Trevor Project, the leading national organization providing crisis intervention to LGBTQ young people, before closing the thread with, "Thank you to you for giving me the courage to know who I am and tell you this today. Happy 20biteen!"
Thank you to you for giving me the courage to know who I am and tell you this today.— joshua rush (@JoshuaRush) August 6, 2019
Happy 20biteen!
HAPPY 20BITEEN INDEED!!!!!! 💗💜💙💗💜💙💗💜💙💗💜💙💗💜💙💗💜💙💗💜💙💗💜💙💗💜💙💗💜💙💗💜💙💗💜💙💗💜💙💗💜💙💗💜💙💗💜💙💗💜💙💗💜💙💗💜💙💗💜💙💗💜💙💗💜💙💗💜💙💗💜💙💗💜💙💗💜💙💗💜💙💗💜💙💗💜💙💗💜💙💗💜💙💗💜💙💗💜💙💗💜💙💗💜💙💗💜💙💗💜💙💗💜💙💗💜💙💗💜💙💗💜💙💗💜💙— GLAAD (@glaad) August 6, 2019
"We're grateful to @JoshuaRush for showing his fans that he supports them, and that they are perfect and beautiful the way they are." our CEO @amitpaley 💗https://t.co/9j30A4TVdQ— The Trevor Project (@TrevorProject) August 6, 2019
While he hadn’t come out yet, it was just a few weeks ago that Rush shared a photo on Instagram after attending his first Pride event.
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