One of the stars of Disney series Andi Mack, which ended last month, has revealed to followers that he is bisexual.
17-year old Joshua Rush was known for playing the role of Cyrus Goodman on the show, a character who was lauded for being the first gay main character in a Disney Channel series.
In a number of heartfelt tweets, Rush this week explained that playing the role had given him the courage to explore and come to terms with his own sexuality.
“I saw so many of you watch Cyrus come out and said ‘Hey! I can be me!'” he wrote.
“How ironic, isn’t it, that me, playing that character, never had mustered up that courage?”
He continued, revealing that he'd been grappling with internalised homophobia, even when playing the role of Goodman on Andi Mack.
"I had a close friend of mine come out to me in fifth grade. FIFTH GRADE!" He tweeted. "That was well before I had any clue of my own identity and orientation. I suffered with some level of my own internalised homophobia even while playing the first openly gay character on Disney Channel."
He added: "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."
Rush then encouraged followers to donate to US LGBTIQ+ organisation The Trevor Project, while also sharing a page of information about bisexuality from the GLAAD website.
