Disney star shuts down homophobe unhappy with gay ‘Andi Mack’ character
17-year-old Joshua Rush's character became this first Disney character to say 'I'm gay' earlier this year.
By Will Stroude
One of the teenage stars of Disney TV series Andi Mack sent perfect response to a homophobe unhappy that his onscreen character is gay.
17-year-old Joshua Rush, whose character Cyrus Goodman made history by becoming the first Disney character to say “I’m gay” earlier this year, showed maturity beyond his years as he politely shut down the bigot on Twitter this week (17 February).
After being tweeted by the viewer who said that they were “disappointed” by the decision to introduce an openly gay character, Rush responded with a message many a homophobe could do with hearing.
“I’m sorry you feel that way”, the he replied. “Here’s the thing though: gay kids are gonna exist no matter whether you like it or not. And we need to support and love all kids in every way we can.”
I’m sorry you feel that way. Here’s the thing though: gay kids are gonna exist no matter whether you like it or not. And we need to support and love all kids in every way we can. So when someone realizes they are gay, I want them to identify with something so they’re not alone. https://t.co/Jnt6w5j0Yf
— joshua rush (@JoshuaRush) February 17, 2019
It’s fine to have your opinion but we’re just trying to explain how an opinion like that–one that supports LGBTQ+ kids not having a voice–can be really damaging.
— joshua rush (@JoshuaRush) February 17, 2019
the internet is forever, you can’t delete a tweet and expect it to be gone lol pic.twitter.com/fNiyhP95ME
— joshua rush (@JoshuaRush) February 17, 2019
“So when someone realizes they are gay, I want them to identify with something so they’re not alone.”
Rush added: “It’s fine to have your opinion but we’re just trying to explain how an opinion like that–one that supports LGBTQ+ kids not having a voice–can be really damaging.”
We couldn’t have put it better ourselves, Josh.
Relive Cyrus’s historic declaration on Andi Mack below: