It's a tale as old as time: young and talented actor/singer becomes popular on the Disney Channel, young and talented actor/singer comes out as part of the LGBTQ+ community. But no matter how many times it happens, we love every single one of these queer Disney stars!
Whether they got their start in Disney Channel Original Movies, had their own show on the network, or come from the increasingly large queer cast of Disney+'s High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, all of these queer Disney stars shine bright!
Here are 21 current and former Disney stars who came out and are living in their truths!
Raven-Symoné says she knew about her sexuality from age 12, but because she was in the spotlight, first starring on The Cosby Show and then the iconic Disney Channel sitcom That’s So Raven, she thought she wouldd never be able to publicly acknowledge her sexuality. Fortunately, she was able to come out in 2014 and marry her wife, Miranda Pearman-Maday, in 2020.
Disney Channel icon Alyson Stoner came out in an essay for Teen Vogue back in 2018. Not only did she appear in the Camp Rock movies and Mike’s Super Short Show, making her a regular on the channel, but she also appeared in several Missy Elliott music videos. She recently admitted that she underwent conversion therapy when younger.
After starring in Princess Protection Program, Camp Rock, and Sonny With a Chance, Demi Lovato has become a music superstar. They first talked about dating multiple genders in their 2017 YouTube documentary Demi Lovato: Simply Complicated, and this year came out as pansexual and nonbinary, updating their pronouns to they/them.
The former Hannah Montana star came out in a Paper interview in 2015 and has since said she prefers the pansexual label. More recently, she said she’s more attracted to women than to men.
Lesbian Jesus Hayley Kiyoko’s first Disney appearance was on The Wizards of Waverly Place, but most of us remember her as Stella in Lemonade Mouth. Now she’s one of the most popular lesbian pop singers in the country. She’s recently released two singles, “Chance,” and “Found My Friends.”
Early in her career, Palmer starred in the Disney Channel Original Movie Jump In!, and we’ve loved her ever since. In 2015, she released a music video for her song “I Don’t Belong to You” that features a bisexual storyline. She said that the video represented who she was at that time. “The video was to represent the young woman today — it's not the traditional woman anymore — and not the specifics of 'Am I gay? Am I straight? Am I bi?'" she told People. "I'm making the rules for myself, and I don't have to be stuck down to one label.”
Dove Cameron played twin sisters Liv and Maddie on the Disney Channel show named for them (and later revealed she considers both characters queer) and then has starred in the Descendents films for the channel. She started coming out on social media when she theorized that basically all the characters she’s played have been queer, and tweeted that she’s bisexual. In 2021, she opened up about being afraid to come out because of fans' potential reactions.
Bella Thorne came out on Twitter in 2016 after starring in the show Shake It Up! on Disney Channel. Since then, she’s been involved in several controversies, including last year, when she started an OnlyFans account that earned $1 million in just 24 hours.
The voice of Moana came out as bisexual in 2020. In a TikTok answering a question about her sexuality, she lip synced to Eminem’s “Those Kinda Nights,” where Eminem raps “seriously though, how are you doing? You straight? No I’m bi.”
Bassett is part of a huge queer cast on Disney+’s High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. He plays the male lead, Ricky, and came out when he said he thought Harry Styles was hot. Later he clarified that he is a part of the LGBTQ+ community, but is still taking time to figure out his identity.
Rodriguez plays gay high school student, choreographer, assistant director, and actor Carlos in Disney+’s High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. In a recent episode, he sang Disney’s first ever same-sex love song to his boyfriend, Seb, played by Rodriguez’s real-life partner Joe Serafini.
The aforementioned Serafini, who came out as bisexual in 2020, plays Carlos’ sweet, but simple, boyfriend Seb on HSMTMTS. His character is like the farmboy son of Glee’s legendary queer blonde bimbo Brittany S. Pierce.
Yet another High School Musical: The Musical: The Series star, Saperstein plays the nerdy and loyal Big Red on the show and came out as bisexual on TikTok during Pride month 2021.
Julia Lester is a pansexual actress who plays Ashlynn on HSMTMTS. In season two of the show, her character is playing Belle in the school’s production of Beauty and The Beast. Both she and Larry Saperstein, who play a couple on the show, are queer.
Grazer played teen sea monster Alberto in this year’s film Luca, and also has appeared in Shazam and It. They came out as bi on Instagram Live this year. He also updated his pronouns on Instagram to he/they.
Andi Mack’s Joshua Rush played the first-ever Disney Channel character to say "I’m gay" on the network. He came out as bisexual when the show wrapped up, saying that he was inspired by fans who came out after seeing his character do so. “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,” he said. “I suffered with some level of my own internalized homophobia even while playing the first openly gay character on Disney Channel.”
Rowan Blanchard became a big name when she starred as Riley Matthews on Disney Channel’s Girl Meets World. She came out as queer in 2016 at just 15 years old.
Garrett Clayton has appeared in the DCOM Teen Beach Movie and in the Disney show Shake It Up, before starring in the gay porn true crime movie King Cobra. In 2018, he came out in an emotional post on his Instagram.
Another Teen Beach Movie star, Mollee Gray is a talented dancer who was a finalist on season six of Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance. Gray was raised LDS in Utah, and came out when she got married in 2018.
Totah appeared in the Disney Channel series Jessie as a child, and then in 2018, came out as trans. Now she’s starring in Peacock’s Saved By the Bell reboot as a popular trans girl at Bayside High.
Pollari was the star of Skyrunners, a 2009 Disney XD Original Movie about two brothers who find an alien spaceship. He came out at 18 to friends and family, and now is focusing on his music career. He also recently had a role in the beloved teen rom-com Love, Simon.
