Sophia Bush shares how her mom SHUT DOWN homophobia as she officially comes out as queer

Sophia Bush has been the subject of endless speculation since it was first revealed last fall that she and soccer star Ashlyn Harris were dating. Now, the actress is opening up publicly about her personal coming out journey — and her mom's incredible reaction to it all.

When an anonymous source tipped People off that the two had gotten together, accusations of infidelity soon became the main story. Both Bush and Harris had left their spouses the same year, and fans felt there had to be a connection.

However, in an essay for Glamour, the One Tree Hill alum clarifies that those accusations were unfounded. Instead, she paints a portrait of two friends who supported one another through a mutually difficult time. She didn't even realize there might be more to it until other people in their social circle pointed as much out.

"I don't know how else to say it other than: I didn't see it until I saw it. And I think it's very easy not to see something that's been in front of your face for a long time when you'd never looked at it as an option and you had never been looked at as an option," she said.

Although Bush noted that she hates the idea of "having to come out in 2024," she did confirm that she's come to the conclusion she currently identifies as queer. And how she talks about figuring this out and embracing it throughout her essay is too relatable for anyone who has gone through the same journey.

"I finally feel like I can breathe," she writes at one point. "I don't think I can explain how profound that is. I feel like I was wearing a weighted vest for who knows how long. I hadn't realized how heavy it was until I finally just put it down."

She also shared an interaction her mother had with one of her friends after her relationship was outed to the public. The friend reportedly couldn't believe it could possibly be true, insisting to Bush's mother that "your daughter isn't gay," in a way that read as judgmental.

"And you know what my mom said? 'Oh honey, I think she's pretty gay. And she's happy,'" she recalled.

Although Bush would have preferred for this new chapter of her life to play out differently in terms of public spectacle, the way she talks about her relationship suggests the pros have far outweighed the cons.

"In hindsight, maybe it all had to happen slowly and then suddenly all at once. Maybe it was all fated. Maybe it really is a version of invisible string theory. I don't really know. But I do know that for a sparkly moment I felt like maybe the universe had been conspiring for me," she said of her first "non-friend-group hang" with Harris. "And that feeling that I have in my bones is one I'll hold on to no matter where things go from here."