Actor Ronen Rubinstein, best known for playing gay firefighter/paramedic T.K. Strand on FOX's LGBTQ-inclusive TV series 9-1-1: Lone Star, is publicly opening up about his identity and coming out to the world as bisexual.
In a recent interview with Variety's Marc Malkin, the 27-year-old (who is one half of fan-favorite "Tarlos," the ship name for Lone Star's resident gay couple TK and Carlos, played by Ronen's co-star and openly gay actor Rafael L. Silva), proudly identifies himself as bi and talks openly about his personal journey over the years to acceptance.
"I fully identify as bisexual," Ronen said. "I literally just got goosebumps saying that. It feels so good to talk about it, it feels so good to finally be comfortable with it."
He continued:
"The biggest thing for me is where I come from, it’s like people like me and people who have identified as bisexual or gay or as any part of the community, you’re just not welcomed. It’s as brutally honest as that. It’s either you faced insane amounts of profanity, like the F-word was thrown around all the time or you would get your ass kicked if you were gay. So there was definitely a fear of sort of embracing how I felt. I was definitely more aware of it in high school. I was aware of my feelings and how I started looking at men, but I couldn’t talk to anybody about it."
Ronen then opened up about his girlfriend Jessica Parker Kennedy was one of the first people in his life to be a support system, encouraging him to be open and honest to others about his sexuality.
"She’s actually one of the first people that sort of respectfully called me out on it," he tells Variety. "She’s like, 'Is there something we need to talk about?' And I said, 'Maybe.' I didn’t know how that conversation would go. And it went probably as good as it can go. She definitely encouraged me to be vocal about it, just to live my truth. She’s like, 'I love you for who you are, your full self and people will love you for who you are and your full self.'"
Taking to Instagram to celebrate the momentous occasion, Ronen told his supportive fans "Every single day, you guys give me your all. You opened your Hearts & Souls to me. I now give you me, my full, true self. Thank you for giving me the Courage. Thank you for always Accepting me. Thank you for Supporting me. Let us continue being our complete selves. Let us continue fighting for what is Right. Let us continue Loving each other and Supporting each other. Thank you. I Love You."
Congrats on living your truth, Ronen! Welcome to the fam!
