26 former Disney stars who have come out as LGBTQ+
| 03/20/24
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
While the Disney Channel is mostly known for wholesome content for kids and teens, lately so many former Disney alums have come out we may start thinking of it as the queer network!
There are so many actors who starred on shows when they were young and then came out after their shows ended that it's almost become predictable and we are absolutely loving it! Whether they got their start on a tv show or Disney Channel Original Movie these stars are letting their queer flags fly.
Keep scrolling to see 26 Disney Channel stars who have come out as LGBTQ+.
Audiences first fell in love with Corey Fogelmanis as Farkle Minkus in Girl Meets World and were even more delighted when he came out as part of our fam in an Instagram post in June 2020 “I walked alongside my LGBTQ+ siblings for my first LA pride today,” he wrote. “While not my first year identifying with this community (my letter is Q.), I have yet to do anything in the past to further elevate the freedoms and acceptance of queer people in America.”
Jack Dylan Grazer played a sea monster in the queer-coded Disney Pixar hit Luca and came out as bi in 2021.
One of Keke Palmer's earliest roles was in the Disney Channel Original Movie Jump In! While being honored at the Los Angeles LGBT Center Gala earlier this year she said, “I’ve always been my own person, and sexuality and identity, for me, it’s always been confusion. I never felt straight enough; I never felt gay enough; I never felt woman enough; I never felt man enough. I always felt like I was a little bit of everything.”
He starred in Andi Mack where played Cyrus Goodman, the Disney Channel's first openly gay character, and then came out as bisexual in real life once the show ended.
Cheyenne Jackson is a hottie in the gay community, and even though he didn't get his start on the Disney Channel, he starred as Hades in Disney Channel's Descendents 3, where he split the role with fellow queer actor Dove Cameron.
Canadian actor Michael Seater is most known for playing the title role of Derek Venturi in Life with Derek, a Canadian sitcom that aired between 2005-2009. Seater identifies as queer, though little is known about his dating life.
Karan Brar starred in the Diary of A Wimpy Kid film series and as Ravi Ross in the popular Disney Channel series Jessie and its spinoff Bunk’d, but privately the actor was struggling with his sexuality, and hiding his truth from the world. On November 30, Brar finally put that struggle behind him, sharing that he is bisexual in a moving and stunningly personal essay in Teen Vogue.
Demi Lovato was an accomplished Disney Channel alum, starring in Princess Protection Program, Camp Rock, and Sonny With a Chance before becoming a pop star. Lovato first talked about dating multiple genders in their 2017 YouTube documentary Demi Lovato: Simply Complicated and in 2021 came out as pansexual and nonbinary.
Miley Cyrus who starred as Hannah Montana before becoming a pop icon, has called herself pansexual and gender neutral in interviews.
Alyson Stoner had cameos on The Suite Life and starred in Camp Rock. Stoner came out as queer in a personal essay they wrote for Teen Vogue in 2018.
Matthew Scott Montgomery was a Disney channel mainstay, starring in Shake It Up, Sonny With A Chance, and So Random. Sadly, Montgomery's parents sent him to so-called gay conversion therapy when he was a teen. Luckily fellow Disney channel alum Demi Lovato was able to step in and help him out.
Raven-Symoné played the titular character in That's So Raven and the spin-off series Raven's Home. After coming out in 2014, she married her wife Miranda Pearman-Maday in 2020 and the two now have a podcast together called "The Best Podcast Ever."
Bisexual star Dove Cameron played twin sisters on Liv and Maddie before starring in the popular Descendants movies.
The star of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series admitted to finding Harry Styles hot and then clarified his sexuality in an interview with GQ where he said, "There are plenty of letters in the alphabet... why bother rushing to a conclusion? Sometimes your letter changes, sometimes you try a different one, other times you realize you're not what you thought you were, or maybe you always knew. All of these can be true."
Hayley Kiyoko's first Disney role was in Wizards of Waverly Place, but her breakout role was in Lemonade Mouth before she shot to superstardom as a lesbian pop star with hits like "Girls Like Girls" and "Demons."
In 2020, Auli'i Cravalho, who voiced Moana in the Disney animated film, came out as bisexual. Then, in a TikTok she lip synced to Eminem's "Those Kinda Nights," where Eminem raps the line "seriously though, how are you doing? You straight? No I'm bi."
On High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, Frankie A. Rodriguez plays gay high school student Carlos who is dating Seb, played by Rodriguez's real-life boyfriend Joe Serafini.
Joe Serafini, the High School Musical: The Musical: The Series and Frankie A. Rodriguez's boyfriend, came out as bisexual in 2020.
High School Musical: The Musical: The Series star Larry Saperstein came out as bisexual on TikTok in 2021.
Julia Lester is another of the many queer stars of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (we swear this is the last one!). She is pansexual and on the show she played one half of a couple with fellow LGBTQ+ Disney star Larry Saperstein.
Originally known fro playing Tanner in Teen Beach Movie and Teen Beach 2, Garrett Clayton has recently become a pop star with the release of his delightfully gay summer hit "Barbie Boys."
Josie Totah starred on the Disney hit show Jessie and came out as trans in 2018 by writing a personal essay for Time.
The star who came out when he was 18, played Miles in Avalon High before late staring as the titular character in Love, Simon.
The Teen Beach Movie and Teen Beach 2 star came out in 2017 right before she married Jeka Jane. "I was never really taught to love a gender," Gray told The Advocate. "I also never really understood it. I was like, attracted to girls but not all girls, so I was battling what that meant.”
Rowan Blanchard, who starred in Girl Meets World, came out as queer in 2016 when she was only 15 years old.
Ariel Messman-Rucker is an Oakland-born journalist who now calls the Pacific Northwest her home. When she’s not writing about politics and queer pop culture, she can be found reading, hiking, or talking about horror movies with the Zombie Grrlz Horror Podcast Network.
Ariel Messman-Rucker is an Oakland-born journalist who now calls the Pacific Northwest her home. When she’s not writing about politics and queer pop culture, she can be found reading, hiking, or talking about horror movies with the Zombie Grrlz Horror Podcast Network.
Andrew J. Stillman is a freelance writer and yoga instructor exploring the world. Check him out at andrewjstillman.com or follow him @andrewjstillman on all the things.
Andrew J. Stillman is a freelance writer and yoga instructor exploring the world. Check him out at andrewjstillman.com or follow him @andrewjstillman on all the things.