Warning: spoilers ahead!
In last night's episode of AMC's zombie apocalypse thriller The Walking Dead, Paul "Jesus" Rovia quietly came out.
Jesus first appeared on the show in season 6 as a mysterious traveller from the Hilltop Colony, but kept any mention of his sexuality under wraps. In a tender moment with Maggie, Jesus finally opened up about his rough past.
“I grew up with a lot of people around. Group home," Jesus explained. "This isn't like that though. For the first time, I feel like I belong. When I was first here, I was never here. I always found it hard getting close to anyone; neighbours, friends...boyfriends."
"You should try it sometime," Maggie gently replies. "Even if it doesn't last."
This is the first time Jesus has disclosed any hint of about his sexuality on the show, even though the character is gay in The Walking Dead comic book series.
Robert Kirkman, creator of the graphic novels, thought Jesus's sexuality was important to highlight in a 2014 Reddit AMA. "In my opinion there should be more awesome gay people in fiction because there are plenty of awesome gay people in real life. I want Jesus to be a character where his sexuality is as unimportant as Rick or other heterosexual characters. So we won’t focus on it constantly and it won’t be the focus of any big storylines for him…but he’ll make it with a dude every now and then…before going out and drop kicking zombies. He’s one of my current favorite characters.”
Jesus actor Tom Payne was more than happy for his characters sexuality to play out on the show. He told The Huffington Post “Who cares? He’s a badass and he happens to be gay.”
Jesus is the sixth LGBT character on The Walking Dead and is definitely an exciting one to look out for. Hopefully, he can nab a boyfriend before the zombies get him.
