Andi Mack features first gay coming-out storyline

Andi Mack Disney Channel (check local listings for scheduled times)

Disney Channel’s Andi Mack is making history with the network’s first storyline about a gay character coming out.

The comedic drama from Lizzie McGuire creator Terri Minsky follows 13-year-old Andi (Peyton Elizabeth Lee) as she navigates her early teens.

In the season 2 première, Andi’s friend Cyrus (Joshua Rush) began his coming-out journey.

Disney has introduced gay characters before — Beauty and the Beast made headlines earlier this year for featuring an openly gay LeFou. Also, Disney XD’s animated series Star vs. the Forces of Evil made history in its second season with Disney’s first same-sex kiss.

But Andi Mack, which became a network hit after its April debut, is the first Disney franchise to centre a storyline on a major character coming out as gay.

Cyrus’s story isn’t the first groundbreaking move for Andi Mack.

In the pilot episode, Andi learns that her big sister, Bex, is actually her biological mother — a decidedly mature storyline for a tweenfocused show. “Andi Mack is a story about ‘tweens’ figuring out who they are,” Disney Channel said in a recent statement. “Everyone involved in the show takes great care in ensuring that it’s appropriate for all audiences and sends a powerful message about inclusion and respect for humanity.”

The upcoming storyline has earned praise from the media advocacy group GLAAD. “With more and more young people coming out as LGBTQ, Andi Mack is reflecting the lives and lived experiences of so many LGBTQ youth around the country,” the organization’s president and CEO, Sarah Kate Ellis, said in a statement. “Television reflects the real life world and today that includes LGBTQ youth who deserve to see their lives depicted on their favourite shows. Disney has been a leader in LGBTQ inclusion and there are so many young people who will be excited to see Cyrus’s story unfold.”