The Disney+ series âHigh School Musical: The Seriesâ confirmed that one of the showâs cast members, who was also in the original movie, is gay.
During a sneak peek of the fourth and final season of the show, Ryan Evans, who is played by actor Lucas Grabeel, kisses Pentatonixâs singer Scott Hoying following a musical performance with a few of the cast members at their high school reunion.
Hoying proceeded to tell Grabeelâs character, âYou look amazing! This is so cool!â
âThis means so much to me that you are here,â Evans replied.
Then, Hoying planted a kiss on Evans and expressed his love for him.
In a 2020 interview with Variety, Kenny Ortega, who directed the 2006 âHigh School Musicalâ film revealed whether he believed it would have been possible for Evans to be âopenly gayâ then.
âI have to be honest with you. I didnât think at the time â and Disney is the most progressive group of people Iâve ever worked with,â Ortega said.
He explained he was âconcernedâ because Disneyâs audience consisted of Children and families and thought the network âmight not be ready to cross that line and move into that territory yet.â
âSo, I just took it upon myself to make choices that I felt that those who were watching would grab. They would see it, they would feel it, they would know it and they would identify with it,â he added, acknowledging âthat is what happened.â
In an interview with TMZ in 2020, Grabeel shared he was unsure if he would have taken the role of Evans if the movie was made today so as to not take the opportunity away from gay actors.
âThe last thing I want to do is take an opportunity away from other people. As a straight white man, I know that even without trying, I have taken opportunities away from other people,â he said.
