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High School Musical's Ryan Evans Is Now Officially Gay
Played by Lucas Grabeel, the character was first introduced in 2006’s High School Musical.
We saw this one coming, but confirmation is always fabulous!
The character of Ryan Evans (played by Lucas Grabeel) made his world debut in the Disney Channel original movie High School Musical back in 2006. At the time, he was perceived as the flamboyant theater-loving twin brother of Sharpay Evans (Ashley Tisdale), but his sexuality was never addressed.
In a teaser for the fourth season of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, Grabeel reprises his role as Ryan and the character’s queer identity is finally made official. In the video, Ryan walks up to Pentatonix band member Scott Hoying (who plays Ryan’s love interest in the series) and shares this long-awaited truth about himself.
“This means so much to me, that you are here,” Ryan says before kissing his partner. You can watch their interaction in the clip below.
Over the years, High School Musical director Kenny Ortega was consistently careful about how the character of Ryan was framed in the franchise. When asked in June 2020 about Ryan’s sexuality in the original trilogy of films, Ortega told Variety that he didn’t think the time was right for that part of the character to be addressed.
“I was concerned because it was family and kids, that Disney might not be ready to cross that line and move into that territory yet,” Ortega told the publication. “So, 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. And that is what happened.”
Thankfully, HSMTMTS is now ready to fully commit to Ryan being gay and isn’t leaving room for any doubt. Similar to many real-life teenagers, Ryan had always been gay but wasn’t ready to make that proclamation in high school. Now that he’s appearing as his older self on High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, the character is ready to come out and live in his truth.
We are now even more excited about the fourth and final season of HSMTMTS!
High School Musical: The Musical: The Series season four premieres August 9 on Disney+.
Bernardo Sim is the deputy editor of Out, as well as a writer and content creator. Born in Brazil, he currently lives in South Florida. You can follow him on Instagram at @bernardosim.
Bernardo Sim is the deputy editor of Out, as well as a writer and content creator. Born in Brazil, he currently lives in South Florida. You can follow him on Instagram at @bernardosim.
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