The Disney Channel made history last week when it featured the network’s first gay teenage couple in the series finale of teen drama Andi Mack.
The series finale saw 13-year-old Cyrus Goodman confess his feelings for his classmate TJ Kippen, who seemingly felt the same way.
“Is there anything else you want to tell me?” Cyrus asks. “Yeah,” TJ says, before asking him the same question..
“Yes,” Cyrus responds, as TJ holds his hand before the camera pans away from the romantic fire-lit scene.
Cyrus’s sexuality was confirmed in February, when he became the first character on a primetime children’s series on the Disney Channel to say the words: “I’m gay.”
Luke Mullen, who played the role of TJ, wrote on Twitter after the show aired that he hoped the story could inspire other young people to be proud of their sexuality.
“Honored to be apart of such a groundbreaking show,” Mullen wrote. “I hope my character can inspire people to proud of who they are and love who they love.”
The coming-of-age show, which has run for three seasons, has received widespread acclaim from critics and audiences alike for its chronicling of the life of 13-year-old Andi Mack, as well as her friends and family. It remains the highest-rated series on American television in its time period among all children aged between 6 and 14.
Last year, the show was broiled in controversy after one of its recurring actors, Stoney Westmoreland, was arrested and charged with trying to arrange a sexual encounter with a 13-year-old boy in Utah. He was immediately fired from the show and other acting projects.
Andi Mack joins the growing number of teen-targeted TV shows that feature openly gay or transgender characters, including HBO’s Euphoria, the CW’s Batwoman and Charmed, and Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.
Follow Ben Kew on Facebook, Twitter at @ben_kew, or email him at bkew@breitbart.com.
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