What’s up, Wildcats? The long-debated fan theory has just been made canon.
In a sneak peek for the final season of the Disney+ series “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series,” the short clip confirmed Ryan Evans’ (played by Lucas Grabeel) sexuality.
The 3-minute clip sees past characters Taylor McKessie (Monique Coleman), Chad Danforth (Corbin Bleu), Martha Cox (Kaycee Stroh), and Ryan Evans (Lucas Grabeel) performing together on the HSM stage. Ryan then goes backstage to thank another character (played by Scott Hoying from Pentatonix) and kisses him before going back on stage.
That whole sequence, although just a few seconds in one’s time, just answered the decade-old question surrounding one-half of the beloved Evans twins. Fans couldn’t believe it themselves and were just happy to see this all turnout. Others weren’t surprised by this revelation, as Ryan had already been so “queer-coded”.
ryan from hsm, scott (?) from pentatonix & troy bolton’s dad all in one scene … this is a crazy clip what happened to the plot of hsmtmts pic.twitter.com/OhPwUutZDc
— ໊ (@scncdrv) July 26, 2023
Ryan Evans from ‘High School Musical’ is officially confirmed as gay in ‘HSMTMTS.’ pic.twitter.com/dsUHT8EnQO
— Pop Base (@PopBase) July 25, 2023
we been knew pic.twitter.com/ArfWqPJdLg
— angel ♡ (@earthangxl_) July 25, 2023
everyone saying “we already knew” should realize back in the day it wasn’t allowed to be made explicit & Disney even went as far to try to imply he & Kelsi were together in the third movie to tamp down talk about Ryan being gay
this IS a big deal & is worth celebrating
— Char 🌈✨ (@CharCubed) July 25, 2023
https://twitter.com/ctrlvamp/status/1683944247131602945?s=20
i get why everyone is like oh we already knew that ryan from hsm was gay but the thing is lucas and kenny wanted to confirm that in the og series but weren't able to… so like im celebrating this confirmation hehe :3
— mary 🌙 (@JURlORl) July 26, 2023
LISTEN I KNOW IT WAS OBVIOUS BUT THIS IS STILL HUGE TO ME OK back in hsm days disney didnt allow kenny ortega to make ryan gay and now its finally real, you cant tell me that doesnt make your tiny gay heart happy, that this character we all loved is allowed to be out now https://t.co/YAxG0TfYDS
— shay 🌿 (@starlightillite) July 25, 2023
lotta people like “we been knew” but this IS a big deal that they were able to officially confirm it (and let him kiss his partner!) because Kenny Ortega has said that Ryan was meant to be gay in the original HSM movies but Disney would not allow it. https://t.co/KDO2nlBBSl
— SnowyNebula (@SnowyNebula3) July 26, 2023
The only things that matters is Ryan being out and proud in the fictionalized fictional version of HSM https://t.co/NNW47RBbEI
— Tinka (@TinyTinkerBell9) July 25, 2023
THE ONLY THING IM LOOKING FOWARD TO IS THE HSM REUNION ALSO THEY FINALLY CONFIRMED RYAN IS GAY I KNOW KENNY IS EXCITED ABOUT THAT https://t.co/pIypPjFk31
— kay⸆⸉ (@midnightsquake) July 25, 2023
Back when the HSM movies aired, gay characters weren't really a thing. So them showing Ryan as gay now shows how far the world, and Disney, have come in recent years . So can we have less snarky comments about it being obvious and more praise for them making him gay. 💕 #HSMTMTS pic.twitter.com/1HARPP5yJv
— Siobhan 🇬🇬 (@slinehan1) July 25, 2023
I think Ryan was gay even before he got this official confirmation. The director for the HSM films intended for Ryan to be gay, but with the way Disney was in 2006…
Regardless I’m happy for this like, to be canon and openly stated and shown https://t.co/Is7ig1HHqT
— Luna ♡ (@lovelylalune) July 26, 2023
Ryan being confirmed as gay in HSM is cute tho 🥹
— ♕ tess carter ♕ (@morseheywood) July 25, 2023
In an interview with Variety back in 2020, “High School Musical” director Kenny Ortega revealed that he had always intended for Ryan to be gay, but Disney wasn’t always too progressive at that time. “The character of Ryan in ‘High School Musical,’ Sharpay’s twin brother, we decided he’d probably going to come out in college. It was less about coming out and just more about letting his true colors come forward.”
In another interview, a.k.a. the “High School Musical: The Musical: The Holiday Special” back in 2020, the OG stars revealed some secrets about the franchise that nobody really knew about. Lucas Grabeel, the actor behind Ryan Evans’ iconic role, said that he had wanted Ryan’s sexuality to be explored.
“After reading the script, the first thing I said to [Kenny Ortega] was, ‘Okay, Kenny, Ryan’s gay, right? I know it’s Disney Channel so I’m not really gonna be gay, but I mean, yeah, right?’ Kenny then said, ‘Well, think of it this way: You have the opportunity to play a character who’s young, he’s into theater, he’s an artist and let’s go at it from that point of view.” Kenny Ortega also revealed that he had seen himself in Ryan, “Yeah I knew I was gay in high school, but I didn’t tell anybody.”
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