Broadway Actor Share His Bi Coming-of-Age Experience

On the eve of Sept. 23's bisexual visibility day, Broadway actor Andy Mientus shared his thoughts on living openly as a bisexual man via Instagram.

"It's freedom. In love, in sex, in gender-its freedom from the binary," he wrote. "It's the greatest gift the universe has given me and it's one I am proud to share. I know a lot of people struggle with this the way I did and I can't give much advice - we all have our own situation."

He also shared his years-long struggle to accept his bisexuality on healthy terms.

He cited a handwritten passage from an old journal entry, in which he'd written: "Nor am I going to say I'm bi because any guy that admits to that publicly becomes an instant closet case..."

When Minentus explained the story of coming to terms with his sexuality via Instagram, he expressed what some of those struggles were like for him at the time, and how he came around eventually to accept his bisexuality:

"This is what I used to think of bisexuality. I don't blame this kid - when you never see something represented other than as a punchline, you don't think of it as valid. When your straight friends roll their eyes at it and your gay friends roll their eyes at it, you avert your eyes, at least."

He alluded to a sense of confusion that turned from shame to acceptance and finally conviction:

"Luckily I fell in love with someone who didn't fit the narrative I had built for myself so undeniably that I had to confront it, make peace with it, and ultimately own it. For as long it seemed like something insurmountably complicated when in reality it is so simple."

Mientus, married to actor and director Michael Ardeen, considers the matter settled: "I'm here, I'm out, and I fucking love myself for it."