After Coming Out As Bisexual, 'Moana' Star Auli'i Cravalho Is 'Glad' To See More LGBTQ+ Representation In TV & Movies

When Auli'i Cravalho came out as bisexual last year, she received an overwhelmingly positive reaction.

"The fans are only too happy to accept another gay," she joked to Entertainment Weekly while reflecting on the experience.

But even people the Moana star "hadn't talked to in a long time" told her things "like, 'Wow, that's really great. I wouldn't have the confidence to come out like you did in a TikTok, but hey, way to be real Gen-Z about it and push forward into the future.'"

Cravalho is ecstatic to be part of the inclusivity movement, but she acknowledged that when it comes to every individual's identity, "I still sometimes slip up even with my friends, of integrating 'they/them' into sentences, because I'm so used to this binary of 'he or she.'"

"I'm glad that these terms are being used in film," she noted, "because that's just going to help me and help others use it in their daily lives."

In fact, Cravalho revealed that since coming out, she's auditioned for LGBTQ+ characters.

"I'm like, 'Oh, finally, this next generation is going to be so much more inclusive.' If you're playing someone who is part of the LGBTQ spectrum, that isn't just the story line. There's so much more to them," she shared. "We are straight-A students. We are avid readers. We have these wild imaginations. We don't know what the heck we're doing, but also don't just show us in the light of 'My sexuality is this burden,' because it's not. It is so joyful."

The star revealed she was bisexual last April via social media. After a fan asked her if she was straight, she told them to look at her TikTok page; there, she posted a video where she was lip-syncing to Eminem's "Those Kinda Nights."

"'Seriously though, jokes aside, how you doin'? You straight?'/ She said, 'No, I'm bi,'" she mouthed.

Even before her post went viral, Cravalho insisted that she was never hiding her sexuality.

"The funniest part to me was that I had girlfriends in high school," she said. "I think girls are great, but I wouldn't think that it was necessary to come out."