The director and choreographer of Disneys High School Musical says he always saw one of the original trilogys characters as part of the LGBTQ community, though it was never addressed onscreen.

In a Variety interview published Tuesday, Kenny Ortega revealed that the character of Ryan Evans (played by Lucas Grabeel) was conceived as a gay teen. Along with the rest of the Disney Channel films creative team, he ultimately decided hes probably going to come out in college.

Though Ortega praised Disney as the most progressive group of people Ive ever worked with, he said he didnt think the company wouldve supported the idea of portraying Ryan as openly gay in 2006, when the original High School Musical was produced.

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, said Ortega, who is gay. 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.

As for how Ryan was portrayed in the film and its two sequels, he added, It was less about coming out and just more about letting his true colors come forward.