The Internet Is Wondering: Did ‘Glee’ Star Kevin McHale Just Come Out on Instagram?

Kevin McHale is the American actor and singer who famously portrayed Artie Abrams, a student with disabilities, in the Fox musical dramedy series Glee. Though McHale has kept a relatively low media profile since Glee ended in 2015, he may have just subtly come out on Instagram. It’s unclear though if the image is evidence of Kevin McHale coming out, or just supporting same-sex love in general.

The image in question shows two seemingly male-hands holding another seemingly male hand. The caption is simply an emoji representing the ASL hand gesture for “I love you.”

Gay Star News (GSN) speculated that the hand may belong to Austin McKenzie, a performer renowned for his acting work bridging the hearing and deaf communities. GSN writer, Anya Crittenton states, “The pair have been spending time together and frequently pop up on each other’s social media accounts,” but adds that neither McHale, McKenzie nor their representatives have made any sort of statement.

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A post shared by Kevin McHale (@kevinmchale) on Mar 12, 2018 at 12:19am PDT

Based on McHale’s past work supporting LGBTQ equality, it wouldn’t be altogether surprising if he were to come out as a member of the LGBTQ community.

In 2011, McHale appeared in The Trevor Project’s Talk to Me campaign encouraging young people to tell their friends in person to talk about their feelings (video below). The Trevor project is an organization fighting against LGBTQ youth suicide.

In 2014, he also starred in a Human Rights Campaign (HRC) video for their Americans for Marriage Equality campaign. On June 2016, he also appeared in another HRC video memorializing those who died in the 2016 Orlando gay nightclub shooting.

McHale and McKenzie both starred in ABC’s 2017 mini-series about the gay rights movement, When We Rise. 

Numerous Instagram commenters have interpreted his hand-holding picture as an indicator that McHale is dating a man. The photo has gotten over 30,000 likes and over 460 comments, mostly celebrating his happiness.

Do you think his Instagram pic represents Kevin McHale coming out? Sound off in the comments.