Sophia Bush Reveals What Inspired Her to Come Out as Queer: ‘You Can Choose Yourself’

Bush spoke about her experience on the July 18 episode of her podcast, 'Work in Progress with Sophia Bush'

• Sophia Bush spoke on her podcast, Work in Progress with Sophia Bush, about what inspired her to come out

• She said she wants young people to know, "You can choose yourself"

• The actress came out as queer in an essay as Glamour’s April 2024 cover star several months after she began dating former American soccer player Ashlyn Harris in October 2023

Sophia Bush is opening up about her coming out experience.

On the July 18 episode of her podcast Work in Progress, Bush, 42, spoke to The Walking Dead: World Beyond star Nico Tortorella, who uses they/them pronouns, about getting ahead of the world’s speculation by coming out.

"People will really take your self-discovery from you," she said. “What made me make the decision was knowing that we’ve gotten into a post-fact vacuum,. So I was like, ‘What I’m gonna do is sit and just sit and wait, but eventually what I'm gonna do is clarify very firmly but gently what’s real, cause it matters to me.' "

The actress continued, “I didn’t appreciate it personally but what really frightened me in terms of the public nature of it was this is so vitriolic and so violent and so ugly, what’s this gonna do to a young queer girl in Ohio or Alabama who sees what the internet is doing to people who she perceives to have a lot more power than her?”

“Like, you can always take your power back," Bush said. "That was part of what felt really important to me.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

In April, Bush penned an essay as Glamour’s cover star, where she came out as queer for the first time. She has been dating former American soccer player Ashlyn Harris for nearly a year now. The two were first linked in October 2023.

Related: Sophia Bush Shows Opposite Styles Attract on Date Night With Ashlyn Harris at the American Ballet Theatre

In her essay, Bush opened up about facing online speculation surrounding her relationship with Harris.

"What felt like seconds after I started to see what was in front of me, the online rumor mill began to spit in the ugliest ways," she wrote. "There were blatant lies. Violent threats. There were accusations of being a home-wrecker. The ones who said I’d left my ex because I suddenly realized I wanted to be with women — my partners have known what I’m into for as long as I have (so that’s not it, y’all, sorry!)."

Bush elaborated on what she went through on her podcast.

“I finally feel like I can breathe. I don’t think I can explain how profound that is,” she explained. “I’m gonna take my power back and I’m actually gonna stand up and say the purest and most special thing that’s ever happened to me in my life has happened to me and you’ve treated it like the ugliest because you’re looking at optics and not reality."

The star went on to add that she wants to use her platform to have these discussions because “there are kids out there who don’t have platforms at all who are so scared to be who they are.”

“I don’t care if you’re 14 or 41, you can choose yourself,” Bush said.

Related: Sophia Bush and Ashlyn Harris Kiss in Front of the Eiffel Tower on Romantic Paris Getaway

The John Tucker Must Die star filed for divorce from entrepreneur Grant Hughes in August 2023 and Harris filed for divorce from ex-wife and fellow soccer pro Ali Krieger in September 2023.

Bush and Harris have since been spotted out together on multiple occasions, with Harris penning a sweet birthday tribute to her girlfriend earlier in July.

“Happy birthday beautiful. I hope today feels special and full knowing how much we love you,” she wrote alongside a series of photos of her and Bush on Instagram.

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.