Aubrey Anderson-Emmons ‘surprised’ by reaction to coming out as bisexual

“Modern Family” star Aubrey Anderson-Emmons said she didn’t expect the reaction she got when she came out as bisexual in June.

“I didn’t even mean to come out, I just thought the video was really fun. I just thought it was kind of funny. And I was like, ‘People will find this funny,’” said Anderson-Emmons, 18, who is known for playing Lily Tucker-Pritchett in the Emmy-winning hit sitcom, said in an interview with “Them” published on Friday.

The former child star added, “And indeed they did, but I didn’t even think of it as, ‘Oh, I’m coming out to the world as bisexual, this [is a brave thing] that I’m doing,’ because it shouldn’t have to be something.”

The “Modern Family” star said that coming out, “shouldn’t have to be a moment of bravery” because “it should just be normalized.”

Anderson-Emmons came out as bisexual in June. 

In the social media clip, posted via Threads on June 16, Anderson-Emmons was lip-syncing to a scene from the ABC show, in which Lily tells one of her dads, Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson), and grandmother Gloria ( Sofía Vergara) that she’s gay.

In the clip from the show, Gloria tells Lily, “You are Vietnamese.”

Lily replies, “No, I’m not, I’m gay, I’m gay!” Mitch then says, “Honey, no, you’re not gay. You are just confused!”

In her social media post, the actress laughs at the camera as audio from the scene plays.

Anderson-Emmons wrote in text over the clip: “people keep joking so much abt me being gay when I literally am (I’m bi).”

Her caption read, “happy pride month to all and to all a goodnight hehehe” with hashtags referencing “Modern Family,” pride month and bi pride, along with a rainbow emoji.

Anderson-Emmons told the outlet that she didn’t even think of the social media post as “coming out,” because “everybody in my personal life already knows…. I’m very much an open book about who I am. So it was just one of those things that I forgot to mention to the public. It was not intentional at all.”

She said she was shocked that it made headlines and got a big reaction.

“It always surprises me when something goes a little bit viral that I do online, because I’ll just get one of my friend’s screenshots. A couple of my friends screenshotted the ‘bisexual coming out’ stories that were happening on Twitter and I was like, ‘What?’ I didn’t even notice how much coverage this whole bisexual thing was getting.”

She said, “I did not think it would be like that at all.”

The former child star added, “I was very surprised. I thought that one clip would just go viral, and that was going to be it, but then other news [outlets] started posting about it, and I was like, ‘Whoa.’ But yeah, it was very unexpected and not plotted and schemed on at all.”

“Modern Family” ran on ABC for 11 seasons, from 2009 to 2020. 

Lily’s dads were Mitchell and Cam (Eric Stonestreet). The show also starred Ed O’Neill, Julie Bowen, Ty Burrell, Sarah Hyland, and Ariel Winter. 

Mitch and Cam’s marriage is one of the most celebrated same-sex unions on television. The show won two GLAAD Media Awards during its 12-year run.

Anderson-Emmons, who recently released her first EP under the name Frances Anderson,  also said she is “making this transition from acting to music.”

She added, “I just moved to a completely new part of L.A., I’m really enjoying that. I’ve been traveling a lot more. I just turned 18, so it’s kind of the start of adulthood. Obviously, I’m still a kid — being legally 18 doesn’t mean too much — but [I’m] starting to navigate adulthood and all that jazz.”

The actress and singer also joked about her social media presence. “I feel like some people are like, ‘Stop posting about ‘Modern Family.’ Some people are like, ‘Only post about Modern Family.’  I feel like I do a mix of both,” she said.