feature image photo by Chad Salvador / Contributor via Getty Images

Hocus Pocus and Now and Then star Thora Birch came out as bisexual this weekend at West Hollywood gay bar The Abbey’s 35th anniversary last week. She’s an LA native and wanted to represent her hometown, saying, “I’m always here to show my support for the community, which shaped so much of who I am and my identity as well, being a bi person.”

This is exciting for me personally, because Thora Birch was a huge part of my childhood. I imprinted on both Hocus Pocus and Now and Then as a very young child, watching both repeatedly. I was obsessed with the friendships in Now and Then, and while I was always drawn to the obvious lesbian energy of Christina Ricci/Rosie O’Donnell’s character Roberta, I think my first “ship” (though of course, I wouldn’t have known to call it that, or even likely admitted it at the time) was Thora Birch/Melanie Griffith’s character Teeny and Gaby Hoffmann/Demi Moore’s character Samantha.

I could be wrong, but I don’t think Thora Birch has played queer yet in her long career. The closest I can find right now is that she played the sister of a bisexual character last year in The Chronology of Water, a movie written and directed by Kristen Stewart. (Please, do correct me if I’m wrong!)

Maybe coming out will open the door to more queer roles for her; I’d love to see it. In fact, maybe in a sequel to one of her past films. In the interview with US Weekly, she said she’d be open to a sequel of Now and Then, or even to revisit Enid from Ghost World. Sadly she was not involved in Hocus Pocus 2, but rumor has it a third one is in the works, so maybe Dani will return, all grown up and gayer than ever.

Congrats to Thora Birch on publicly coming out and for doing so at one of the gayest events one could!

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