#TBT: When The Blue Power Ranger Came Out

David Yost came out as gay in an 2010 interview, sharing how his treatment on the set led to his leaving the show.
From: NewNowNext

 The new Power Rangers movie is well underway, but this week we want to step back in time to an incident from the beloved original series.

In 1995, David Yost, who played the Blue Ranger, left the show. It wasn’t until 2010, though, that he revealed publicly he was gay—and that harassment on the set led to his departure.

 “I walked off set one day, during the middle of lunch, halfway through the day,” he recalls in the interview below.

“I had made a decision I had been thinking about for a good week, and the reason I walked off is because I had been called ’faggot’ one too many times.”

Yost says he’d been subject to slurs numerous times—from writers, directors, producers and creators. His co-stars had even been called in the producers office and questioned about his sexuality. In the interview, David recounts those harrowing days, as well as his heartbreaking efforts to “pray the gay away.”

Since leaving acting, he’s had a successful career behind the camera as a producer on shows like Temptation Island, You Are What You Eat and The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. He’s also active in HIV/AIDS advocacy—appearing in a benefit performance of Fallen Guardian Angels and posing for Adam Bouska’s “No H8” campaign.

Having made peace with his past, Yost also makes appearances at Mighty Morphin Power Rangers conventions around the country. Hopefully producers will let him make an appearance in the new movie, too.