While filming Love, Simon, the first mainstream gay teen romance film to hit theaters in the U.S., Lonsdale, came out as bi-sexual in an Instagram post, drawing inspiration from the message of the movie. (His co-star Joey Pollari also came out as gay during production.)
"Doing Love, Simon was really inspiring for me," Lonsdale told Out magazine. "I thought, Wow, I'm doing a film about equality and coming out, and the director has his partner and their child on set, and everyone's so supportive and loving, and yet here I am still hiding. At what point am I going to be able to be myself? I realized it had nothing to do with anyone else. It was just me holding myself back."
Over the summer, Londsale announced on Twitter that he would be leaving Legends of Tomorrow and The Flash as a series regular.
"I've changed a lot in the past year (as you've probably noticed lol), and for infinite reasons my perspective on life and what I want from it now is just completely different," he wrote. "Because of that, my heart told me it was the right time to continue my journey on an unknown path, and I'm so damn grateful to both shows for honoring and respecting that with me."
Soon after that, he delivered a powerful speech while accepting the award for Best Kiss at the MTV Movie Awards for Love, Simon's epic kiss.
"I just want to say to every kid, you can live your dreams and wear dresses," he said. "You can live your dreams and kiss the one that you love, no matter what gender they are. You can live your dreams and believe in magic."