Ryan Buell star of NY Comic Con, Talks about coming out
Ryan Buell, the star of the reality series, Paranormal State, comes to the big city this weekend with the New York Comic Con in town. He talked with OUT about his life since the show ended, and how his coming out last year helped push paranormal prejudices aside.
Out: What will you be talking about at Comic Con this year?
Buell: Mainly about paranormal and paranormal and the media. I come from a journalistic background, I went to school for journalism, and then I fell into becoming a paranormal investigator. I look at the culture of the paranormal, and I often get asked: “Why is the paranormal so big right now?” It will be a well rounded view of the paranormal from a journalistic perspective, more than just ghosts, but why and the how people think they’re being haunted, which I feel is much more fascinating.
You came out last year in your book, My Journey Into the Unknown, how has it been since then?
It’s funny for a lot of artists to come out, they already have a liberal fan base. My fan base is mostly very conservative, they grew up in the south or midwest, a lot of them are hardworking, blue collar-type americans. Definitely not the type of person that would normally be supportive of gay and lesbian rights. I mean, literally in my book, my talking about my sexuality is maybe a page and a half. A lot of people gravitated towards it. What is crazy is that I have gotten so many emails from teenagers, people in thier forties and fifties, to military guys who had been struggling with their sexuality.
For kids who are into the paranormal, but also gay, or questioning their sexuality, it must’ve been pretty big for you to come out…
Yeah, kids have reached out to me, not just one or two, but a huge amount. I’ve gotten so many friends and fans coming to our events, who never watched our show, but once they heard about me, they watched it, and it reconnected them with their spirituality. I’m Catholic, I’m very spiritual, but I still practice my Catholic roots even though the church condemns it. When people ask me for advice on spirituality on faith, on God. How can you be spiritual, and I explain to them, “I have my own connection with God, and if Jesus were alive he would be hanging out at the gay bar!” I mean, Jesus was a hippie, he hung out with the rejects!
So fans have shared their stories with you about coming out?
Its a very strange, weird thing to say, when you just write a book, or youre on a tv show and people talk about how you changed their lives. I’ve gotten some amazing emails from epoeple, one was a mother who had a gay son who was a huge fan of Paranormal State, and he found out about my sexuality, that gave him hope. Unfortunately, he did ultimately commit suicide, but she wanted me to know that I gave him some hope to look forward to, but the bullying still got to him. People are like, “why are we making a big deal about all these gay people coming out?” We have to make a big deal about it now, so for future generations it isn’t a big deal, we are a generation that can make a difference.
Have you seen a difference in the way your conservative fans reacted to your coming out?
I mean these blue collar alpha males come to me and they’re like, “you know, I’ve been a big fan of yours for years. I was a bit shocked when you came out, but it made me think a lot, and... you’re a pretty cool guy.” And I just say: “well, thank you very much.”
Ryan Buell will be hosting a panel at New York Comic Con this Saturday night, and his new movie, American Ghost Hunter comes out next year.
Out: What will you be talking about at Comic Con this year?
Buell: Mainly about paranormal and paranormal and the media. I come from a journalistic background, I went to school for journalism, and then I fell into becoming a paranormal investigator. I look at the culture of the paranormal, and I often get asked: “Why is the paranormal so big right now?” It will be a well rounded view of the paranormal from a journalistic perspective, more than just ghosts, but why and the how people think they’re being haunted, which I feel is much more fascinating.
You came out last year in your book, My Journey Into the Unknown, how has it been since then?
It’s funny for a lot of artists to come out, they already have a liberal fan base. My fan base is mostly very conservative, they grew up in the south or midwest, a lot of them are hardworking, blue collar-type americans. Definitely not the type of person that would normally be supportive of gay and lesbian rights. I mean, literally in my book, my talking about my sexuality is maybe a page and a half. A lot of people gravitated towards it. What is crazy is that I have gotten so many emails from teenagers, people in thier forties and fifties, to military guys who had been struggling with their sexuality.
For kids who are into the paranormal, but also gay, or questioning their sexuality, it must’ve been pretty big for you to come out…
Yeah, kids have reached out to me, not just one or two, but a huge amount. I’ve gotten so many friends and fans coming to our events, who never watched our show, but once they heard about me, they watched it, and it reconnected them with their spirituality. I’m Catholic, I’m very spiritual, but I still practice my Catholic roots even though the church condemns it. When people ask me for advice on spirituality on faith, on God. How can you be spiritual, and I explain to them, “I have my own connection with God, and if Jesus were alive he would be hanging out at the gay bar!” I mean, Jesus was a hippie, he hung out with the rejects!
So fans have shared their stories with you about coming out?
Its a very strange, weird thing to say, when you just write a book, or youre on a tv show and people talk about how you changed their lives. I’ve gotten some amazing emails from epoeple, one was a mother who had a gay son who was a huge fan of Paranormal State, and he found out about my sexuality, that gave him hope. Unfortunately, he did ultimately commit suicide, but she wanted me to know that I gave him some hope to look forward to, but the bullying still got to him. People are like, “why are we making a big deal about all these gay people coming out?” We have to make a big deal about it now, so for future generations it isn’t a big deal, we are a generation that can make a difference.
Have you seen a difference in the way your conservative fans reacted to your coming out?
I mean these blue collar alpha males come to me and they’re like, “you know, I’ve been a big fan of yours for years. I was a bit shocked when you came out, but it made me think a lot, and... you’re a pretty cool guy.” And I just say: “well, thank you very much.”
Ryan Buell will be hosting a panel at New York Comic Con this Saturday night, and his new movie, American Ghost Hunter comes out next year.
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