Bryan Odell, better known as BryanStars, came out as gay on Saturday in an emotional 10-minute YouTube video.
A visibly nervous Odell, who has over 700,000 followers on the video sharing site, began by stating that his coming out video is the “most personal... that I think I’ll ever make” and one that he “wanted to make many times.”
He went on to explain why he’s chosen to come out now. “Since I’m older, it’s different,” the 26 year old said. “I grew up in a time when people didn’t really accept people for being gay... I grew up thinking that being different was a really, really bad thing… that being gay was a terrible thing.”
Odell admitted that even as recently as a few weeks ago he had lied to his roommate when asked if he was gay. He also revealed that he hadn't told his mother yet, which he said “is really scary," before remarking, "I still have to do that before I post this video."
So why is he coming out now? Odell said he wants to help others avoid having to suffer the pain that he went through.
“I don’t want you guys or girls or anyone watching this video to go through what I did,” he said. “I have gone my entire life lying about who I am and it sucks... You shouldn’t have to live your whole life in the closet... You should be able to be who you are as early as possible in your life. I hope that by doing this video maybe other people will have courage to do it as well. It’s one more example that we live in a world now where it’s OK to be who you are and it’s OK to be honest.”
Congratulations and welcome to the family, Bryan.
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