Man with cerebral palsy is “gay, disabled, and sexy as f*ck”
Image: Ryan Haddad. Image: Instagram / @ryanjhaddad
A NEW video is telling the story of one young disabled man’s experiences in the gay community.
Actor, writer, and performed Ryan Haddad appears in the latest instalment of #ThisIsMe, a YouTube series exploring the relationship between gay men and body image.
Haddad describes to the camera his experiences and how others have reacted to his cerebral palsy, cut with shots of him removing his leg braces and clothes.
“In gay lingo I would call myself a hairy twink,” Haddad says in the video. “I don’t think I have the amount of body hair that would qualify me as an otter.”
He describes his first time in a gay club at 21, when another guy broke down crying about his disability.
“I thought it was a joke,” Haddad says. “That concept, that he could have been crying out of pity or sadness for me… was completely absurd.”
Now 25, Haddad is more comfortable in his own body
“Because men were not approaching me in these bars, I started to believe that that meant I was not sexy,” he says.
“I started to believe that it meant something was wrong with me. But if I look at myself in the mirror—with the walker, without the walker—I know I’m very good looking. Right?
“I’m sexy enough. I just need somebody who is emotionally and mentally sexy enough to be able to see that in me.”
