Writer/actor/activist/producer/soon-to-be-director Ryan O’Connell wasn’t always comfortable showing off his body. Until a few years ago when something happened (we’re not sure what) and now his Instagram page is basically one sexy underwear pic after another.
“Literally used to hate my body, only saw it as disabled and broken and not chic, but I’m slowly coming around,” he captioned a post in 2019. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to turn myself into Inspirational Thot jail.”
Now that’s a mission we can get on board with!
Related*
Ryan O’Connell on disability and playing a “power bottom king” in ‘Queer as Folk’
“I think that, as disabled people, sometimes I feel like a Ken Doll. My private parts have been removed. And it’s not typical to see disabled people as sexual beings, which we are. We have agency, we have wants, we have desires.”
Being a shrewd businessman, O’Connell usually strips down to his Calvins when he’s promoting a new TV project… or event… or podcast appearance… or book. And lucky for us, the guy’s always working on something!
In the past year alone he co-produced and appeared in the Queer as Folk series on Peacock, won two Emmys, published his first novel, then sold the rights to the novel to be made into a movie, which he’s also going to star in and direct, plus he’s been traveling the country doing book signings, appearing in live shows, and posing naked for magazine covers. Oh, and he was recently nominated for a 2023 Queerties Award.
Seriously, the guy’s inspiring AF!
Click through for pics from Ryan’s Instagram page and don’t forget to give him a follow so you can keep up with everything he’s got going on…
RickHeathen
I think he’s a handsome guy. I’d go out with him.
Godabed
good for him, he got a butt in the last photo. He lost a lot of weight to, I wonder what his goal for the gym was.
Ryan’s show was really good on Netflix, if you haven’t seen it, I recommend it.
thisisnotreal
just a heads up to queerty and anyone else. calling disabled people “inspirational” or “inspirations” isn’t always seen as the compliment you mean for it to be. and before someone tries to come at me, i’m in a wheelchair with a birth defect so i’m not talking out of my ass on this one. most other disabled people i’ve met (in addition to myself) don’t WANT to be seen as inspirational or told that we inspire people to work harder, be better, etc. a lot of times it comes across as patronizing, infantilizing, it lumps all disabled experiences into one predefined box, and basically it just makes our disability the focus of your attention instead of US. what i hear when someone calls me an inspiration is “wow you are so strong just for existing in your sh!tty life, i’m so glad i don’t have your circumstances.” it basically gives off this attitude of “Whenever I feel sorry for myself, I think about you! If I were in your situation, I wouldn’t be able to get out of bed!”. it’s not the compliment that people think it is, it can be humiliating and serve to remind us once again that we are different from everyone else and that our situation sucks in your eyes. obviously not every disabled person feels this way, and some lean into it and become motivational speakers and using their own hardships to make other people feel better about theirs. but enough of us disabled people out there react negatively enough to this type of attention that is it worth mentioning to those of you who may not know.
nm4047
so you want to be ignored? Confusing.
DBMC
His show was really good. I wish there had been more of it!
Just.my.opinion
Overrated in every way.