Wayne Brady wishes he would’ve come out as pansexual earlier

Since coming out as pansexual, Wayne Brady says his newfound freedom and happiness make him wish he had come out sooner.

This week, Wayne Brady received Live Out Loud’s Pathfinder Award for his advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community. While attending the organization’s 23rd annual Young Trailblazer Gala in New York City, Brady reflected on his life since coming out as pansexual.

“It’s been a year. Folks expect your life to change in some radical way, and it doesn’t. It just changes that you get a level of freedom that you’re happy with,” he told People magazine. “No one’s going to throw me a parade. It’s more about me being happy.”

As reported by theGrio, Brady revealed his sexuality in August 2023, explaining how the decision led him to become “the best Wayne Brady” he can be. According to The Trevor Project, an LGBTQ+ youth organization, pansexuality refers to people who are attracted to people regardless of gender, meaning they could be attracted to people of more than one gender or all genders. Since announcing the news, Brady has been open about his experience, learning more about himself and his sexuality while also calling out misconceptions about pansexuality.

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“A lot of people love it and applaud you, some people don’t care, and other people probably hate on it. So that’s just the human condition,” the actor said, admitting that he received the public reaction he would’ve hoped for since coming out. “But, at the end of the day, circling back around to the last year, I’m happy. So, no matter what any of them say, I’m great.”

Since announcing the news, Brady has been open about his experiences learning more about himself and his sexuality while also calling out misconceptions about pansexuality. Despite his current advocacy, Brady explained how this nomination makes him want to do more.

“Knowing the work that’s being done here, and the fact that I can talk to the youth and try to encourage them to live out loud, it’s something that I wish that I would’ve done earlier,” he said on the gala red carpet. “The fact that the organization can encourage them and make them feel safe — that’s something I wish that I would’ve done.”

“I’m honored to be honored! The fact that I can be looked at as an inspiration or a guide mark to the youth, especially knowing that they can go through their journey makes me incredibly happy… if there’s a young adult that can be inspired and live authentically from that age instead of waiting around until they’re 50, that’s what I want to see happen,” he added in his speech, as exclusively reported by OK! magazine. “If you have any type of platform and you can inspire anybody, then you’ve done your job.”