Pansexual actor, vocalist, and game show host Wayne Brady is advocating for others to express their sexuality.
via: People
In a new interview, the Let’s Make A Deal host, 51, said that it’s “never too late to take hold of your story” as he discussed the positive responses he has had to him coming out as pansexual in August.
“I’ve gotten so many DMs, emails and texts from people who, at a midpoint in their life, want to express themselves, whether it’s changing their work or coming out,” Brady said in a conversation with Yahoo Entertainment this week.
“It’s never too late to take hold of your story … for teenagers, young adults, theater students and young Black men who question the idea of masculinity, and what it all means.”
Brady revealed exclusively to PEOPLE in August that he is pansexual, meaning that he is attracted to individuals regardless of sex or gender.
The host said in his latest interview that the “best part” of coming out has been inspiring others to “take their own story in their own hands,” and added that he wishes to continue encouraging this in others in his work and activism.
“Past a certain point, life becomes too short to live in the dark all the time,” Brady told Yahoo Entertainment. “To have people say, ‘Hey, you inspire me, not just on stage, but you inspire me to live my truth,’ has been the best part.”
The actor and singer is doing just that as he is set to perform with the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles (GMCLA) for its Hooray for Holidays celebration on Dec. 16 and 17.
“In the spirit of being in the family, being able to sing alongside them just makes me happy, especially during my favorite time of year,” Brady told the outlet. He shared that he is also addressing issues affecting race and the LGBTQ community in upcoming projects with producing partner and ex-wife, Mandie Taketa.
“We are all about moving the needle, about doing things that are important to us,” he concluded.
Opening up about identifying as pansexual, Brady told PEOPLE in August, “I’ve told myself in the past, also, nobody needs to know my personal business. The world can absolutely go without knowing that Wayne identifies as pan. But that gave me license to still live in the shadows and to be secretive. What does that feel like to actually not be shameful, to not feel like, ‘Oh, I can’t be part of this conversation because I’m lying?’ I had to break that behavior.”
Brady’s ex-wife Taketa, 47, and daughter Maile, 20, also showed their support of him in coming out. “I just said, ‘Great.’ As I knew coming out would help him be happier,” Taketa told PEOPLE at the time.
Brady added, “If I’m healthy, then I can go onstage at Let’s Make A Deal and be the best Wayne Brady that everybody wants and expects. I can be the best dad that Maile needs. I can be the best friend to Mandie, the best son to my mother, and one day, the best partner to someone, because I’m doing this for me.”
He added that he is “no dating yet though!”
“I am single, but it’s not about being with someone right now. I’ve got some work to do still. Then, Wayne as a single, open-minded pansexual can make a decision and be free and open to other people,” Brady explained.
