Ryan O'Connell

Ryan O'Connell

  • I Went to Grimes's Birthday Party and All I Got Was a Fight with My Boyfriend

    While Solange DJed from her phone, I was pushing away a great guy who was trying to love me.

  • I Wouldn't Fuck Me: My Life as a Gay and Disabled Man

    Along with having cerebral palsy—a group of disorders that affect a person’s ability to move and maintain balance and posture—I’m gay. The combination has often felt like a death sentence for gimpy ol' me.

  • Try Not to Destroy Your Life

    A few months ago I tried molly for the first time in the bathroom of a bar in Brooklyn. I dissolved the powder in water, drank it, and waited till I felt different. A short while later, fireworks exploded all over my brain. Then, just like that...

  • With Friends Like These, Who Needs Casual Acquaintances?

    Growing up, I thought that the definition of “friend” was pretty simple. It meant someone you shared common interests with, could sit with for prolonged moments of silence and not feel weird, and cared about in a way that wasn’t driven by ulterior...

  • Gay Men and Their Not-So-Cute Misogyny Problem

    What’s up with all the misogyny, gay dudes? Seriously. I’m not saying you have to staple a copy of 'Feminine Mystique' to your forehead while blasting Julie Ruin, but could some of you (emphasis on SOME) not have such thinly veiled contempt for women?

  • Hit Me Baby One More Time

    Six years ago today, I was hit by a car while walking across the intersection of Sunset and Yorba in San Francisco. Since then, I’ve had six surgeries, one skin graft, a three-week hospital stay, four casts, approximately 6,000 painkillers, and a...