YouTuber and film critic Chris Stuckmann has come out as pansexual.
Earlier this week, Stuckmann released a nearly hour-long video titled How I Left the Jehovah’s Witnesses to Pursue Filmmaking. In the video, Stuckmann talked about being raised in the religious community. At first, Stuckmann didn’t question his upbringing, but things got rough during his teenage years when Stuckmann started YouTube channel.
While religious figures in his community had no problem with Stuckmann having a channel to review movies, they were judgmental with some of the “sinful” films he reviewed. Eventually, local church leaders threatened a “disfellowship.” That meant, he would be cut off as an ex-member of the community and would have no communication with his family or friends.
At that point, Stuckmann deleted his first channel and entered a deep depression. He then realized that his love of media was his way of recovering from his strict upbringing. After coming to that realization, he decided to create a second channel. As you can imagine, Stuckmann later broke ties with the church.
In talking about his religious upbringing, Stuckmann also mentioned the fact that he also publicly denied parts of his sexuality. Specifically, Stuckmann said he feared coming out as pansexual would have further complicated his relationship with his family.
“I referred to myself publicly as straight for a long time because I was afraid of being officially disfellowshipped and losing my family,” he confessed. “So now that I probably will be, f*** it.”
So why is Stuckmann saying, “f*** it” now? He wants to be a voice and face for young members or former members of the church. Also, he just wants to live an open and freeing life.
“There are just things that I am tired of fucking keeping in. It’s 2021,” he said. “One of my New Year’s resolutions was to be as honest about myself as possible. And I have definitely kept that resolution.”
In addition, Stuckmann, who’s married to a woman who identifies as somewhat queer herself, says that he’s found support and love outside of the church.
“When I first told my wife about this, she was welcoming,” Stuckmann explained. “She is demi-pan, and so she was actually very excited. And, if anything, this has made our relationship even better and more open.”
You can watch the rest of the 56-minute video above.
Thank you for sharing, Chris Stuckmann.
