Tyler Ryan Hall

Transcript

and the first place winner is Tyler Hall I couldn't believe it I had just one speaker slam a mere five months after I set out to pursue my dreams of being a professional speaker I walk up to the stage and Dan places the gold medal around my neck I do a victory pose and then an impromptu victory speech where I share that 2024 is my year year of being and the one thing I wanted to be this year was a speaker well that night not only did I become a speaker I became an awardwinning speaker but it wasn't winning speaker slam that night that had

the biggest impact on me it's actually what happened right after I walked off the stage as I was leaving this girl rushes over to me oh my God you have got to come meet my friend and he just came out the other day now I'm thinking sweet she's trying to hook me up with her friend maybe I'm going to get even more lucky tonight so she drags me to the back of Lula's Lounge where I see this 23-year-old guy he is timid and very shy and I could tell that he wasn't super comfortable being out he didn't really want to talk about the whole thing

so I just said I was proud of him for choosing to be his most authentic self then he turns to me and he says what you did tonight on that stage that was so brave I could never get up there and tell my story the way you did on my drive home that night I couldn't stop thinking about what he said was I Really Brave for simply telling my coming out story you see I have a confession to make up until this year I never talked about my coming out I never honored the act of coming out I never thought I did anything Brave I

was simply tired of pretending to be something that I wasn't that's what catapulted me out of the closet it wasn't Tyler being brave it was Tyler being fed up with always faking it since leaving speaker slam I have thought a lot about the concept of coming out what is coming out and why is this beautifully liberating experience only reserved for the lgbtq community when you stop to think about it coming out is simply the act of choosing to show up in this world as our most authentic selves but as humans do we ever let our most authentic selves come out I don't think so in

fact I would argue and say that most people spend their lives inside a closet hiding the parts of them that they feel are too messy too complicated or perhaps maybe even a bit too risque to share with the outside world so we keep ourselves in these closets because it is safer in there well let me tell you from personal experience it may feel safe inside that closet but it is also suffocating you and it's robbing you of a life fully lived so I want to know what is your closet this year I am proudly celebrating my 10-year anniversary of coming out and I can confidently

say now that the bravest thing that you can do the thing that takes real courage in this world is stepping out of the closet and stepping into your full truth even when it's scary and even when you're uncertain of how others are going to react so I want to know what part of yourself are you ready to set free tonight what closet are you ready to leave behind you because when you come out there is no limit to how Brave you can become or how beautiful your life can be thank you one speech can change your life Unleash Your power embrace the stri Inspire the

world let your story flow as speak let your spirit

Transcript generated from the recording and lightly cleaned. Some names and wording may differ from the spoken speech.

Transcript

I have to know are you gay the question blindsided me because just two minutes prior I was sipping a peach snaps on my grandma's back patio and the two of us were having a very spirited debate on Aliens and whether or not we believe they exist side note they totally do but now she's staring at me with her big brown eyes asking me once again if I was gay unlike Toronto Texas is not the most accepting place to be a gay man so I had avoided answering this question for the last 21 years of my life but that night I knew my truth was coming

out my only fear was would she still love me when she finds out so there I sat my heart pumping through my chest my stomach Twisted in knots my hands sweating profusely I was barely breathing when I finally muttered out yes I am she immediately jumps up and then Embraces me in the tightest bear hug sloppily kissing me on the cheeks like Grandma's do with her Manhattan stained lips she then shouts out I finally beat Joan Rivers at something wait Joan Rivers what the hell does Joan Rivers have to do with me being gay well apparently Joan Rivers always wanted a gay grandson and now

my Grandma had one that night I embarked on my coming out journey and experienced the freedom of being 100% totally Tyler but that wasn't the most transformative moment of my coming out you see what nobody tells you about the coming out process is that it actually Begins the moment you come into yourself and it's in this process of coming in where you discover that authenticity isn't just an act of Courage but it's a true Declaration of freedom and about eight months before I had the courage to formally come out I was standing alone in my bedroom staring at myself in the mirror confronting the hard

Truth for the very first time Tyler you are gay I am gay I am gay I am gay and guess what I have always been this way even way back in kindergarten when I had my very first crush on a boy named Timmy I can still feel the butterflies I used to get every morning when the bus would pull up to Timmy's house we were seat buddies lunchtime Pals and recess besties and I had been head over heels for Timmy and so many other guys over the last 21 years of my life and it was at that moment in the Solitude of my bedroom free

from the Judgment of others where I came into myself find finally learning to accept and love every single part of me for the very first time coming out has taught me that freedom truly is being your most authentic self but in order to find that version of you it begins by you being brave enough to come into yourself and really get to know the true you do you know who you are not everyone is going to get to have the fabulous coming out like I did that night on my grandma's patio but every single one of you has the opportunity to find Freedom by choosing

to come into yourself your quirks your flaws your unique Essence they are the colors that paint the canvas of your life so choose to live colorfully be proud and liberate yourself from the shackles of society expectations for in being true to yourself you'll find the ultimate Freedom the freedom to be 100% unapologetically beautifully you

Transcript generated from the recording and lightly cleaned. Some names and wording may differ from the spoken speech.