Ryan O’Connell on disability and playing a “power bottom king” in ‘Queer as Folk’
Queer as Folk, he had one mission in mind. Make it “really disabled, gay, and horny.”The episode, appropriately titled “#F*ckDisabledPeople” finds the Queer as Folk cast of characters teaming up to throw a big ol’ queer sex orgy (a.k.a.
a Crip Rave) for people with disabilities. This includes Julian (played by O’Connell), a pop culture nerd with cerebral palsy who is more than ready for some independence.And if the episode’s multiple gay, disabled sex scenes are any indication, we say, mission accomplished.The episode isn’t all sexy time and seafood towers.
It also captures the real and often difficult feelings associated with being queer and disabled, something O’Connell tells Queerty was an important element of the show.“Stephen Dunn and Jacklyn Moore were very on board with including disabled perspectives.
I didn’t feel any pushback around any of that,” says O’Connell, who has cerebral palsy and served as a writer/actor/executive producer on Queer as Folk. “I think they wanted that from me, they wanted my expertise, they wanted my lived experience.
