YouTuber Chris Stuckmann didn’t realise he was pansexual till he left the Jehovah’s Witnesses
Chris Stuckmann came out as pansexual in his video: How I Left the Jehovah’s Witnesses to Pursue Filmmaking. (Chris Stuckmann/YouTube)
Film YouTuber Chris Stuckmann came out as pansexual this week in a video about him leaving the Jehovah’s Witnesses.
He said: “I’ve only shared [this] with honestly like five or six people. When I was younger and into my early 20s when I was leaving the Jehovah’s Witness faith, I referred to myself as straight. I’m not. I’m not.
“I probably would have realised this about myself a lot younger if the Jehovah’s Witnesses weren’t so restrictive about sexuality and if they weren’t f**king homophobic.”
Stuckmann has more than 1.8 million subscribers on YouTube and the video has currently been viewed over 850,000 times. He married his wife Sam Liz in 2014, and he said she was “welcoming” when he opened up to her.
“I love my wife very much,” he said. “You might think, ‘Well you’re married to a woman,’ it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t f**king matter. I am pansexual.
“If you don’t know what pansexuality is, essentially you are attracted to all genders. And that’s me, that’s how I feel.”
He opens up about his wife’s sexuality helping him to accept his own: “When I first told my wife about this she was really welcoming and – I have been given permission by her to say this – she is demi-pan, so she was actually very excited.
“And if anything this has actually made our relationship even better and more open.”
Chris Stuckmann delayed coming out because of his family’s faith as Jehovah’s Witnesses
In the 56-minute long video, Chris Stuckmann discusses being raised as a Jehovah’s Witness and his decision to leave the faith to pursue filmmaking.
He said that being a Jehovah’s Witness made him “behind in everything”.
“You’re behind in socialising,” he continued. “You’re behind in learning about your body, you’re behind in being a normal person.
“It takes you longer than most people to realise things about yourself, to have truths about yourself made known.”
He included a clip from a video created by Jehovah’s Witnesses peddling anti-gay views.
All proceeds from his video are being donated to RAINN (Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network), an organisation that campaigns against sexual violence in the US.
He said he didn’t come out sooner because of fears of being “disfellowshipped” from the Jehovah’s Witnesses, which would mean he may not be allowed contact with his family, who are still Jehovah’s Witnesses.
“I kind of just bottled it in. I referred to myself as straight publicly for a long time because I was afraid of being officially disfellowshipped and losing my family. So now that I probably will be – f**k it.
“It’s 2021. One of my new year’s resolutions was to be as honest about myself as possible and I have definitely kept that resolution.
“I don’t want anything to change. I’m still me.”
