Ryan Murphy: My dad beat me bloody with a belt when I came out
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Pose director Ryan Murphy has revealed the violent way in which his dad reacted to him coming out.
Murphy has been speaking out ahead of his new show Pose, which is set in 1980s New York and shows life in the city’s iconic queer ballroom culture, as most famously portrayed in the film Paris is Burning.
The programme, which has been picked up by FX for eight episodes, is set to be the most trans-inclusive TV show to ever make it to air.
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It has more transgender cast members than any other show in US TV history.
MJ Rodriguez, Indya Moore, Dominique Jackson, Hailie Sahar, and Angelica Ross are leading the cast.
Ryan Jamaal Swain, Billy Porter and Dyllon Burnside are also on board for the show, which Murphy is creating along with his Glee collaborator Brad Falchuk.
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Speaking to reporters, Murphy revealed that he had an especially personal connection to the show, according to Deadline.
In one scene, a character’s father finds out he’s gay and “beats him bloody with a belt,” Murphy revealed.
And the former Glee director commented: “That happened to me.”
He added: “That was my coming-out experience with my father.”
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The Emmy Award-winning director, who has a son with his husband David Miller, said he could never have imagined then what his future would be.
“I can’t believe my life and can’t believe that things have changed so radically in my lifetime,” he said while talking about the period in which Pose is set.
“If you asked me then if I would be allowed to be married and have children like you, I never would have believed it,” he added.
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Murphy said he was one of those who had “survived,” and therefore felt a responsibility to provide awareness and support for “people who still don’t feel included.”
The director said that casting the landmark show “was one of the amazing things for me.”
He explained: “My job was to ask questions. I was constantly corrected by these wonderful people.
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“I don’t have a lot of people who tell me no. I was told no 50,000 times a day.”
Murphy added that “it’s time to move beyond” casting cisgender actors in trans roles.
“The show is about the search for being authentic [and] about creating opportunities, too,” he continued.
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The show’s co-creator Steven Canals has said: “We are thrilled that Pose pushes the narrative forward by centring on the unique and under-told experiences of trans women and gay people of colour.
“Ryan has assembled a strong team of storytellers and innovators to collaborate on telling this important narrative.
“As a Bronx-bred queer writer of colour, I’m honoured to aid in ushering this groundbreaking show into homes.”
