Daily Highlight: Man Comes Out in His Obituary

Col. Edward Thomas Ryan, a veteran, came out as gay in powerful obituary: ‘Now that my secret is known, I’ll forever rest in peace.’ Hear our reactions.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Today's Daily Highlight from Elvis Duran in the Morning Show.
New York veteran comes out as gay in his obituary
and says he can now forever rest in peace. Oh wow,
and this I find this story fascinating. Keep in mind,
Colonel Edward Thomas Ryan, has you know been around for

(00:22):
a long time. He said he wished he had the
courage to come out in his lifetime, but was afraid
of being ostracized. He's a veteran from New York, from
New York State. And in this article I'm reading from
people online, they say he can rest easy knowing his
loved ones finally know his truth. He says, I must
tell you one more thing. I was gay all my life,

(00:47):
he wrote towards the end of his obituary, which was
published on Saturday, June eighth in the Albany Times Union.
He also shared he was in a loving and caring
relationship with a man named Paul, whom he referred to
as the love of his life. He said we had
twenty five great years together, he wrote, sharing that his

(01:08):
beloved died back in nineteen ninety four from a medical
procedure that had gone wrong, and that they will now
be buried together. As far as why he kept such
an important part of himself a secret, Ryan wrote that
he was sorry for not having the courage to come
out as gay. I was afraid of being ostracized by
my family, friends and co workers. Seeing how people like

(01:31):
me were treated, I just couldn't do it, he wrote,
But he added, now that my secret is known, I'll
forever rest in peace. In addition to serving with the
Army's tenth Brigade, Ryan was a retired fireman in New
York State, one of the owners and founders of the
radio station w HRL in Albany. His military service led

(01:55):
to a litany of honors, including National Defense Service Medal
and the Defensive Liberty Medal for participation in the state
following the attack on America September eleventh, two thousand and one.
His body, he decided, will be donated to science at
the Anatomical Gift Program at Albany Medical College. According to
this obituary, his body will then be cremated and his

(02:17):
ashes returned to his loved ones. Interesting he is from
another era. Look I am too, you know. Coming out
for me was a little tricky in my mind, and
once I did come out, I was like, why did
I wait for? Everyone was so accepting, But when you
look at this gentleman's portrait, I didn't get a tear

(02:43):
in my eye from the story until I saw his face.
Look at him, Look at this guy, just a sweet
man in uniform, served our country, a veteran. Didn't know
how the world would take it, so he decided to
keep it a secret. But then he at least put

(03:03):
it in his obituary. Yeah, but you're out there fighting
for people's freedom and people's rights, and your own are
not really being acknowledged or given to you. And you
wonder how many people out there right now are feeling
what he was feeling still exactly So to you, Colonel

(03:24):
Edward Thomas Ryan, thank you for your courage in life,
and thank you for your courage and your obituary as well.
We salute you. Your story is very touching. It's heartbreaking. Yeah, yeah,
absolutely wow, what obviously a great human being