Phillip Comes Out Alive and Gay on The Young and the Restless; Thom Bierdz returns with life experience

I came across this clip from the episode of the Tuesday 7 July episode of the American soap opera The Young and the Restless in which Phillip Chancellor III (played by openly gay actor, painter, and author Thom Bierdz) explains to former wife Nina Webster (Tricia Cast) why he faked his death and abandoned his family.



I think the dialogue here might strike a chord with many gay men who may not have faked their own deaths (ha!), but who have indeed run far away from their families and loved ones in order to come to terms with being gay.

Phillip: I felt ashamed
Nina: And you thought that I wouldn't understand shame.
Phillip: Not mine.
Nina: Because of the drinking?
Phillip: No. No. The drinking. That was just a symptom. That wasn't the cause of it.
Nina: Well then what? You said that you felt like you were letting us down, but you weren't.
Phillip: Oh, I knew what was expected of me. I did what was expected. I was acting a part.
Nina: And you felt trapped?
Phillip: Yeah.
Nina: The marriage?
Phillip: In my own skin. That's what you guys have to understand. Before anything else, this is not about you. It's not about mom. It's not about Katherine. This is about me. It's about the truth I have been hiding all this time.
Nina: What truth?
Phillip: I'm gay. I've always been gay.

Thom Bierdz first played Phillip Chancellor III on The Young and the Restless from 1986-1989. At that time, he was told by his management to hide his sexuality and that coming out would ruin his career and any chances of fulfilling his dreams. After he left the show to pursue a movie career, he lived a shocking personal drama, which he documented in his book Forgiving Troy. Today, his return to The Young and the Restless is in many ways a victory over adversity and a sign of changing times.

Read more about Thom Bierdz's out of the ordinary life on his website.