The new era of Survivor has featured a number of highlights for the LGBTQ+ community. Yam Yam Arocho became the first openly gay man to win the show in 15 years. The show's most recent victor, Kenzie Petty , is the first female winner to openly identify as LGBTQ+ at the time of the season airing.
At the end of 2023, Season 41 winner Erika Casupanan came out as queer. And she would soon be joined by the man who sat alongside her at the Final Three, as Deshawn Radden , the runner-up of Survivor 41 , has recently publicly come out as queer. "It's been quite the journey," Deshawn said in an interview on "Rob Has a Podcast.
" "I came out back in 2021. I came out to all of my immediate family, and then a few close friends. And the struggle there was that, since I never made a public statement, there's spaces that I occupied that I wasn't out in.
And so sometimes I had to make the decision: Do I want to correct somebody when they very innocently assume my sexuality, or do I just want to let it fly? And so here is a really cool opportunity to be able to say to the world, 'Hey, I'm queer.'" Deshawn made the announcement on "The Pride Has Spoken" series on the award-winning RHAP network. Broadcasting annually throughout June, the show features discussions with various LGBTQ+ contestants from the past 46 seasons of the Emmy-winning realty series, from the show's early days to its most recent castaways.
This particular chat was conducted between Deshawn and his fellow Survivor 41 cast mat.