Arts & Entertainment
The Try Guys’ Eugene Lee Yang comes out as gay in dance video
Odesza provides the soundtrack to the emotional performance


Eugene Lee Yang. (Screenshot via YouTube)
Eugene Lee Yang, one-fourth of the YouTube collective the Try Guys, came out as gay in a powerful dance video.
The 33-year-old never says the words “I’m gay” but instead tells his story through a choreographed dance with music by Odesza.
The video starts out with Yang spending time with his family. When he attempts to express himself and puts on lipstick, he gets slapped.
He later appears in a church service while a preacher appears to condemn him. Later, Yang is seen dancing with a female dancer before a male dancer catches his eye. The female dancer hands him off and Yang engages in an intimate dance with the male dancer.
In the next scene, Yang dresses in drag and goes dancing at gay club. A man comes in and points his finger, in the imitation of a gun, at the crowd. A mob then comes over to Yang and beats him up.
At the end, Yang walks through a screaming crowd while staring into the camera.
The video also includes a fundraiser for the Trevor Project.
“I created this music video as my personal way of coming out as a proud gay man who has many unheard, specific stories to tell. I withheld because of fear and shame shaped by my background but I promise to give my full truth in the rest of my life’s work,” Yang explained on Twitter.
He added, “You can turn off Find My Friends because I will be at the gay bars.”
I created this music video as my personal way of coming out as a proud gay man who has many unheard, specific stories to tell. I withheld because of fear and shame shaped by my background but I promise to give my full truth in the rest of my life’s work.?️?https://t.co/bLTX7c4fwv pic.twitter.com/0nLLAWR5FC
— Eugene Lee Yang (@EugeneLeeYang) June 15, 2019
You can turn off Find My Friends because I will be at the gay bars.
— Eugene Lee Yang (@EugeneLeeYang) June 16, 2019
Yang and his friends Keith Habersberger, Ned Fulmer and Zach Kornfeld formed the Try Guys,a series where the guys attempt various things, while working at BuzzFeed. In 2018, they left BuzzFeed and formed 2nd Try LLC.
Watch below.

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In some fowl fiction foreshadowing, a gay-owned chicken joint has come home to roost on U Street, taking a page from the chicken window subplot on the HBO show “Looking.”
Last Friday, Lucky Pollo – much more than just a takeout window – stretched its wings atop the busy nightlife corner of 14th and U Streets NW.
Behind the poultry production place is Zach Renovátes, a D.C.-based nightlife operator and managing partner of LGBTQ venues Bunker and District Eagle, as well as the LGBTQ event production company KINETIC Presents.
Renovátes opened Bunker in February 2023 and District Eagle in January of this year. Lucky Pollo is the third in his growing gay empire, though this time there are noshes.
“Lucky Pollo was meant to be fun and a little provocative,” Renovátes said.
Based around its Peruvian-style rotisserie chicken, Lucky Pollo is a quick-service restaurant boasting a small menu of poultry and sides. Renovátes says that the dishes are deeply rooted in Peruvian culinary tradition, “a playful experience alongside seriously good food.”
Lucky Pollo’s signature chicken is steeped in a dozen-plus-spice marinade for 24 hours. The meat is then slow-roasted, rotisserie-style, over oak-wood charcoal. Chicken options include quarter, half, and whole.
Helming the kitchen at Lucky Pollo is Chef Luis Herrera, who brings Peruvian recipes passed down through three generations, including his grandmother Laura’s original creations.

Beyond the full bird, the menu features Peruvian-inspired sides like yuca fries (“I personally love these,” says Renovátes) and fried plantains, as well as comfort classics such as mac and cheese and mashed potatoes, and bowls, wraps, and salads. Herrera oversees development of the multiple sauces (including staff favorite, the “secret green sauce”), crafted in-house using traditional Peruvian ingredients.
Lucky Pollo, in its streetside perch, is an independent concept from District Eagle, open to the public and staying open late (3 a.m. on weekends) to serve both nightlife guests and the wider U Street crowd hungry for late-night bites. However, just beyond the kitchen, tucked in the back lies a vintage 1950s candy machine—labeled “Out of Order,” which serves as the door leading to subterranean District Eagle.
Renovátes notes that when District Eagle is open, security staff will maintain a strict two-line policy, ensuring that those seeking meat to eat will not get entwined with those looking to gain access to District Eagle.
Lucky Pollo unites the need for sustenance with the idea of a bit of fortune, given its motto, “Get Lucky” and the whimsical brand mascot: a leather-booted chicken perched on a horseshoe. Renovátes and his District Eagle business partner had always been interested in opening a restaurant, and the Lucky Pollo space was indeed lucky: It already came with a functional kitchen. Plus, he says, the nearby fast-casual places around 14th and U streets “don’t offer a lot of quality options,” so opening the chicken spot “was a no-brainer.”
The space, designed by NYC creative Jasin Cadic, blends theatrical street-art-style vibes with Keith Haring-inspired wall prints, neon signs, and ceiling-hung chicken figurines —”some edgy, some sweet,” says Renovátes —creating an immersive, playful atmosphere. Lucky Pollo and District Eagle maintain separate amenities for their respective customers.
Lucky Pollo opened last week with a competition to devour a whole rotisserie chicken in the fastest time, with the winner earning $1,000 and a framed spot on the restaurant’s “Wall of Fame.” The opening also featured other games and prizes, and a full crowd spilling out the door.
“We want it to be a great place to eat, but also serve as a playful front for something completely unexpected.” Renovátes says.
On weekends especially, he jokes, the motto will be, ‘Come for the chicken, stay for the cock.’”