Ryan From the Real World Brooklyn Admits, "I Was Ignorant"

In my recap of the first episode of the Real World Brooklyn, I express my disappointment that small town guy Ryan called Katelyn the transgendered castmate, “it.” Well, recently Ryan spoke to his small town newspaper about trying out and preparing for his experience on the RW and what it was like living in Red Hook. Much to my surprise Ryan expressed his desire to take back the offensive comment. Here’s what he told The Gettysburg Times.

While most of the time Conklin is witty and subtle, he made one comment that he wishes he could take back, calling Katelynn an “it” while in an argument with J.D.

“If I could do it all again I’d take it back,” Conklin said. “I’ve talked to her and we are 100 percent friends, there’s no harsh feelings. I’m from Gettysburg living with a transgender — that doesn’t happen in this town.

“I didn’t know if she was a guy or a girl, I didn’t know if she was post-op or pre-op. I didn’t know if she was transgender or transvestite. I wanted her to come out on her own time but it was a new experience for me. I didn’t know how I was to react to it and didn’t know how to talk about it.

“You’ll see throughout the season, I was ignorant at first but I become more tolerant and I pose questions and investigate because I am curious.