Coming Out Pod
312 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 2 months ago - ★★★★★ - 518 ratingsComing Out Pod is a weekly podcast hosted by Lauren Flans where queer folks from all walks of life tell the tales of how they came out to friends, family, and the world at large! Because who doesn't love a coming out story?
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Episodes
Episode 246: Burak Yilmaz
April 26, 2023 07:41 - 55 minutes - 51.2 MBBurak Yilmaz grew up in a very small town in Turkey and was best friends with his beautiful, glamorous mother: she taught him fashion, makeup, and hair, and would dress him in outfits to match her. But when he was five years old, Burak's mother left, launching him into a real-life Cinderella story, complete with a literal wicked (read: abusive) stepmother. In addition to his stepmother, Burak also endured abuse at the religious boarding school he was shipped off to, later documenting his expe...
Episode 245: Rae McDaniel
April 19, 2023 08:21 - 1 hour - 56.7 MBNicole is once again single-handedly manning the ship for a conversation with Rae McDaniel (they/them), a non-binary therapist, certified sex therapist, coach, Transgender Diversity and Inclusion Educator, AND author of the upcoming book "Gender Magic: Live Shamelessly, Reclaim Your Joy, & Step Into Your Most Authentic Self" -- talk about a multi-hyphenate! Rae grew up the adopted child of fundamentalist Southern Baptist missionary puppeteers (!!) in rural Louisiana, got married very young to...
Episode 244: Maggie Lalley
April 12, 2023 07:27 - 1 hour - 64.1 MBNicole flies solo this week for a WILD ride of a conversation with NYC comedian Maggie Lalley, who took her childhood trauma and turned it into a *hilarious* off-Broadway musical! Sex Witch The Musical covers Maggie's time in, quote, "a two-person teen witch sex cult," and if that sentence doesn't grab your attention...then we are quite simply out of ideas. Maggie divulges an incredible true tale of Albanian witches, bi-locational powers, and even A-List celebrities (kind of)! Plus, Nicole he...
Episode 243: Jolenta Greenberg
April 05, 2023 08:33 - 1 hour - 62 MBThere's "I didn't realize I was queer!" and then there's "An actual pastor's kid had to inform me that I was queer!" Comedian and podcast host Jolenta Greenberg (How to Be Fine) hilariously falls into the second category. Although Jolenta spent all of high school in blissful obliviousness, the evidence of her bisexuality had been piling up since childhood, notably with simultaneous crushes on LeVar Burton and a female side character on Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. But despite frequently hooking...
Episode 242: Trans Allegories in The Matrix with Tilly Bridges!
March 29, 2023 08:11 - 54 minutes - 75.4 MBThis Friday, March 31st, is Trans Day of Visibility, and we quite literally can't think of a better way to celebrate than with the author of the upcoming book "Begin Transmission: The trans allegories of The Matrix!" When screenwriter Tilly Bridges first saw The Matrix back in 1999, it spoke to her on an incredibly deep level that she couldn't fully understand until about fifteen years later, when she realized that - like the Wachowski Sisters themselves - she was trans. Tilly decided to revi...
Episode 241: Bill Posley
March 22, 2023 07:49 - 59 minutes - 55 MBWe have a hilarious chat with one of Lauren's old comedy buddies: actor, writer, director, and standup, Bill Posley! As a Black-presenting, Catholic school *and* Baptist Church-attending veteran from a military family, you can probably guess how easy it was for Bill to accept the fact that he was bisexual. He weaves a Tarantino-esque tale that involves answering a classified ad for masseuses, getting clean and sober, and having a surprisingly revelatory coming out conversation with his father...
Episode 240: Avgi Saketopoulou
March 15, 2023 07:17 - 1 hour - 65 MBWe have a conversation with psychoanalyst Avgi Saketopoulou that is truly unlike *anything* we've ever broached before. Avgi's new book is called "Sexuality Beyond Consent," and if that title makes you a tad uncomfortable...that's kind of the point. Avgi's work gives new meaning to the idea of "risky" sex by exploring the eroticism around shame, humiliation, and objectification, with a particular focus on the controversial sexual roleplay fetish known as race play. She guides us through an in...
Episode 239: Lilly Brown
March 08, 2023 08:28 - 57 minutes - 53.1 MBOkay: so last month in Episode 234, we had a good ol' fashioned bitch session about how gatekeep-y the Los Angeles queer scene can be. But because we are mature and balanced adults, it seemed only fair to highlight the founder of one queer event in L.A. that is getting it 100% RIGHT! Enter Lilly Brown, the creator and organizer of Queer Field Day! Fostering community has always been a central part of Lilly's life, tracing all the way back to one night in college when she found herself at a qu...
Episode 238: Carolyn Ratteray
March 01, 2023 08:41 - 1 hour - 64.8 MBAt long last: it's actor, writer, director, and educator, Carolyn Ratteray (Outfest 2022's (UN)CLAIMED)! We've been wanting to have Carolyn on the pod for ages, because she and her wife, Kelli, were one of the first poly couples that Nicole EVER met! Carolyn regales us with a twisty-turny story that involves a sleepaway arts camp, a Black Baptist conference on homosexuality, and two *incredibly* prophetic dreams! She also shares how kink helped free her from the residual shame she was carryin...
Episode 237: Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week feat. Stella!
February 22, 2023 08:24 - 48 minutes - 44.3 MBIt's Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week, and our guest (and current med student) Stella is LEARNING US UP on this oft-misunderstood identity! In addition to being aromantic, Stella also identifies as asexual and queer, but it's the first of these labels that most strongly shapes and affects how she experiences the world. Stella discusses how, to her, being aromantic feels like existing on "a different plane entirely," and not at all like "operating from a deficit" - an incredibly important dis...
Episode 236: Black Queer History
February 15, 2023 09:06 - 55 minutes - 50.6 MBIn honor of Black History Month, we're doing a special episode covering a selection of Black queer trailblazers who are especially meaningful to us! We've put our focus on activists and artists who fly a little bit below the radar, so chances are you won't know most of these folks, but you absolutely should. Lauren finally talks about a singer/songwriter who ISN'T Joni Mitchell! Nicole shares the work of a spoken-word poet who made her heart go pitter patter as a teen! We also recommend prese...
Episode 235: Amir Levi
February 08, 2023 09:05 - 1 hour - 66.1 MBWe have a fashion-forward conversation with the OUTRAGEOUSLY stylish Amir Levi! Amir is a non-binary performer who uses the pronouns he, she, and they ("I like it when they get turns, so that none of them feel left out"), and their story has alllll the hallmarks of the late '90s: Coming out to your friend after seeing Scream 2! Guys from chat rooms calling your family's fax machine! Problematic senior yearbook quotes! Your dad offering to buy you porn! Amir explains how two acting roles they ...
Episode 234: Samee Junio
February 01, 2023 08:35 - 1 hour - 61.8 MBThere are two people without whom the podcast would literally not exist: one is Episode 87 guest Susan Miller, who introduced Lauren and Nicole to each other, and the other is today's guest, the unparalleled Samee Junio, who recorded OUR VERY FIRST EPISODE and heard ALL OF OUR SECRETS! Currently the Senior Audio Producer for Entertainment Weekly, Samee (they/them) grew up the youngest of five children in white, conservative, megachurch-heavy Colorado Springs, and used to change out of the dre...
Episode 233: Amir Yass
January 25, 2023 09:13 - 1 hour - 55.7 MBWe chat with the FABULOUSLY queer Amir Yass, a content creator and TikTokker whose self-described job is "to make straight white men uncomfortable!" Amir grew up the child of immigrant parents in a conservative Muslim household in Orange County. How conservative? Let's just say his parents not only pulled him out of sex ed in middle school, they also moved houses because their neighbor was an out gay man. Amir shares how both therapy and comedy have helped him to destigmatize the shame he fel...
Episode 232: Avi Roque
January 18, 2023 10:39 - 1 hour - 74.1 MBWe cover some entirely new territory in a candid and vitally important conversation with Avi Roque, who voices Raine Whispers on The Owl House. Like many of us, Avi (they/them) had the ubiquitous "tomboy" label imposed upon them in childhood, and suffice to say it was a long and arduous road from there to their current trans/transmasculine identity. A consummate storyteller, Avi walks us through their entire journey, which includes leaning all the way into ultra-feminine stereotypes during hi...
Episode 231: Kai Katschthaler
January 11, 2023 09:12 - 1 hour - 75.1 MBIn July of last year, Nicole made an Instagram post announcing the adoption of her new puppy, Lily, named for Harry's mother in the Harry Potter series. Kai Katschthaler (they/them), a longtime fan of Nicole's who identifies as trans non-binary, was surprised that Nicole would pick this name due to the J. K. Rowling of it all, and commented something to this effect. Since this was all happening on social media...you can probably guess what ensued. The twist, though, is that Nicole and Kai dec...
Episode 230: Pooh
January 04, 2023 08:56 - 1 hour - 66.8 MBWe're starting the new year with a longtime friend of the pod whose *very* distinctive name can be heard each and every week on our list of patrons: that's right, it's Pooh! Pooh hails from Alaska, and is NOT kidding when she says that the story of her life is basically "many, many Lifetime movies." From getting married off at seventeen to a "family friend" who was four decades her senior, to being personally responsible for helping to get domestic violence laws passed in Texas, Pooh has navi...
The Bechdel Cast: "Carol" with Lauren Flans and Nicole Pacent
December 28, 2022 08:04 - 1 hour - 79.1 MBWe're so excited to be releasing the episode of The Bechdel Cast that we both guested on back in June of 2019! Listen to us discuss allllllll the gay goodness of the *classic* holiday film Carol, and remember: always leave your gloves behind if you want to help a repressed shopgirl have her lesbian awakening. Follow The Bechdel Cast at @BechdelCast, and follow hosts Caitlin and Jamie at @caitlindurante and @jamieloftusHELP (@jamiechristsuperstar on Insta).
Episode 229: Listener Mailbag 2022!
December 21, 2022 08:55 - 1 hour - 96.8 MBHAPPY HOLIGAYS, Y'ALL!!! It's our annual Listener Mailbag episode, and we got *so* many great questions from you this year! We discuss a wide variety of queer queries, ranging from the serious (what to do about transphobic colleagues and how to check in with a loved one re: their mental health) to the sexy! Listen as we share resources and spicy personal anecdotes; plus, Lauren closes out the year by throwing us a GENUINE CURVEBALL. May your holidays be merry and very, very, gay, and we'll se...
Episode 228: Lily Zheng
December 14, 2022 09:28 - 1 hour - 63.5 MBIn the past couple of years, the term "DEI" has started popping up *a lot* online, to the point where Googling just those three letters turns up hundreds of hits! However, you would not be alone in admitting that you maybe don't exactly know what DEI...like...is. Fortunately, Lily Zheng (author of the recently-published "DEI Deconstructed: Your No-Nonsense Guide to Doing the Work and Doing It Right") is here to explain everything; not only in layperson's terms, but from a queer perspective! I...
Episode 227: Iris Liu
December 07, 2022 08:56 - 1 hour - 73 MBThroughout her adolescence, Iris Liu ticked off a number of familiar boxes: SUPER good ally; "isn't *everybody* attracted to their friends...?"; all the greatest hits. But it wasn't until she fell in with the rugby team at college that Iris finally had her Aha! moment ("It was like, all of a sudden, all my friends were lesbians"). Today, Iris identifies as both queer and polyamorous, but it's been a hard-won journey that's involved, among other things, "trying to break some generational curse...
Episode 226: Melanie Cristol
November 30, 2022 09:08 - 1 hour - 58.9 MBIf you've ever wondered what could make a lawyer leave their profession to create the world's first undies for oral sex (and who among us hasn't?), then this is the episode for YOU! Melanie Cristol, Founder & CEO of Lorals, discovered she was queer in college; a realization that so deeply influenced her sense of social justice that she ended up going to law school. As a lawyer, Melanie went to work fighting for people, including on one case with Lambda Legal that brought gay marriage to the W...
Episode 225: Eden Robinson
November 23, 2022 08:12 - 1 hour - 70.4 MBEden Robinson's story has a little bit of everything: A dad who was both a rabbi *and* a pastor! Marlee Matlin as a gateway drug to The L Word! Kate McKinnon as the final nail in the coffin for compulsory heterosexuality! Eden shares how, despite an upbringing where she was praised for questioning everything, she nevertheless was too frightened to truly interrogate her own sexuality until she was much older. Plus, the confusing difficulty of finding femme lesbian representation IRL, and the c...
Episode 224: Rainbow Wave!
November 16, 2022 09:16 - 1 hour - 60.6 MBLast week, America held its midterm elections, and many of us were nervously anticipating a so-called "red wave." What ended up happening, however, was a red...and orange...*and* yellow...*AND*--okay; we're just gonna cut to the chase: IT WAS A RAINBOW WAVE!!! Lauren and Nicole take a week off from coming out stories to discuss the historic wins queer candidates had in this pivotal, record-breaking election, and what it means for the country. Nicole gives a quick-and-dirty civics lesson! Laur...
Episode 223: Tricia Friedman
November 09, 2022 08:37 - 1 hour - 56.8 MBWe have officially set a new record with this week's guest Tricia Friedman, who has lived in a whopping *eight* countries as a result of her longtime work as an educator! And as if that weren't exciting enough, Tricia also gifts us with our first coming out story to ever involve being mistaken for a spy by Russian authorities WHO IS THIS WOMAN OF MYSTERY AND INTRIGUE?! From humble beginnings in New Jersey, Tricia details how her initial move to China gave her the continents-wide space she fel...
Episode 222: Karen Frost
November 02, 2022 07:02 - 1 hour - 65.5 MBWe have a rapid-fire discussion about one of our all-time favorite topics: queer female representation in media! Karen Frost describes herself as a "professional lesbian dabbler," but that majorly downplays the WEALTH of knowledge she has as a result of ceaselessly mining the data for queer TV shows, films, and web series! We discuss how (and why) projects like Nicole's As Love Goes face increasing difficulty when it comes to funding, and why outlets like Autostraddle are having trouble stayi...
Episode 221: Val Hill
October 26, 2022 08:29 - 1 hour - 72.5 MBIt's Intersex Awareness Day, and we are thrilled and honored to at long last have on our first ever out intersex guest, the brilliant Val Hill! Val (they/she) is a queer intersex community advocate who facilitates the group Club Intersex for the L.A. LGBT Center, so you would never in a million years guess that, pre-pandemic, she didn't even *know* the umbrella term "intersex!" Val shares how a routine sports physical at the age of fifteen led to them learning that they have complete androgen...
Episode 220: Jessi Hempel
October 19, 2022 07:21 - 1 hour - 58.6 MBAt the age of nineteen, journalist and author Jessi Hempel came out. Tale as old as time, right? But far less traveled territory is what proceeded to happen over the next several years: four out of five members of Jessi's immediate family - including her father - *ALSO* came out! Two decades later, in the midst of lockdown-induced isolation, Jessi, her parents, and her two younger siblings somewhat unexpectedly began turning to each other for support, despite their tumultuous family history. ...
Episode 219: Janet Varney
October 11, 2022 07:28 - 1 hour - 59.3 MBSurprise! We're dropping this week's episode a day early because IT'S NATIONAL COMING OUT DAY, Y'ALL! And we're celebrating in a big way with none other than actor Janet Varney, who voices bicon Korra on The Legend of Korra! Janet was never "in" the closet ("The first kisses I ever had were with girls, and that never stopped"), so she found it confusing when the internet informed her that she had "come out." She discusses the eye-opening experience she had doing a comic-con in a not-so-queer-...
Episode 218: Doug Plaut
October 05, 2022 07:48 - 1 hour - 57.4 MBActor, writer, and longtime friend of Nicole's, Doug Plaut (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt; Hurricane Bianca: From Russia with Hate), had what can only be described as a roughhhhh childhood. When Doug (they/he) began exhibiting non-heteronormative traits at an early age ("I was a four-year-old who loved Barbara Streisand"), his parents sought out medical intervention. By late high school, Doug had seen eleven psychiatrists, and been on a whopping *seventeen* different medications. Doug recounts hi...
Episode 217: Kyrsta Morehouse
September 28, 2022 07:35 - 1 hour - 90.2 MBWe're closing out Bi Visibility Month with makeup artist, photographer, and Leif Pacent-Lindquist's "Number One" Babysitter, Kyrsta Morehouse! Kyrsta grew up in a small, conservative town in Northern California and was raised in a "very Christian" home. However, when she became aware of her attraction to women, it wasn't being a lesbian that Kyrsta was afraid of, but rather "living in that weird liminal space." In fact, Kyrsta found herself praying to God to just make her straight *or* gay. K...
Episode 216: Ash Holzer, REDUX!
September 21, 2022 07:48 - 1 hour - 66.1 MBEpisode 33 guest Ash Holzer returns for an episode we've really been looking forward to, because WOW have things changed in her life since she was first on the pod! When we spoke to Ash (formerly "Ashley") in January of 2019, she had recently been part of the L.A. LGBT Center's Women's Coming Out group; she and her husband were living on different sides of the same house while co-parenting their three children, and legal separation papers had been filed. Fast forward to today: Ash and her hus...
Episode 215: Tawni Sofia Acosta
September 14, 2022 08:00 - 1 hour - 73.2 MBWe talk to one of our co-facilitators at the L.A. LGBT Center, Tawni Sofia Acosta! Tawni is sixty-two, and was born at a time when there was zero information on being transgender ("or if there was information, it was just the freak show information"). As a result, she had no language to explain what she was feeling; she only knew that if she expressed it to her family and friends, things would not go well. Tawni ended up suppressing her true identity so ferociously that she didn't even begin ...
Episode 214: Garrett Schlichte
September 07, 2022 07:01 - 59 minutes - 54.8 MBWe bask in the glow of the LUSCIOUSLY-MANED Garrett Schlichte (he/they)! When Nicole heard Garrett's essay "My Relationship Guru Is a 14-Year-Old Girl" on the Modern Love podcast, she knew we had to have him on to talk about "second adolescence," or as it is affectionately known in our community, "queer puberty." Garrett was in the fourth grade when he first got called "gay" by a classmate (because "people have eyes"), and was subsequently so afraid of being seen for who he was that he went t...
Episode 213: Nicole Serrano
August 31, 2022 07:49 - 1 hour - 64.2 MBUh oh! We have a new BFF in Nashville and it's singer/songwriter GODDESS, Nicole Serrano! Nicole (she/they) identifies as non-binary ("I feel like 'female-plus'"), and remembers having crushes on girls as early as preschool. Growing up in the Pentecostal Church, however, meant constant messaging that "gay people were going to Hell," so when it came to her burgeoning sexuality, Nicole says, "I knew what I knew, but it was never an option." Meanwhile, she was singing regularly in church and beg...
Episode 212: Sofia Fey
August 24, 2022 07:23 - 1 hour - 55.9 MBIn the grand tradition of Sappho, Audre Lorde, and probably Emily Dickinson (just sayin'), the pod finally hosts our first ever lesbian poet! Sofia Fey has always "just gravitated towards terms that felt right," and found reclaiming the word "lesbian" to be important to them. However, it wasn't until years later when they began identifying as non-binary and exclusively using they/them pronouns that they finally felt like they were being seen. In addition to being a non-binary lesbian, Sofia a...
Episode 211: George Azar
August 17, 2022 18:55 - 1 hour - 68.9 MBRaised in a traditional Middle Eastern family, author and podcaster George Azar ("My Gay Church Days") knew that he was attracted to men even before puberty hit. But when his older brother came out in middle school and was summarily put into therapy, George receded even further into the closet. He became a Young Republican in order to gain his father's approval, and was subsequently drawn to Christianity, which promised a "remedy" for his homosexuality. George excelled so much in the way of t...
Episode 210: Lauren Ludwig's Mom!
August 10, 2022 07:56 - 1 hour - 93.5 MBIt's a conversation that's been four years in the making! In her first appearance on the pod back in Episode 9, Lauren Ludwig (she/they) told us her coming out story, and detailed a number of parallels that it shared with her own mother's journey, which started back when Lauren was a child. Now, in a special guest co-host episode, Lauren and Lauren (double your Laurens, double your fun!) at long last sit down with Randi Ludwig, the woman who LITERALLY started it all! Randi was born in 1955, a...
We're Taking The Week Off!
August 03, 2022 07:33 - 9 minutes - 8.47 MBNicole is in Sweden, so we're taking the week off! But since Lauren is *not* in Sweden, she wanted to briefly hop on the mic to give some alternate listening suggestions, tease next week's very exciting episode, and share the single most lesbian thing she's ever done! Please enjoy all of her lip smacks and "um's" - she had to edit this minisode herself, and has absolutely no idea what she is doing! Links to the other podcast episodes Lauren and Nicole have guested on... The Bechdel Cast: ht...
Episode 209: Valentina D'Alessandro, REDUX!
July 27, 2022 09:50 - 1 hour - 65.7 MBWhen she was first on the podcast back in December of 2018, Valentina D'Alessandro had only been in the U.S. for three years, and had been married to her wife Cynthia for just under two. What we did *not* reveal during that episode was the fact that she and Cynthia had also spent the past year trying for a baby. At that point, they were still hopeful, despite a number of emotional, biological, and financial hurdles that they'd already encountered. But after five years of trying absolutely eve...
Episode 208: Shohreh Davoodi
July 20, 2022 07:37 - 1 hour - 71.3 MBShohreh Davoodi (host of the Conjuring Up Courage podcast) has had a...tumultuous couple of years, to say the least. Raised in the strict, expectation-heavy Baháʼí Faith, Shohreh was always regarded as the "black sheep of the family." But the fact that she was naturally more feminine-presenting meant that her queerness didn't ping for anybody, including herself! Shohreh shares how her slowly-dawning awareness of her sexuality led her to the painful decision to end her marriage, but also guide...
Episode 207: J.P. Der Boghossian
July 13, 2022 08:53 - 1 hour - 94.5 MBWe've got J.P. Der Boghossian (he/they), creator of the Queer Armenian Library and host of the brand new podcast, This Queer Book Saved My Life! J.P. grew up with messaging from his religious Armenian community that AIDS and hate crimes were "divine punishment" for being gay; as a result, he believed well into his twenties that he was going to die young. J.P. walks us through his unexpected brush with mortality, what it means to be a queer Armenian-American, and how he went from never being i...
Episode 206: Marginalized Mormon Stories with Kerry Spencer Pray and Jenn Lee Smith
July 06, 2022 07:37 - 1 hour - 67.2 MBKerry Spencer Pray and Jenn Lee Smith met in Affirmation, an organization for LGBTQIA+ Mormons. Kerry had just realized that she was queer; Jenn had been out for longer, but as an Asian-American, she was struggling with the overwhelming whiteness (not to mention maleness) of the only available queer Mormon spaces. Jenn and Kerry clicked immediately as friends, and Jenn pitched the idea for what would eventually become "I Spoke to You with Silence: Essays from Queer Mormons of Marginalized Gen...
Episode 205: Linda Riley
June 29, 2022 07:54 - 54 minutes - 50.5 MBWe're capping off a fantastic Pride Month with the publisher of DIVA, the world's largest LGBTQIA+ magazine for female-identifying and non-binary people! DIVA has been around since 1994, but Linda Riley became the title's first ever lesbian owner in 2015. She shares the story of how she came out to her mother at fifteen and was offered the choice of "psychiatry" (aka electroshock therapy), or leaving home. Linda promptly left home and school, and what followed were years of her finding and bu...
Episode 204: Erica Luttrell
June 22, 2022 07:50 - 1 hour - 57.6 MBWe have a *hilarious* conversation with actor Erica Luttrell (Lost Girl; Salvation; Mayans M.C.), who voices lesbian icon Sapphire on Steven Universe! Back when she was younger, Erica made a point of differentiating between her platonic female crushes (Gillian Anderson) and her non-platonic male crushes (you will genuinely never guess who). But the formative experience of seeing Shakespeare in Love brought up some feelings she could no longer ignore, and kicked off a five-ish year internal st...
Episode 203: Edafe Okporo
June 15, 2022 07:01 - 52 minutes - 48 MBActivist and author Edafe Okporo ("Asylum: A Memoir & Manifesto") is a truly incredible human being. Born and raised in Nigeria when homosexuality was heavily condemned (but not yet criminalized), Edafe hid his sexuality by joining the ministry in college. Though he eventually left to become an activist and work at an HIV/AIDS clinic, everything changed in 2014 when homosexuality was made illegal in his country. Edafe details the harrowing story of how he was attacked by a mob and subsequentl...
Episode 202: Victoria Albina
June 08, 2022 08:01 - 1 hour - 64.3 MBA Functional Medicine Nurse Practitioner! A Certified Breathwork Meditation Guide! A self-identified "Deep Lez!" Victoria Albina (she/they; Feminist Wellness podcast) was born in Argentina, but by her early teens, her family had immigrated to the greatest state in the union (Rhode Island), and she was secretly attending a "tiny homo support group." Victoria shares how her queer Latina origins led her to the healing work she does with other marginalized folks, and how the #positivevibesonly mo...
Episode 201: Jay Toole (a.k.a. Super Butch)
June 01, 2022 09:17 - 1 hour - 57.6 MBIt's officially Pride Month, and we're kicking things off with an UN-F$@#!NG-BELIEVABLE guest!! At thirteen years old, Jay Toole (known to all as Super Butch) came home with a flat top hair cut, and was promptly kicked out for good. Jay headed straight for the West Village, and before long, she was taken in by a community of homeless queer kids in Washington Square Park. What followed was over twenty-five years of living on the street, and some of the most amazing stories we have EVER heard o...
Episode 200: Sarah-Cate
May 25, 2022 08:32 - 57 minutes - 52.7 MBGet ready to FEAST YOUR EARS on the Southern drawl of public speaker, advocate, and Lesflicks writer, Sarah-Cate! From living alone by age nine, to bouncing around group homes through her teens, to years spent unhoused as a young adult, Sarah-Cate's story is equal parts devastating and deeply inspiring. And despite living her entire life in very conservative parts of Texas, Sarah-Cate always, *always* made the choice to be out as queer. She explains how she went from life as a homeless young ...
Episode 199: Queer Relationship Coach Liana Griebsch
May 18, 2022 07:22 - 1 hour - 66.2 MBNot only is queer relationship coach Liana Griebsch an absolute joy, she is also one of the most SELF-AWARE people we've encountered! By the end of high school, straight-A-rule-follower Liana had already cleared the massive hurdles of accepting her gayness, and coming out to her Mexican Catholic mother. But a series of unsatisfying partnerships in college ultimately led her to a bold declaration: "I'm not entering into any relationship until I actually understand [how to do] this." And thus, ...