Episodes

  • 623: Kevin O’Connor – Navigating Grief and Coming Out

    623: Kevin O’Connor – Navigating Grief and Coming Out
    May 15 2024
    From coming out to losing people in life, grief is part of he equation. Yet you an rise above grief and move forward, if you choose. Helping us unpack the grief of coming out and moving on is author Kevin O'Connor who learned a lot about grief living two floors above it in his family's funeral business. These experiences helped him navigate is way forward through lose, life, and finally coming out of the closet after two marriages. About Kevin

    Kevin O’Connor enjoys chronicling the stories of families and friends through tracing genealogical histories, writing, and picture collections. His prior writing includes personal letters, articles in professional publications, dissertations, anthologies, and presentations delivered at conferences, seminars, and webinars. He brings people together personally and professionally. Collaborating with friends and relatives, he plans family and class reunions.

    ​He sings and performs in theaters near his home. He is active with SMART Ride, a bicycling group that rides annually from Miami to Key West, raising funds for HIV treatments and education. He was an elementary teacher, principal, professor, and curriculum coordinator in California, Illinois, and Florida from 1973-2020.

    In his final educational position, he authored content and provided training in areas including support for substitute teachers, LGBTQ advocacy, and Sexual Health/Family Life. He resides in Ft. Lauderdale with his husband, Leon. Their family includes five sons and seven granddaughters.

    Connect With Kevin Website LinkedIn
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    47 mins
  • 622: Deanna Fierman – Unwrapping all the colors of the relationship rainbow.

    622: Deanna Fierman – Unwrapping all the colors of the relationship rainbow.
    May 8 2024
    Not sure monogamy is for you, but an open relationship scares you, but you do know something isn't working, and you know you just can't love only one person and make it work. Rather than assume it is all about sex, we're here today to have an open dialogue about all the ways to love and be in relationships. Deanna Fierman of All The Colors Counseling helps us see all the colors of the relationship rainbow in a healthy way. About Deanna Deanna Fierman is a licensed professional counselor in Colorado who established All The Colors Counseling and Consulting to provide a welcoming space for non-monogamous and LGBTQ+ individuals, couples, and polycules seeking support. Deanna has practiced psychotherapy in a wide variety of clinical settings since 2010, and has been an advocate, educator, consultant, and researcher in queer communities for decades. Connect With Deanna Website
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    52 mins
  • 621: Jeza Belle – The Truth About Being Gay, Christian, and a Drag Queen

    621: Jeza Belle – The Truth About Being Gay, Christian, and a Drag Queen
    May 1 2024
    Shocking as it might sound, you can be gay, Christian, a drag queen and to write the 1st traditionally published Christian Devotional as a Drag Queen - Hallelujah! Speaking her truth, Jeza Belle shares Jeza's Jesus Juice: A Drag Queens Christian Devotional for all to consume. Cause who couldn't use a little good in their life? About Jeza Jeza Belle is a Drag Queen, Comedian, Screenwriter, Director, Producer, and Award-Winning Author. With her guest articles appearing everywhere from the Huffington Post to the Advocate, her former celebrity interview column, the hilarious comedic variety live shows, and her multiple award-winning trashy cookbook "The Harlot's Guide to Classy Cocktails," Jeza's wry humor and highly-charged opinions have delighted people around the globe. Connect With Jeza Website Book Website
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    48 mins
  • 620: Dr. Zachary Stier – Owning Your Mental Health And Thriving

    620: Dr. Zachary Stier – Owning Your Mental Health And Thriving
    Apr 24 2024
    Coming out and being out is challenging enough. Then add to the mix your challenges with mental health and it could be potentially too much. So what do you do? You choose to thrive. A great example of this is our guest today, Dr. Zachary Stier who is thriving beyond his bi-polar diagnosis and embracing his life daily as a gay man, step-by-step, day-by-day. About Dr. Zachary Dr. Stier has been the director of Children's Services at Ericson Public Library in Boone, Iowa since October 2011. He has revolutionized services at the library for children and families through the expansion of early literacy programming, the redesign of space to emphasize play, family engagement initiatives, enhanced community partnerships with community, state, and national partners, after-school STEAM programming, to name a few. He was project director for NASA@My Library, is the Project Director for the library's equity project, Activating Community Voices, and Project Director for the library's piloted mobilized family engagement program, Little Engines. He recently became an independent consultant for the Space Science Institute and is the lead researcher on a project focused on STEM and Quality of Life. In 2011, Stier opened Mr. Z and Company, LLC, a consultancy firm for educators and librarians. He is also an adjunct lecturer for the University of Illinois Champaign iSchool graduate program teaching Early Literacy and Public Library Partnerships, a course he recently developed. He serves on numerous state and national boards and was recently selected to be part of the Fred Rogers Institute program, The Educators Neighborhood. He is a published author. He holds degrees from Des Moines Area Community College, Grandview University, Drexel University, and Concordia Portland, as well as postgraduate studies in Early Childhood from Erikson Institute, and a Doctorate in Education from Concordia Chicago. Connect With Dr. Zachary LinkedIn
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    43 mins
  • 617: Nate Shalev – Making Inclusivity a Daily Human Experience

    617: Nate Shalev – Making Inclusivity a Daily Human Experience
    Apr 17 2024
    Inclusivity doesn't have to be hard, it just has to be human. But to0 many humans today, think inclusivity is just too woke. Well, let's wake them up with the truth about inclusivity and how to have those tough conversations. Inclusivity and workplace culture expert Nate Shalev shares their insights on how this can work without it breaking down systems and relationships. About Nate Nate Shalev is a leading expert on inclusivity helping to create workplace cultures where both businesses and people thrive. They were named a LinkedIn Top Voice and have been highlighted in the Harvard Business Review, the NY Times, the Wall St Journal, and more. Nate earned a BA from Barnard College of Columbia University and an MA from New York University. They are the founder of Revel Impact, a consultancy that specializes in social impact and diversity, equity, & inclusion Connect With Nate Website LinkedIn
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    41 mins
  • 618: TJ Billard – The Importance of Trans Voices

    618: TJ Billard – The Importance of Trans Voices
    Apr 10 2024
    You have to be hiding under a rock and not listening to not know that Trans voices are under attack which only means, the entire queer community is under attack. Giving voice to the Trans community, TJ Billard shares their new book Voices For Transgender Equality: Making Change In The Network Public Sphere. This is great episode to learn about why and how to support our trans brothers and sisters. About TJ TJ Billard is an Assistant Professor and William T. Grant Scholar in the School of Communication and, by courtesy, the Department of Sociology at Northwestern University, where they are affiliated with the Institute for Policy Research and the Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing. Outside of Northwestern, they are the founding Executive Director of the Center for Applied Transgender Studies in Chicago—the leading academic organization dedicated to scholarship on the social, cultural, and political conditions of transgender life—and Editor-in-Chief of the Center’s flagship journal, the Bulletin of Applied Transgender Studies. Billard’s research spans political communication, the sociology of social movements, and transgender studies, with a primary focus on the relationship between media and transgender politics in the United States and United Kingdom. They also conduct research on typography and graphic design, with an emphasis on the role of design in political branding. Billard is the author of Voices for Transgender Equality: Making Change in the Networked Public Sphere (Oxford University Press, 2024). The book offers an insider’s view into transgender activism during the first two years of the Trump administration, during which trans people were thrust onto the center stage of US politics. Drawing on extensive on-the-ground observation at the National Center for Transgender Equality, Voices for Transgender Equality shows how these activists developed an unlikely blend of online and offline strategies to saturate a diverse ecology of national news outlets, local and community media outlets across the country, and both public and private conversations across multiple social media platforms with voices in support of their cause. Billard is also co-editor (with Silvio Waisbord) of Public Scholarship in Communication Studies (University of Illinois Press, 2024). Taking the position that “public scholarship” should not prioritize publicity for scholars and their ideas, but rather should prioritize serving the public good in ways that go beyond conventional scholarly work, the volume brings together an all-star cast of public scholars to offer both critical meditations on the role and importance of public scholarship in communication studies’ various subfields and “how-to” guides for enacting public scholarship. Billard’s current research project, tentatively titled Cisinformed: Disinformation and the Media War on Transgender Rights, focuses on the central role of misinformation in anti-transgender movements’ political strategies in both the US and UK, why these strategies work, and what can be done to curb misinformation’s influence on policy and public opinion. This research is supported by a five-year award from the William T. Grant Foundation’s Scholars program. Billard’s research has appeared in a number of prominent academic publications spanning several fields, including Communication Monographs, Digital Journalism, Frontiers in Psychology, the International Journal of Communication, The International Journal of Press/Politics, JCMS: Journal of Cinema and Media Studies, the Journal of Social History, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, Marketing Theory, Mass Communication and Society, Media, Culture & Society, and Politics, Groups, and Identities, as well as in venues such as the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics and the SAGE Encyclopedia of Trans Studies. Billard received their PhD from the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the...
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    42 mins
  • 617: Ron Thomas – The Fears of Coming Out To Live Your Truth

    617: Ron Thomas – The Fears of Coming Out To Live Your Truth
    Apr 3 2024
    Imagine hiding your truth because of your work, your family, and more so out of your own fears of "Can this actually be me?" Today I have a candid conversation with Ron Thomas, actor, voice over professional, radio host, but overall a normal, everyday gay who was afraid to come out until he did. And if that sounds familiar then you will love this show as it is simply straight up truth talking about the fears of coming out. About Ron

    Ron Thomas a TV and Radio Host focusing on LGBTQ+ projects that deal with coming out later in life. How to navigate that journey with support and positivity.
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    36 mins
  • 616: Gregory Allen – Inviting the monsters of your life out to play

    616: Gregory Allen – Inviting the monsters of your life out to play
    Mar 27 2024
    Imagine being 19, just coming out, and heading to NYC - broadway to be exact - and all those dreams turn into a different dream you never would have imagined. Now, fast forward 35 years later and you let that twist of dream guide you through all the other coming out journeys that life has to offer. That's where we are arriving today with author, screenwriter, filmmaker and actor, Gregory G. Allen as he shares his multiple coming out stories and a little gem of a book that any of those states that are banning books would have a hard time banning, because the subtext is all about just being yourself! About Gregory

    Gregory G. Allen is an award-winning author, screenwriter, filmmaker and actor. He has been in the entertainment industry for 35 years having acted in plays, musicals, TV, film and national tours. His short films have screened at 100 festivals around the world including twice at the American Pavilion at the Cannes Film Festival (Hiding in Daylight: Writer/Producer & Reparations: Writer/Director) in 2019 & 2020.

    He has been the recipient of several awards including Best Director and Best Screenplay for his short films and was inducted into the prestigious 125th Anniversary Year (2023) Marquis Who's Who for his dedication to the fields of arts, entertainment, and advocacy. Gregory has received writing grants from BMI, ASCAP, the Watershed Foundation and is a member of The Dramatist Guild, the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, and a former member of the BMI Musical Theater Workshop.

    He is the award-winning author of four novels, one nonfiction memoir, two short stories, and four children's books. He has spent over 15 years in arts management and currently is the manager of a theater in Westchester County, New York.

    Connect With Gregory Website Facebook Instagram LinkedIn
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    47 mins