Today, October 11th, is National Coming Out Day, and the pod is celebrating with a *truly* delightful conversation with mental health therapist and writer, Parisa Akhbari! Parisa had an abstract fear of lesbianism throughout her early adolescence; enough so that she asked her mother at the age of eight if lesbians were "good people." But when her older sister came out a few years later, Parisa felt a huge sense of relief that "oh, it was HER the whole time - it wasn't me!" Parisa continued to repress her feelings for girls throughout high school (despite some same-sex smooching...), and not long after she'd started college, the idea of dating *anyone* went out the window when she was diagnosed with a debilitating disability. Parisa shares the beautiful story of how the Persian new year Nowruz ended up doubling as her own coming out celebration, and describes how her queer YA novel, "Just Another Epic Love Poem," is overflowing with love for her wife. Also: the legend of the Rusty Pelican, and why it gave a young Parisa butterflies!

Follow Parisa on Twitter and TikTok at @ParisaWrites, and on Instagram at @authorparisa (where you can also check out The Queer Muslim Project she mentioned at @thequeermuslimproject). And go to Parisa's website, parisawrites.com, to sign up for her newsletter and pre-order "Just Another Epic Love Poem," which comes out on March 12th, 2024!