Rhys was born in Guam in a family of 8 children. Their mother died when they were 4 years old. They were taken away from their dad and moved from family to family. Their nomadic-type childhood allowed them to not overly attach to a particular family dynamic and, therefore, according to Rhys, allowed them to more easily process their trauma. Rhys committed themselves to Jesus at the age of 13 and felt loved. They began to feel confused and ashamed of the attraction they felt for others. They began to feel unsafe in their own body. Later, they found freedom while attending college and learning about human development. It broke their heart to lose their faith. Yet liberating as they realized they can now think about whatever they want to AND they can love people without any agenda to change them. Eventually they got divorced from their partner since they wanted to explore their sexuality with others. We discuss how platonic love is unfairly assumed to be at the bottom of the love hierarchy when we believe,... it's the top. We talk about how assigned-female-at-birth individuals are often royally fucked when their relationships end. Rhys discusses why this has resulted in their committing to not love with a sexual or romantic partner. We discuss cultivating large and vibrant communities for ourselves. And lastly, we explore what it's like to be a secular parent. How do we raise our children better than we were raised? How do we hold space for our children's emotions? And likewise, how do we hold space for that child that is still within our own selves? Join us - it's a great talk. Way too short, in my opinion.

*** Time Stamps***
00:57 Monologue
25:34 Announcements
31:58 Intro + Interview

*****
Now that we’ve begun to process our history with toxic religion, we seek to regain autonomy over our minds and bodies from residual narratives, whether cultural or religious; while working towards respecting and empowering the autonomy of others. Together, we seek to rejoin the human race and participate in this chaotic experience of existence Thanks for listening and remember: You are autonomous and so is everyone else.

Please subscribe to my podcast and leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts. Your financial support, if you are willing and able, can make a huge impact on my ability to continue in secular activism. You can become a Patreon supporter or make a one-time donation via PayPal. Links are on EA's website.

*** Podcast Links***
www.everyonesautonomous.com
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twitter.com/s_autonomous
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*** Marie's Links ***
mariedelephant.com
fb.me/mariedelephant
twitter.com/MarieDElephant
Instagram.com/mariedelephant

*** MarKei Photo & Video Links ***
markeiphoto.com
www.facebook.com/markeiphotography/
www.instagram.com/markeiphoto/
twitter.com/markeiphoto

*** Credits ***
Produced by Marie D'Elephant
Edited by Post Christian Podcasting (Caleb Rowe)