Susie's friend Mason joins us to share his coming out story. Growing up in the church, he tried to be straight for several years, until finally he realized he wasn't being honest with himself. Determined to discover his sexuality, Mason set out into the dating scene to see if he was really gay and what do to with his faith.

Chat with us and others in the I Tried to Be Straight Community - (Free)

JJ Gerber grew up in the church and built a career in the as a Christian musician and actor. Eventually realizing he couldn't stay in the closet anymore he came out and realized his opportunities in the church would slowly disappear.

Dr. Laura, PhD. religious trauma expert and author of When Religion Hurts You shares her experience with religious trauma growing up in the evangelical church, and how it effects the LGBTQ community. She then offers some practical advice on how to start healing from church trauma.

Brit Barron was pastoring at a mega church when she fell in love with a girl. After wrestling with what to do, she overcame her fears of coming out and decided to give it all up for what she believed in.

Check out her first book, Worth It at the link below, and keep an eye out for her 2nd book coming soon!

https://a.co/d/4NmOtLB

Speaker and author, Jonathan Merritt, joins us on the podcast to share his story of getting outed in the church as a pastor's kid. He shares how he found himself, pushed through and became the successful writer he is today. He shares his brand new children's book. My Guncle and Me, a beautifully illustrated story of acceptance and love.

You can find the book at: https://amzn.to/3V1yvbX

Cade grew up in the Catholic church and decided to commit to the priesthood when he realized he was gay. After getting rejected from the Priesthood, he started to realize there was no place for him within the Catholic church.

Susie's sister Brenda joins us for a special dialogue about growing up with Susie and how she knew Susie was bi all along. Then we dig into a particularly rough comment battle Nate dealt with on Instagram last week and discuss what to do in those situations.

Timm suppressed his sexuality for years, got married and started a family. He finally came to terms with being gay at 45 years old and shares his story of navigating that with his family.

Speaker and ex evangelical pastor Brian Recker shares why he couldn't keep rejecting gay people in his church, and how he lost everything when he started accepting them.

Michelle comes on to the podcast to share her coming out story for the first time online! She grew up in Texas in a conservative home, and then moved to Redding to go to Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry alongside Nate. Eventually working at Bethel Worship department, and finally realizing she was gay at 30 years old!