In The Den with Mama Dragons

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There are similarities and differences between all of our individual stories. We come from diverse religious backgrounds, political parties, family dynamics, and geographic areas. Each of us started at different levels of acceptance, but we all relate to the desire of wanting to protect our children over our own biases.  A few times a year, we will be sharing a Mama Dragon’s story. Today, Jen visits with Heather Gooding In the Den. 

Special Guest: Heather Gooding

Heather grew up in small town America in an extremely conservative non-denominational Christian Church. She believed the things she was taught, even though she often questioned or didn’t really understand. She also grew up with parents who instilled a love of sacrifice and service in her from a young age. Heather has been with her husband for 30 years, and they have 6 children. As their children grew, Heather was forced to face the fact that her beliefs were changing, and she has had to redefine a lot of her personal faith. She is proud of the relationships she has forged with her children, who are now growing into adults, and she’s proud to tell others that she’s an ally and a Mama Dragon.

Links from the Show:

• Join Mama Dragons today: www.mamadragons.org 
• Mama Dragons on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mamadragons 
• Mama Dragons on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themamadragons/ 

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Many states and school districts are threatening to defund libraries and are challenging books at an increasing rate.  Removing books from library shelves reduces public access to information and is often part of an attempt to control what can be taught or discussed in public spaces, usually done under the guise of protecting children. Public libraries are often targeted for their inclusion of queer and transgender authors and books that address any subject matter that relates to gender, sexuality, and racism. Today Jen is joined In the Den by librarian Lynn Steinmeyer to discuss the impacts of book banning and what we can do about it. 

Special Guest: Lynn Steinmeyer

Lynn earned her MLIS degree from the University of Rhode Island and then worked almost 16 years in a small public library in CT. She then earned her MSW from Simmons College in Massachusetts and has been working with youth and families for more than a year. She is the mother of 2 children (22 and 24) who aren’t children anymore. They are both in long term relationships so Lynn claims two lovely daughters-in-law as well.

A Note from Lynn: 

I would really encourage listeners to go to their local library and ask to see the Collection Development Policies. If we are focusing on serving our community and 30% of the community identify as LGBTQ - then in theory, 30% of the collection in that demographic should reflect our community! Hopefully people can look at the links below and see what they can do to support their local libraries and Friends of the Library groups. Also, maybe they will look at these lists and want to start their own fREADom to Read Group. If they want advice and support in that endeavor they can reach out to me. I would be glad to support them in what way I can, even if it will only be a supportive ear. 

Links from the Show: 

• Top Ten Books Banned & Challenged for 2023 (7 out of 10 are LBGTQ+): https://www.ala.org/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10 
• Freedom to Read Statement: https://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/freedomreadstatement
• The American Library Association Bill of Rights: https://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill
• Censorship numbers:  https://www.ala.org/bbooks/censorship-numbers
• 30 Years of Challenged Books: https://www.tiki-toki.com/timeline/entry/51787/Banned-Books-Week-Celebrating-30-Years-of-Liberating-Literature/#vars!date=1983-01-18_09:35:34!

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Gender and sexuality have been understood and expressed in a wide variety of ways in different parts of the world, in different cultures, and throughout history. As we learn more about other worldviews, our understanding expands, and we can become more compassionate and wise in our interactions with the LGBTQ+ community. Our guests today join Jen In the Den to deconstruct and reconstruct ways of looking at sexuality and gender through an Indigenous lens of intersectionality.  

Special Guest: Celeste Namba

Celeste Namba, a queer woman of Navajo and English-German descent, grew up in Ganado, Arizona, as the youngest of seven. She now resides in Provo, Utah, and works in fintech, focusing on improving financial services for low-income communities. In addition to her career, Celeste and her wife, Keisha, are in the process of adopting their son. Her work aims to create a more inclusive and accepting society for all. 

Special Guest: Sam Perez

Sam is a member of the Navajo Nation who has spent a good chunk of his life working in film and television production. The other part of that is spent raising his kid and trying to be a better person. 

Special Guest: Roni Jo Draper

Roni Jo Draper, Ph.D. (Yurok|she.her) is an educator, storyteller, filmmaker, and activist. Roni began her career as a high school mathematics and science teacher where she worked primarily with children at risk of not completing high school. She is professor emeritus from Brigham Young University where she taught courses in literacy education, multicultural education, and global women’s studies. She is currently on a one-year appointment at Utah Valley University where she teaches courses in multicultural education and classroom management. Roni Jo is also the writer, producer, and director of the documentary short film Fire Tender, which centers the lives of Yurok fire practitioners as they return cultural fire to heal land. Fire Tender will air on PBS in April in conjunction with their Earth Day celebrations.

Links from the Show:

• Information about Fire Tender: https://www.wmm.com/sponsored-project/fire-tender/ 
• Find whose land you live on: https://www.npr.org/2022/10/10/1127837659/native-land-map-ancestral-tribal-lands-worldwide 
• Join Mama Dragons today at www.mamadragons.org 
• Mama Dragons on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mamadragons 
• Mama Dragons on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themamadragons/ 

In the Den is made possible by generous donors like you. Help us continue to deliver quality content by becoming a donor today at www.mamadragons.org.  

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When they find out that their child is somewhere on the LGBTQ+ spectrum, parents are often forced to examine their faith in entirely new ways, and it’s hard stuff–earth shifting, ground shaking, life changing, relationship destroying sort of hard. Today’s In the Den guest is an expert at courageous conversations in the religious realm, because it isn’t just the individuals that are wrestling with the topic of religion and spirituality, but many religious organizations themselves. Special guest Bishop Karen Oliveto talks with Jen about the intersection of religion and LGBTQ+ identities. 

Special Guest: Bishop Karen P. Oliveto

Karen Oliveto was consecrated as a bishop of The United Methodist Church on July 16, 2016 in Scottsdale, Ariz., and assigned for the 2016-2020 quadrennium to the Mountain Sky Episcopal Area, which includes 320 congregations in Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, and a small section of Idaho. Bishop Oliveto was elected to the episcopacy after serving as the first woman pastor of the 12,000-member Glide Memorial United Methodist Church in San Francisco, Calif. She is the first woman to serve as senior pastor of one of The United Methodist Church’s 100 largest congregations. 

Bishop Oliveto is the co-author of Talking About Homosexuality: A Congregational Resource, and the author of Our Strangely Warmed Hearts: Coming Out into God's Call and Together at the Table: Diversity without Division in The United Methodist Church.

She has the distinction of being the first openly lesbian bishop in The United Methodist Church. She and her wife, Robin Ridenour, a nurse anesthetist and United Methodist deaconess, met in Junior High Church Camp and have been together for 25 years. They were married in 2014. Bishop Oliveto was named by NBC as one of 30 contemporary LGBTQ change-makers as part of their #Pride50 series. She was also named one of the Faith Leaders to Watch in 2021 by the Center for American Progress. 

Links from the Show:

• Learn more about Bishop Oliveto here: https://www.unitedmethodistbishops.org/person-detail/2463386
• Bishop Oliveto on FB: https://www.facebook.com/BishopOliveto/
• Find Bishop Oliveto’s books here:https://bookshop.org/beta-search?keywords=Bishop+Oliveto
• Join Mama Dragons today at www.mamadragons.org 

In the Den is made possible by generous donors like you. Help us continue to deliver quality content by becoming a donor today at www.mamadragons.org.  

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A recurring concern that we hear from parents when their child comes out as LGBTQ+ involves family, and more specifically the fear of losing the possibility of future family. Parents are sometimes worried when they find out they have a queer child, because they feel like they’re losing their chance to be a grandparent, or they just really knew their child would make a great parent, but they don’t think they’ll get to actually experience parenthood as a queer person.  So, in an effort to dispel that myth that LGBTQ+ people don’t have families, our guests today join guest host Shauna Jones to talk about their experiences as queer parents. 

Special Guest: Guy Berryessa

Guy grew up mostly in conservative Provo, Utah, the fourth of four boys, and attended schools in Provo and briefly in Bangkok, Thailand, before attending college at BYU.  He came out at 26 to his father and a year later, after a year of volunteer service in Nigeria, to his mother (who immediately threw up!) and almost everyone else. His parents eventually became great, supportive allies. Guy and Trey, his husband of 26 years, moved to San Francisco in 1997. They adopted their first child in Germany in 2002 and a second in San Francisco in 2010.  They currently live primarily in Hawaii, but are often back to their San Francisco home, as their elder daughter attends Sonoma State. 

Special Guest: Sean Childers-Gray

Sean Childers-Gray is a transgender man who grew up in Kearns, Utah, and co-founded a charity drag troupe called the Salt City Kings. He has a BA in graphic arts from Stevens-Henager and holds an MFA in media design. He has served as the President of Ogden Pride since 2020. In October 2021, he was honored with the Equality Utah Impact Award for Advancing Transgender Equality. Sean is a graphic designer and writer. He and his wife Sara are raising two queer teenagers, two huskies, and a cat named Todd. As an Educator in Higher Ed for over 15 years, Sean finds advocating for his students at Davis Tech College a priority as he continues his work for the LGBTQ+ community at large.

Special Guest: Emily English

Emily is a writer, teacher, and grant program specialist who lives in Bellingham, Washington.  She is passionate about the rights and lives of young queer people.  She adores her 5 boys and considers being their mother to be one of the great joys of her life.  In her free time, she journals, writes, reads, and loves to go on adventures to odd and obscure places.

Links from the Show:

• Join Mama Dragons today at www.mamadragons.org 
• Mama Dragons on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mamadragons 
• Mama Dragons on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themamadragons/ 

In the Den is made possible by generous donors like you. Help us continue to deliver quality content by becoming a donor today at mamadragons.org. 

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In a perfect world, all parents would be prepared to welcome news of a queer child with love and affirmation. As we all know, we aren’t there yet, and sometimes one parent is ready to do what has been shown to be best practices while another isn’t. Good and loving parents often have some learning and unlearning to do, and it can be challenging when parents aren’t on the same page. In today’s episode, guest host Wendy VonSosen visits with special guests Brooke Caldwell, Lisa Dame, and Julia Bernards about what to do when parents disagree. 

Special Guest: Brooke Caldwell

With a background in education and administration, Brooke now works in the commercial real estate industry. She was an early member of the Mama Dragons group. Brooke loves sushi, soccer, traveling, and advocating for the LGBTQ+ community and other marginalized groups. She's a social justice warrior and loves big.

Special Guest: Julia Bernards

Julia is a licensed marriage and family therapist, researcher, writer, presenter, and mother. Three of her four children identify as LGBTQ+,  and she passionately loves, accepts, and supports them. Julia's PhD research focused on LDS parents’ process in coming to accept a transgender child. Through that research, Julia was immersed in many families’ sacred stories, and she is dedicated to sharing their words and the understandings that came from them. She has given presentations around the country and loves working with LGBTQ+ individuals and their families in therapy.

Special Guest: Lisa Dame

Lisa has been an ally for the LGBTQ+ community starting in 2013 when her oldest daughter officially came out.  She joined Mama Dragons in 2014 and found her own support and friendship among women with similar life journeys.  She has been on the Board of Mama Dragons for the last 7 years, which continues to be a sustaining part of her advocacy. In 2020, Lisa decided to go back to school to become a Clinical Mental Health Counselor and joined Flourish Therapy as an intern in 2021 and then became an employee as an Associate therapist in 2022. She currently enjoys her life of seeing clients, walking her dog, spending time with family and being outside in nature through hiking, playing sports and gardening.

Links from the Show:

• Join Mama Dragons today at www.mamadragons.org 
• Mama Dragons on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mamadragons 
• Mama Dragons on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themamadragons/ 

In the Den is made possible by generous donors like you. Help us continue to deliver quality content by becoming a donor today at mamadragons.org. 

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Parents often worry about the future of their children.  And sometimes that intensifies for a bit when their child comes out.  They wonder if their child will be able to find love and relationship.  They wonder if their child will be held back in their careers. Today In the Den, Jen talks with special guests Seth Anderson and Michael Ferguson about their personal experiences of coming out, falling in love, and finding happiness. Listening to their personal narratives is a glimpse into another wonderful example of the health and success that is possible for LGBTQ individuals.

Special Guest: Seth Anderson

J. Seth Anderson, PhD, was born in Provo, Utah, and raised in Utah and Arizona. He served a mission in the Russia, Samara mission. He earned a BA in Russian and a BS in Economics from Arizona State University, an MA in History from the University of Utah, and a PhD in History from Boston University. His dissertation explores the origin of gay conversion therapy. (He claims to be working on the book proposal, but that's debatable.) He likes to play piano and go to the gym. He and his husband Dr. Michael Ferguson, were the first same-sex couple married in Utah in 2013.

Special Guest: Michael Ferguson

Dr. Michael Ferguson is an Instructor in Neurology at Harvard Medical School, where he directs the Neurospirituality Lab at the Center for Brain Circuit Therapeutics. He also directs Wellness and Self-Discovery programs for first-year students at Harvard College, where he has launched the Crimson Compassion and Earth Compassion initiatives. He is a certified Mindful Self-Compassion teacher and a world leader in the science of spirituality. Dr. Ferguson earned his bachelor’s degree at Brigham Young University and his PhD at the University of Utah. He currently serves as the choir director of the Cambridge 1st Ward in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Links from the Show: 

• The Compassion.Science website: https://neuromichael.com/
• Join Mama Dragons today at www.mamadragons.org 
• Mama Dragons on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mamadragons 
• Mama Dragons on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themamadragons/ 

In the Den is made possible by generous donors like you. Help us continue to deliver quality content by becoming a donor today at mamadragons.org. 

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Words with Friends 12

Words with Friends episodes are bonus episodes where different members of Mama Dragons provide definitions for LGBTQ related topics. This episode includes the following definitions:

Deadname shared by Roxy Rich in Temecula, California

Binding shared by Tracey in Edinburgh, Scotland

Misgender shared by Betania in Indiana

Pronoun Usage  shared by Mel in Southeast Idaho

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Help us continue to deliver quality content by becoming a donor today at mamadragons.org. 

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Pride events happen around the calendar all across the country, but June is officially Pride month, and the entire month is filled with opportunities to celebrate with our LGBTQ+ loved ones. With the party on the horizon, some of us might have questions about how to show up and participate. In this episode of In the Den, Jen sits down with three other moms to tackle some of the most common questions around attending Pride. Special guests Chrysteil Hunter, Dez Weyburn, and Diane Oviatt discuss their experiences with Pride in different parts of the country. 

Special Guest: Chrysteil Hunter

Chrysteil lives in Mill Creek, Washington, and is a single mom of four incredible adult kids, one 10 year old son, and has a 5 year old grandson. She works full time, one-on-one, with kids on the autism spectrum. She has been a member of Mama Dragons since 2015, serving in many positions, including WA/AK regional coordinator, board member, Director of Education, Director of the D&I Committee, and QPR suicide prevention training instructor. She loves the mountains, road trips, listening to audio books, and, most of all, spending time with her kids.

Special Guest: Dez Weyburn 

Dez is a queer mom of two, birth doula, and massage therapist in Northern Utah. She believes in serving her community and has done so through birth work for over a decade. She also helped run the local postpartum support group and has been a committee member for Davis County PRIDE for the past three years. When she's not building her career or doing volunteer work, she's probably reading to her kids or working on learning Spanish or American Sign Language.

Special Guest: Diane Oviatt

Diane is a pediatric oncology nurse in Oakland, California, and a founding member of Mama Dragons. She loves kids and color and cheese. Her idea of a good time is reading restaurant reviews and visiting new bakeries. 

Links from the Show:

• Join Mama Dragons today at www.mamadragons.org 
• Mama Dragons on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mamadragons 
• Mama Dragons on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themamadragons/ 

In the Den is made possible by generous donors like you. Help us continue to deliver quality content by becoming a donor today at mamadragons.org. 

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Content Warning: This episodes has mentions of suicidal ideation.

In this week’s episode of In the Den, Jen visits with special guests Alex and Christy Florence about their individual journeys that led them to meet and eventually marry each other. Alex shares his unique experiences as a Latino adoptee and trans man from a conservatively religious family. Christy talks about her experience as an actively religious mother whose child came out as gay and later trans, and the events that led her to meet and fall in love with Alex. 

Special Guest: Christy Florence

Christy was born and raised in Shelley, Idaho. She is a farmer’s daughter and was taught to work hard, for which she is grateful. She served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Poland and is grateful for that experience. Christy is the mom of 4 amazing humans, Adam, Zoe, Luke and Isaac. She is married to Alex Florence and has been living in Farmington, Utah for the past 9 years. Christy has been part of the Mama Dragons for almost 10 years. Together, Alex and Christy advocate for the LGBTQ+ community and commit to be a safe space for families in the LGBTQ community.

Special Guest: Alex Florence

Alex was born in Galeana, Mexico, and was adopted by a family in Layton, Utah, where he was raised. Alex knew from a very young age that he was not comfortable in his body. He struggled to make sense of the disconnect his soul had with his body. After navigating through societal, cultural, religious beliefs and his family expectations, Alex finally decided to live authentically and openly when he started transitioning in December of 2011. Alex's journey has since provided many opportunities, including advocacy work, speaking engagements, and serving as President on a non-profit board for one of Utah's oldest non-profit organizations in Salt Lake City. He has helped guide other transgender individuals in their own journey towards authenticity.  Alex and Christy have been married since 2016 and live in Farmington Utah. 

Links from the Show:

• Join Mama Dragons today at www.mamadragons.org 
• Mama Dragons on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mamadragons 
• Mama Dragons on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themamadragons/ 

In the Den is made possible by generous donors like you. Help us continue to deliver quality content by becoming a donor today at mamadragons.org. 

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