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There’s something wonderful happening in small towns all across America, Pride festivals are on the rise offering rural communities a safe and welcoming celebration for the LGBTQ+ folks among them. In places where people assume everyone thinks the same, where visibility can come with real risk, and where showing up authentically sometimes feels like an act of courage in itself—these small town, community centered festivals are forging important spaces for belonging and offering a hometown alternative for the more corporate centered Pride festivals in larger cities. This week In the Den, Sara is joined by the organizers behind Canyon County Pride in Southwest Idaho—a Pride celebration that has become both a joyful gathering place and a lightning rod for controversy in the city of Nampa. In a region often painted with broad political brushstrokes, they’ve helped create something deeply local, deeply brave, and deeply needed: a Pride event where LGBTQ+ people, families, allies, and especially young people can see that they are not alone.

Special Guest: Tom (he/him)

Tom is co-founder and owner of HomeFound Boise, Idaho’s #1 LGBTQ+ owned and operated real estate team. Tom is the President and co-founder of Canyon County Pride, which started as a result of his passion to elevate and celebrate diversity throughout Idaho. Tom is featured in the Washington Post, Inman News, and Realtor Magazine as a 30 Under 30 Class of 2024. Most recently, Tom is the recipient of the Drew Griffin Beacon of Light award for outstanding community involvement.

Special Guest: Van (they/them)

Van is a passionate community leader, event organizer, and advocate dedicated to creating inclusive spaces for LGBTQ+ individuals in Canyon County. As a founder of CCP Van has played a vital role in bringing together thousands of people to celebrate diversity, foster connections, and uplift the local queer community. With a strong background in community building and a service oriented career, Van was able to cultivate relationships with local business partners and individuals as well as multiple marketing efforts that have helped Canyon County Pride grow into a thriving annual event. Their expertise ensures that each Pride celebration is impactful, engaging, and accessible to ALL. Beyond Pride, Van is committed to building long-term support networks for LGBTQ+ individuals and advocating for spaces where everyone feels safe, valued, and empowered.

Links from the Show:

• Video of Cookie Puss befriending a Pride protester
• Canyon County Pride on FB
• Canyon County Pride on IG
• Join Mama Dragons today

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Perhaps some of our listeners were cheerleaders and already know the magic: the adrenaline of a routine, the trust it takes to lift and be lifted, the deep bonds that form on a squad. For others, cheerleading might bring up a story shaped by stereotypes, fueled by movies and media, by a sense that this was a space with very specific rules about who belonged and who didn’t. Maybe you saw a world that could feel exclusive, gendered, and out of reach. But, something is shifting. From college sidelines to professional arenas, we’re seeing more openly LGBTQ+ athletes—gay, trans, and nonbinary cheerleaders—showing up, taking space, and changing what cheer looks like from the inside out. The image of who gets to be strong, spirited, and celebrated in this sport is expanding in real time, and today’s guests are part of that transformation. In this episode of In the Den, we’re joined by leaders from the Pride Cheerleading Association—an organization that’s not just opening doors, but reimagining the whole structure of the sport. They’re building inclusive cheer spaces for adults of all ages where queer and trans athletes don’t have to fit into outdated roles to belong.

Special Guest: Hayley Digerdissen

Hayley Digerdissen joined the Pride Cheerleading Association (PCA) Board of Directors in 2022 and accepted the role of President in 2023. Although she puts little stock in the title because she appreciates just how much the PCA Board accomplishes as a collective entity, she is committed to helping PCA grow in its impact, outreach, value, wellness, and kindness in whatever ways she can until the next clearly superior successor takes over. 

Special Guest: Jayden Feldman–Co-chair of PCA DEI–Cheer Colorado.  

Jayden is a manager, personal trainer, and advocate who believes that no one should have to walk their path alone. As a transgender man who began his transition at 14, he credits his resilience to his parents. 

Special Guest: Sara Toogood

Sara Toogood is the Secretary of the Board for the Pride Cheerleading Association and one of its Founding Directors. She also serves as PCA’s Marketing Chair and PCA’s Delegate to the Federation of Gay Games. She is also a mom of two elementary school children. 

Special Guest: Alex Romo

Alex Romo, Sacramento Cheer Elite, has been cheering since the age of 15. What began as a love for the sport became a path to community, purpose, and self-discovery. As a Mexican gay cisgender man, he knows how powerful it is to feel seen, affirmed, and accepted.

Links from the Show:

• The Pride Cheerleading Association 
• Start a team
• Find PCA events
• Join Mama Dragons today

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Even as the headlines keep returning to trans athletes—who gets to play, who gets excluded, and who gets to decide—there’s another story unfolding on fields and courts across the country. A quieter one. A more human one. A story about belonging. Beyond the legislation and the debates, there are real kids just trying to play the sports they love—and real coaches shaping what those spaces feel like. Today’s guest is Kaig Lightner, a trans soccer coach and founder of Portland Community Football Club—a club that is reimagining youth sports by centering access, equity, and radical inclusion. His teams aren’t divided by gender. They’re built around skill, community, and the belief that every kid deserves a place to belong. In this conversation, we explore what it means to coach beyond the binary, to challenge the systems that keep so many kids out of the game, and to imagine a future where sports aren’t a battleground for identity—but a place where every young person can thrive. Because maybe the real question isn’t whether trans athletes belong–it’s what becomes possible when we finally act like they do.

Special Guest: Kaig Lightner

Kaig Lightner (he/him) is a coach, educator, and inclusion strategist with over two decades of experience at the intersection of youth sports, social work, and LGBTQ+ advocacy. As a USSF National ‘C’ Level licensed soccer coach with 30 years of coaching experience and a social worker since 2005, Kaig brings a unique lens to his work—one that blends technical coaching knowledge with a deep understanding of systemic oppression and its impact on marginalized communities. In 2013, Kaig founded Portland Community Football Club, a nonprofit soccer club providing access to competitive soccer for low-income, immigrant, refugee and LGBTQ+ youth. His approach to leadership is grounded in trauma-informed care, emotional intelligence, and a commitment to breaking down complex concepts—whether in the classroom, on the field, or in workshops focused on gender inclusion and equity. Kaig has been speaking publicly about LGBTQ+ inclusion in sports since 2006, drawing from his lived experience as a queer, trans man to educate others about the limitations of binary gender systems and the importance of inclusive environments. In 2017 he founded Quantum Gender to provide professional consulting and education on these topics. He is also a former graduate-level social work professor and the creator of the YouTube series Intoxicating Privilege, which explores the intersections of race, gender, and privilege through a personal and reflective lens.

Links from the Show: 

• Find Portland Community Football Club
• Join Mama Dragons today

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Imagine belonging to a faith that is fighting to keep you out—and refusing to leave. Some of you in our Mama Dragons community know this experience well. Some of you are still living it, loving your families and your traditions while also working, every day, to make change from within. That tension—the push and pull between belonging and exclusion—is not unique to any one faith. Today In the Den, Sara is joined by Miryam Kabakov, a national leader who has spent more than three decades walking alongside LGBTQ+ people in Orthodox communities. She is the Executive Director and co-founder of Eshel, an organization that provides support, resources, and community for LGBTQ+ Orthodox individuals and their families—and is helping to quietly, steadily shift what’s possible from the inside. Sara and Miryam talk about what it means to stay in a tradition that doesn’t always make room for you, how families navigate love and religious commitment, and why change—especially in deeply traditional spaces—often begins with small, brave acts of connection.

Special Guest: Miryam Kabakov

Miryam Kabakov is a national leader who has worked for more than three decades on the inclusion of LGTBQ+ individuals in the Orthodox world. Miryam is Executive Director and co-founder of Eshel, a national organization that supports LGBTQ+ Orthodox individuals and their families. Prior to being a leader at Eshel, Miryam was the New York and National Program Director of AVODAH: The Jewish Service Corps, Director of LGBT programming at the JCC Manhattan, Social Worker at West Side Federation for Senior and Supportive Housing, and was the first social worker at Footsteps. Miryam received her MSW from the Wurzweiler School of Social Work.  She also received a certificate in fundraising from the University of St. Thomas and a certificate in program evaluation from the University of Washington, and has a background in informal Jewish education from Brandeis University.  She founded the New York Orthodykes, a support group for lesbian, bisexual and transgender Orthodox women, and is the editor of Keep Your Wives Away From Them: Orthodox Women, Unorthodox Desires (North Atlantic Books, May 2010), a collection of writings about the challenges and joys of LBT Orthodox Jews and winner of the Golden Crown Literary Award.

Links from the Show:

• Find Eshel online
• Eshel’s Calendar of Events
• Join Mama Dragons today

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We know that one of the most powerful things we can do as parents is raise kids who know who they are, who treat others with dignity, and who have the courage to live out loud. Today In the Den, Sara is joined by author, educator, and speaker Kevin Cripe, who spent 27 years as an elementary school teacher helping young people—many of whom felt overlooked or underestimated—discover confidence, identity, and a sense of possibility. Through his work in the classroom, his nationally recognized chess program, and his children’s books—including stories like Princess Max, which gently but powerfully explores gender expression and self-acceptance—Kevin invites us to rethink the messages kids receive about who they’re allowed to be. In today’s episode, Sara and Kevin discuss how the environments we create at home, in schools, and in our communities can either silence kids or help them shine, and they explore what it looks like to raise children who not only embrace their own identities, but make space for others to do the same.

Guest Speaker: Kevin Cripe

Kevin Cripe is a motivational speaker, author, and educator with over 27 years of experience inspiring students, teachers, and communities. Today, Kevin shares his passion for empowerment and empathy through keynote presentations for schools, parent organizations, churches, and community groups. 

Links from the Show:

• Kevin’s website
• Article about Princess Max
• Find Princess Max here 
• Join Mama Dragons today

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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Lack of representation is one of the biggest issues facing the LGBTQ+ outdoors community. Queer adventurers don’t often see themselves represented in the marketing campaigns and media narratives of mainstream brands and companies, but queer people are out on the roads and trails doing awesome things outside every day, and today’s guest is forging the trail for LGBTQ+ representation in the outdoor adventure world with determination and infectious joy. Today In the Den, Sara is joined by national parks expert and endurance athlete Mikah Meyer to talk about a journey that shaped him, the friendships that sustained him, and the vision he’s building for a world where every person can step outside—into nature, into community, into themselves—and know they belong.

Special Guest: Mikah Meyer

Called a "professional road tripper" by REI, Mikah's 3-year, world record road trip to all 419 U.S. National Park Service sites made him the first to experience all federal parks in a single journey. He's continued that passion in the 2020s with the creation of the Outside Safe Space Program, which provides allies a simple way of making The Great Outdoors more accessible for LGBTQ+ people. Since its launch in 2020 with a Run Across Minnesota, it has sold over 100,000 symbols, become carried by REI stores nationwide, and Mikah has raised awareness for the OSS Program through a Run Across Mississippi, Run Across Nebraska, Bike Across Oregon, and other "Across" projects. The symbol's creation has helped Mikah consult major brands on the design and implementation of their first Pride products, and spawned workshops, including keynote speaking for Kansas City Design Week, about inclusive marketing to the $1+ trillion dollar LGBTQ+ purchasing power community in the United States, and beyond.

Links from the Show:

• More on Theodore Roosevelt 
• Buck Island
• Outside Safe Spaces Logo Gear
• Canyon Chorus Documentary 
• Join Mama Dragons today

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State laws across the country, and now even federal policies, increasingly target transgender people and LGBTQ people more broadly.  Lifesaving, necessary gender-affirming care is being restricted or criminalized. Discriminatory policies and legislation, such as proper identity document bans, restrictions on participation in sports, and “sex definition” laws that police public restrooms, are attacking people in their day-to-day lives. What people may not realize, is that every one of these laws and policies affects intersex people, too, and that is why organizations like interACT are so important. From education to support, interACT is working to affirm trans and intersex folks in the fight to access lifesaving, necessary care. Today In the Den, we’ll  cover some important basic information that will explain intersex conditions, and we’ll talk about how we can better support and affirm the intersex folks in our lives and in our country.

Special Guest: Bria Brown-King

Bria Brown-King (They/She) is a Black, queer, non-binary, and intersex person. Bria is the Associate Executive Director at interACT: Advocates for Intersex Youth. Bria got their start in intersex advocacy in 2018 as an interACT Youth Advocate. In 2019, they became the first openly intersex person to speak about intersex issues on the steps of the Supreme Court. In their current role, Bria facilitates education on intersex issues, works to close the gap in intersex-affirming research and data collection, and serves on multiple advisory boards, representing intersex people nationally and internationally.

Special Guest: Dr. Bonnie Scranton

Dr. Scraton is a licensed clinical social worker, AASECT-certified sex therapist and sexual health educator, and an assistant professor of social work at Central Connecticut State University. She maintains a private practice and serves on a multidisciplinary team at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, where she supports children with variations in sex characteristics and their families. Motivated by both her clinical work and her lived experience as the parent of a child with an intersex variation, Bonnie's  doctoral research at the University of Pennsylvania resulted in the development of Project LISTEN, a peer support and empowerment program for parents newly learning about their child’s variation. The program is designed to provide information, connection, and support for parents and caregivers, helping families ensure children grow up with agency and ownership over their bodies and medical decisions.

Links from the Show:

• Find the interACT website here
• Intersex Definitions here
• Intersex FAQ here
• Join Mama Dragons today

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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The Supreme Court is currently considering two major cases brought by West Virginia and Idaho which address state-level bans on transgender female students playing on girls' school sports teams. Together, these cases could determine whether states can legally exclude trans athletes from school sports nationwide. Politicians and pundits argue about fairness, biology, and the future of women’s sports, but far too often the voices of transgender athletes themselves get lost in the noise. That’s exactly what Anna Baeth, Ellie Roscher, and Chris Mosier are trying to change. Ellie and Chris join Sarato discuss their new and groundbreaking book Fair Game, which breaks down the myths being told through personal interviews with trans athletes and includes an informative look at the research, history, and politics of gender in sports.  They explore the deeper question underneath it all: what do we really mean when we talk about fairness, and why does sports participation matter—not just for elite athletes, but for every kid who simply wants to play on a team, move their body, and belong.

Special Guest: Ellie Roscher

Ellie Roscher is the author of Fair Game, Remarkable Rose, The Embodied Path, 12 Tiny Things, Play Like a Girl and How Coffee Saved My Life. Ellie teaches writing and yoga in Minneapolis. She was a two-sport college athlete, competing in gymnastics and softball, and went on to coach both at the rec, club, and high school level. Ellie holds an MFA in Writing from Sarah Lawrence College and an MA in Theology from Luther Seminary. 

Special Guest: Chris Mosier

Chris Mosier is a trailblazing athlete, coach, and founder of TransAthlete.com, the go-to resource on transgender inclusion in sports. He made history as the first openly trans man on a U.S. Men’s National Team and helped change International Olympic Committee policy for trans athletes. A Nike-sponsored athlete, Chris is a five-time national champion, and relentless advocate for trans rights. When not training and competing, he mentors transgender and nonbinary athletes around the globe, living out his motto of “be who you needed when you were younger.” 

Links from the Show:

• Buy Fair Game here
• Ellie’s Website
• Find Ellie on IG
• Dr. Baeth’s Website
• Ellie’s Website
• Chris’s Website
• Dr. Baeth on IG
• Find Chris on IG

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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Research indicates that autistic individuals are more likely to identify as transgender or gender diverse compared to the general population. Studies show that people who do not identify with the sex assigned at birth are more likely to be autistic than cisgender individuals. This overlap between autism and gender diversity may be confusing to some parents.. Parenting a child who is gender diverse and autistic can feel complex, and supporting them may at times feel overwhelming, so we’re going to get into the complexity in today’s episode. We’ve invited Dr. Theresa Lyons,  international autism educator, to share her unique blend of science and real-world experience to try to give our listeners clarity, confidence, and a roadmap to better supporting their autistic children. 

Special Guest: Dr. Theresa Lyons

Dr. Lyons is an international autism educator, Ivy League scientist, and autism parent. She’s the founder and CEO of Navigating AWEtism, a groundbreaking platform that transforms the overwhelming complexity of autism science into clear, actionable steps for families. With a Ph.D. from Yale and a deeply personal mission, Dr. Lyons has worked with parents in over 21 countries, bringing evidence-based strategies that change lives. She shares her unique blend of rigorous science and real-world experience while giving parents what they’ve never had before: clarity, confidence, and a roadmap for progress.

Links from the Show:

• Navigating Awetism on YouTube
• Navigating Awetism on IG
• Navigating Awetism on FB
• Find Theresa on LinkedIn
• Navigating Awetism on TikTok
• Navigating Awetism website
• Awestism.net  
• Join Mama Dragons today

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Every news cycle lately brings yet another headline about transgender people and their families, whether it's the inflammatory remarks during the State of the Union or the recent invalidation of driver's licenses in Kansas, or any number of other recent court cases. These stories are showing up across the country and creating confusion and fear and a whole lot of questions for our families. So today In the Den, we're taking some time to pause, to break it all down, to breathe together, and to talk about what's happening in the news right now, what these developments mean, why they matter, and how we can all stay grounded and informed in the middle of it all. Joining Sara is special guest and policy strategist Sam Ames. 

Special Guest: Sam Ames

Sam Ames (they/he) is a legal and policy strategist with 15 years of leadership experience in the LGBTQI+ movement. Sam served in the Biden-Harris Administration as Chief of Staff in the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights and Senior Advisor in the Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration. Sam began their legal career as a staff attorney at the National Center for Lesbian Rights, working on impact litigation cases involving marriage equality, employment discrimination, and family law, and in 2013 founded the Born Perfect Campaign, a national effort to end anti-LGBTQI+ conversion therapy.

Links from the Show:

• Find Sam’s Substack here
• Born Perfect
• Join Mama Dragons today

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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