Proudly on Record

In this episode, we sit down with author, blogger, and long-time witch Yvonne Aburrow (they/them).

Yvonne shares their journey out of high-control Christianity, through atheism, and into paganism and Wicca, unpacking what it looks like to rebuild your beliefs after religious trauma. We discuss the many books they have written and how their work centers on queer, trans, disabled, and neurodivergent folks who still want real spiritual depth without the shame.

We also get into the Satanic Panic, what coven life is like, how polytheism and animism fit together, and how Wiccan practice is rooted in pleasure, nature, and community. Yvonne offers super practical advice for anyone curious about paganism or witchcraft, including how to spot red flags in groups so you don't jump from one high-control situation into another.

If you're deconstructing, witch-curious, or just a nerd who loves mythology, this one's for you.

In their very first Holy Homo Hangout Hour, Kari and Elise finally hit record on the conversations they usually have after the podcast ends. This time, they are talking about first queer relationships, especially when those firsts happen later in life.

They unpack puppy love that shows up “late,” why lesbians get stereotyped for U-hauling, secret first loves that never got closure, and the messy overlap of best-friend love and romantic love.

They also talk about the particular grief of breakups shaped by internalized homophobia, compulsive heteronormativity, and religious trauma, and what it means to grieve years later when you finally feel safe.

Join the conversation: What did you learn from your first queer relationship? Share your story in the comments or in our DMs on Instagram at @holyhomohealinghour.

TW: Rapture anxiety, hell imagery, exorcism, depression, suicidal ideation, self-harm

Theo (they/he) grew up Pentecostal in rural southeastern Kentucky, where church meant all-day services, speaking in tongues, and constant warnings about the rapture. As a kid, they went to bed terrified that a blood-red moon meant Jesus was coming back and leaving them behind.

In this episode, Theo shares how fear-based faith, “journey through hell” church events, and even a nearly staged exorcism shaped their early understanding of God, self, and mental health.

We talk about questioning a God who sends most people to hell, being told depression was a demon, and discovering as an adult that they are likely intersex, a secret their family never intended to name.

Theo also shares what it has been like to embrace their transmasculine identity, start testosterone, cut off the hair everyone else loved, and navigate a rocky relationship with a mom who insists it is all “made up.”

From small-town surveillance and public school prayer circles to online queer community, walkable New York streets, and building chosen family in Louisville, Theo reflects on what real healing has looked like for them and what they would say to baby Theo now: keep being unapologetically you.

TW: Purity culture

In this episode, we sit down with Mary B. (she/her) who is a New York City–based speaker, author, and host of the Found Family podcast. Mary B. traces her winding spiritual journey: from small-town Episcopal and Methodist pews, through Young Life and the World Race, into the soft patriarchy of “reasonable” evangelical spaces where certainty felt safer than questions.

Together we talk about purity culture, sexual shame, and the quiet “gay panic” of Subarus, flannels, and sapphic movie scenes that slowly cracked open her understanding of herself as bi. Mary B. shares how therapy, queer friends, and a growing disconnect with non-affirming theology eventually led her to walk away from a church she’d poured years into—and toward Pride, queer Bible study, and a faith that actually makes room for her full self.

We also get into people-pleasing, spiritual authority, and the moment she realized that the men on stage are not the voice of God—they’re just dudes. This is a story about found family, sacred queer spaces, grief, and the deep relief of finally letting the “sleeping bear” of your sexuality wake up.

Lucas Wilson, editor of Shame-Sex Attraction: Survivors' Stories of Conversion Therapy, joins us to unpack how conservative Christianity frames the world in stark binaries and how those behavioral scripts police gender, sexuality, and personal identity throughout our society. We swap Liberty University party stories and trace the difference between official conversion therapy programs and everyday conversion practices. This episode offers some clarity for anyone unlearning scripts that they never chose.

TW: Suicidal Ideation, Parental Death

Freddy (he/him) is a teacher, activist, and comic-book community builder from Washington DC. He identifies as a queer Christian and is currently exploring the United Church of Christ. We talk about holding faith and queerness together, moving from rigid church spaces to fully affirming community, and why “love your neighbor” has to look like action. Freddy also shares a provocative interpretive take, a queer reading of the Gospels that includes his theory that Jesus might be gay.

TW: Death of a parent at a young age

Jess (she/her) grew up where church wasn’t just on Sundays, it was in the air. In this conversation, the ex–Southern Missionary Baptist, queer mom, grad student, and aspiring horror novelist traces a path from small-town indoctrination to hard-won clarity. We talk about the rumor-mill “witch hunt” that trailed her as a teen, losing her dad and carrying adult grief too early, and why deconstruction sometimes happens in two waves. Jess wrestles the pull between compassion and boundaries with family, parenting without heaven/hell shortcuts, and shifting from “atheist missionary” energy to an ethical critique of the church that leaves room for people who still need faith.

TW: Conversion therapy, domestic violence, sexual assault of a minor, spiritual warfare, and cult dynamics.

Adam (he/him) revisits his journey from Independent/Southern Baptist upbringing to agnostic spiritualist. He shares early church memories alongside the trauma that shattered his safety there. Adam recounts being outed twice, pushed into conversion therapy, and scapegoated during a year-long missions program. Finally living openly and four years of therapy reframed worthiness, love, and consent. Today, Adam’s “healing weave” blends boundaries, community, nature time, tarot/astrology, and a firm refusal of manipulation.

TW: Purity culture, spiritual warfare, cult dynamics, abuse, drugs

This week, we sit down with Danielle (she/her) as she traces her religious path from Presbyterian roots to a high-control “house church” steeped in spiritual-warfare theology and her eventual deconstruction from evangelical culture.

She describes recognizing how spanking doctrine, political partisanship (especially during the Trump era), and her pursuit of a psychology degree set her down the path of deconstructing from her faith.

Now identifying as agnostic, Danielle focuses on compassion, nuance, and intellectual honesty. She builds community through genuine friendships outside church walls and celebrates life without needing divine justification.

TW: Drug Addiction, Abuse, Hate Speech

Chloé (she/her) is a Kentucky-born activist who has spent a decade working in domestic and sexual violence clinics.

Raised by her grandmother after losing her mother to addiction, Chloé grew up in a small, Baptist town and attended what she calls a “cult school,” where creationism replaced science and queer people were condemned from the pulpit. Her quiet prayers for God to take away her queerness eventually gave way to acceptance.

Now a spiritual progressive rather than a religious one, Chloé has reclaimed the compassion that first drew her to her faith.