The phrase “Chosen Family” has popped up a few times on this podcast already. For those of you who aren’t too familiar with this idea, don’t worry, it’s not complicated. Chosen family is the family that you choose. For queer people, chosen family is rooted in the experience of frequently needing to build long-term support networks that aren’t based in biological closeness. This sense of familial closeness in the LGBTQ communities arises from a shared experience of finding an understanding and acceptance in relative strangers that was lacking in our biological families. But sometimes…bio family can be chosen family too.

Content Warning: This episode contains some mild adult language.

Making friends as an adult is notoriously difficult. Work and commitments to romantic partners and family tend to push making new friends down our list of priorities. On top of that, meeting new people is hard. Making a lasting connection is even harder. New relationships, including friendships, take work. You have to log hours together. You have to make getting to know that person a priority. And you have to have something in common that draws you together. Today, we have two stories of friends finding each other in adulthood.

School is a time of searching, of growth. It's a time when a lot of people, young people in particular, are figuring out who they are. Every young person feels alone sometimes, but for queers this feeling is underscored by the undeniable fact that you exist as a minority, often an invisible minority. And yet, and this truly amazing, even closeted queers, even queers who might not yet know that they are queer, have a tendency to find each other. We've got two stories for you today about queers meeting queers in the classroom. These are stories of queers finding each other against all odds and growing up together.

Intro: 00:00

LB and Keila’s Story: 02:26

Inclusivity/Exclusivity Discussion: 20:13

M and Edward’s Story: 31:30

Announcements: 46:33

Malcom Gregory Scott met Dr. Doug Ward in 1994 as an HIV patient with Kaposi Sarcoma, a type of cancer that causes the telltale skin lesions associated with an untreated HIV infection. Their story is a story of perseverance, luck, and friendship, but it is also an oral history of a queer community at the deadliest moment of the United States' HIV epidemic. Together, Malcom and Doug share how the HIV epidemic brought them together as doctor and patient, and how they became lifelong friends.

Content Note: This episode is rated as explicit for the occasional use of mature language and some brief, but frank, discussion of sexuality.

Brief History of HIV: 00:07

Malcom & Doug’s Story: 05:09

Announcements: 43:20

In this episode, we meet our hosts (Weston, Nikki, Justin, and Seth) and talk about queerness before diving into three relationship stories. This time, Weston & Seth, Nikki, and Justin each thell their own relationship stories. For all you discourse nerds, or if you want to learn more about queerness, our round table discussion starts at 00:04:08. For those of you who want to jump to the juicy relationship bits, start listening at 00:15:44. We hear about Justin discovering a new friend and a new community, Nikki’s journey to self-acceptance, and the story of how Weston and Seth navigated transforming a hookup into a platonic friendship. Content Note: This episode is rated as explicit for the occasional use of mature language and some brief, but frank discussions of sexuality.Relationship story: 00:00:05

Host intros: 00:02:51

Round table discussion: 00:04:08

Justin & Steven Story: 00:15:44

Nikki Story: 00:28:38

Weston & Seth Story: 00:41:55

Announcements: 01:08:46

This is Queer Meets Queer: LGBTQ+ relationship Stories. This trailer introduces episodes 1-3 of Queer Meets Queer. Our first episode will drop Thursday October 8th. New episodes air every other week on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of each month. A full transcript of this episode is available on our website: http://www.Queermeetsqueer.com. Episode Length: 2 minutes 15 seconds. Credits: Weston Anderson (Executive Producer, Host), Seth Goshorn (Co-host, Audio Engineer, Editor), Nikki Burian (Co-host), Justin Wayne Peters (Cohost). Music: Whispering Through by Asura (https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Asura/Bonus_Beat_Blast_2011/09_asura-whispering_through)