Caterina and I had a great conversation about coming out late in life and being fully unapologetically herself.

Caterina Snyder is a newly out and proud queer woman who transformed herself from a traumatized child victim to an untamed woman and rebel entrepreneur. She's a body and sex-positive activist, artist, and business coach, whose purpose in life is to inspire and empower others to be their weird and wonderful selves and to live on their own terms instead of everyone else's.

You can find Caterina here;

Instagram @caterina.snyder

Website https://caterinasnyder.com/

Harker and I had a great conversation about growing up shy and finding the confidence to live his best life being authentic in who he is.

Harker Jones holds a degree in written communication and literature from Eastern Michigan University. He has written seven screenplays and two novels, including the Amazon #1 best-selling love story “Until September.” His short thriller “Cole & Colette” won the Get It Made Short-Form Screenplay Competition and was subsequently produced and accepted into thirty-two film festivals, garnering several awards. He loves cats and carbs, would like to be a pop star and is a member of the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle and a card-carrying member of Mensa.

Mike and I spoke about his life-altering illness and how he stepped into a relationship with his male caretaker. Plus his engagement story full of mishaps.

Mike Iamele thought he was straight his entire life. But a life-changing illness forced him to challenge that notion head-on when he fell in love with his male caretaker. And the two of them went on a years-long journey to explore sexuality and fluidity to figure out if the relationship could work.

When he chose to blog about his relationship, he had no idea that 100,000 people would share the post overnight, and he’d wake up to millions of people talking about his sex life.

You can find Mike here;

Website: www.mikeiamele.com

Instagram: instagram.com/mikeiamele

Savannah and I had a great conversation about cross-dressing vs drag and how important it is to be yourself in the world.

Savannah Hauk is a lifelong dual-gender biological male who uses the art of male-to-female crossdressing to create her feminine identity and presentation. She is the author of two books in her “Living with Crossdressing” series. She is also a social media and conference advocate, and co-host of “The Fox and the Phoenix Podcast” a resource on demystifying what crossdressing is.

You can find Savannah here:

www.livingwithcrossdressing.com

The Fox and the Phoenix Podcast

The "Living with Crossdressing" book series (two books)

Lexa and I had a great conversation about growing up in a loving family and acceptance and her position in Drag Taste.

Lexa Black is a 23-year-old, African queen from Cape Verde, a professional actor that fell in love with Drag art. Lexa is now a member of the drag team Drag Taste in Lisbon.

You can find Lexa here:

https://www.dragtaste.com/

Instagram @dragtaste

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/dragtaste

You can find your host Larissa Russell here:

Website: www.queervoicez.org

Facebook: www.facebook.com/QueerVoicez

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/queervoicez/

Finn and I had a great conversation about trans-masculine clothing and catching the online entrepreneurial bug, as well as how blessed he feels to have grown up in their family of love and acceptance.

Finnegan is a trans author, classicist, and entrepreneur with 1/3 of a PhD in philosophy from the University of Cambridge and 3/4s of an MFA in fiction from the University of New Mexico. He caught the bug for the start-up world and left academia for the final time in mid-2018 to (attempt to) cofound an online philosophy platform. He has since worked on numerous start-ups while writing a novella and a short story collection, founding Both&, and launching Limns, a monthly newsletter in collaboration with artist Mischa de Stroumillo.

You can Find Finn here:

www.finneganshepard.com

https://www.bothandapparel.com/

Instagram @finneganshepard

You can find your host Larissa Russell here:

Website: www.queervoicez.org

Facebook: www.facebook.com/QueerVoicez

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/queervoicez/

Maurice and I spoke about his family and growing up in a time of no acceptance, he also shared about the books he wrote about his family life and coming out.

Maurice is the author of three award-winning books. His body of work revolves around overcoming adversity to success and victory. His college degrees are earned from the University of Maryland, Johns Hopkins University, and the Loyola University of Maryland. He resides in Washington DC.

You can find Maurice here:

www.mauricewdorsey.com

Facebook: MauriceWDorsey

His books are available at www.mauricewdorsey.com

You can find your host Larissa Russell here:

Website: www.queervoicez.org

Facebook: www.facebook.com/QueerVoicez

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/queervoicez/

Grace and I had a great conversation about being a person of color in the LGBT+ community and also about religion and the fear of coming out to her parents and how finding a community where she feels accepted has changed her life.

Grace is the founder and current chair of the University of Calgary’s Residence Rainbow Council. A group dedicated to fostering safer spaces for LGBTQ+ students living on campus through programming, advocacy, and education. Grace is passionate about building relationships with other LGBTQ+ people in the city, and she believes that everyone deserves to feel part of a community that loves and accepts them.

The Residence Rainbow Council for the University of Calgary is are currently recruiting! If anyone listening will be living in Residence at the UofC and is interested in getting involved, definitely look us up and apply!

Instagram: @UofC.Rainbow

They also have a Discord Channel

It may be 53 Years since Stonewall, but we are still fighting for rights every day.

Never Forget https://www.history.com/news/stonewall-riots-timeline 

Ruth and I had a great conversation about what it means to be misgendered and why it is important to not judge a book by its cover.

Lawyer, triathlete, and geek - Ruth Carter strives to live a somewhat Renaissance life as a non-binary person in a binary-centric society. They openly share their experience so others can understand the challenges and frustrations that come with it. Ruth is also pansexual and demisexual.

Rev. Dr. Marcia Ledford and I had a great conversation about loss and belonging and how foundational this is to us as humans. Plus, we talked about the foundations of religion in the US.

The Rev. Dr. Marcia Ledford is a civil rights attorney representing society’s most marginalized. An Episcopal priest, she earned her Doctor of Ministry in political theology from the Pacific School of Religion. Dr. Ledford founded Political Theology Matters, LLC, to help the faithful develop public theology mission for greater social justice. She has been a legal advocate, priest, and pastor for the LGBTQ communities for over 30 years.

The Saint Helena Psalter (the psalms are written in inclusive language), Church Publishing Corporation, 2004.

Reading was from Psalm 139.

You can find Rev. Dr. Marcia Ledford here;

Email [email protected]

Website https://www.politicaltheologymatters.com

Media Resources https://www.politicaltheologymatters.com/media

The Rev. Dr. Marcia Ledford’s blog https://www.politicaltheologymatters.com/blog

The Lazarus Lives! Project Https://www.facebook.com/lazaruslivesproject

Political Theology Matters Https://www.facebook.com/politicaltheologymatters

Twitter @docledford

LinkedIn Https://www.linkedin.com/marcialedford

Free Civil Discourse Training offered via The Episcopal Church

For Individuals:

https://www.churchnext.tv/library/instruments-of-peace-a-guide-to-civil-discourse/109671/about/

For Groups: https://www.churchnext.tv/library/instruments-of-peace-a-guide-to-civil-discourse/109671/about/