Whether you're coming out of the closet, going for a job change, or choosing to start a relationship, insecurities have a way of screwing with your confidence. Truth is you confidence is actually louder than your insecurities. In this episode you'll...

• Uncover the truth about your confidence and how to leverage it in any situation
• Learn how to quell your insecurities and set them aside
• Explore what it takes to consistently confront your fears

About Rick Rick is a life and business coach, speaker, author, and podcaster. With his husband by his side and two grown children, life looks dramatically different than it did more than 20 years ago. “I started living by my expectations rather than others, and gained the confidence to love me. “Instead of seeking out hidden sexual experiences and lying about who I was, I found love with a man who embraced me and my kids. “Of course, none of this was easy. I wouldn’t bullshit you. That’s not my style.” In addition to speaking from stages around the country, today Rick helps men who are struggling with their sexuality to learn to be themselves, to stop making excuses, face their fears, and commit to living an unapologetic life. “The truth of who you are is far more powerful than the false truth you are pretending to be, so let’s work together to show the world WHO YOU ARE!” Ready to explore coaching? My goal is to support you in kicking ass and moving from, "Crap I'm stuck in this rut of life," to "Damn, I'm a badass gay/bi guy living a life the turns me on!" I'm a straight-forward, no BS kind of coach that challenges you to stop jerking yourself off, cut the lip service, and get in action - no excuses, no fears, no apologies. If you're ready to explore, invest a bit of time and a little bit of money in yourself and scheduled a "Your Next Move" coaching session today. Click here to schedule. 

It's time. Time for you to truly live your life (un)closeted. Yet, too often we are afraid of living our life in a way that FREAKS OTHERS OUT! To bad! You have the right to live your life on your terms, and if it freaks others out, that is on them. In this episode you'll...

• Be invited to take the risk of living life on your terms
• Learn how to embrace the risk of offending others in a loving way
• Explore what it takes to commit to you

About Rick Rick is a life and business coach, speaker, author, and podcaster. With his husband by his side and two grown children, life looks dramatically different than it did more than 20 years ago. “I started living by my expectations rather than others, and gained the confidence to love me. “Instead of seeking out hidden sexual experiences and lying about who I was, I found love with a man who embraced me and my kids. “Of course, none of this was easy. I wouldn’t bullshit you. That’s not my style.” In addition to speaking from stages around the country, today Rick helps men who are struggling with their sexuality to learn to be themselves, to stop making excuses, face their fears, and commit to living an unapologetic life. “The truth of who you are is far more powerful than the false truth you are pretending to be, so let’s work together to show the world WHO YOU ARE!” Ready to explore coaching? My goal is to support you in kicking ass and moving from, "Crap I'm stuck in this rut of life," to "Damn, I'm a badass gay/bi guy living a life the turns me on!" I'm a straight-forward, no BS kind of coach that challenges you to stop jerking yourself off, cut the lip service, and get in action - no excuses, no fears, no apologies. If you're ready to explore, invest a bit of time and a little bit of money in yourself and scheduled a "Your Next Move" coaching session today. Click here to schedule. 

For too long the voices of Christians have tried to silent the LGBTQ+ community. But what happens to their voices when Christian music artists sing the Lords praise, and those performers happen to be members of the LGBTQ+ community? Do they abandon them? Call them fake Christians? Film producer Ry Levey brings his newest documentary to life - Song Silenced - where he explores the intersectionality of Christian Musician and the LGBTQ+ performer. In this episode you'll

• Discover how quasi-Christians treat LGBTQ+ Christian Musicians
• Unlock power of what it takes to be Christian and LGBTQ+
• Learn why these types of documentaries are so important in our current social climate

About Ry Levey Ry knows that music is a vital expression for many people, and a powerful part of the faith community—it's a form of celebration of that belief. But what happens when your voice is silenced, for living your truth? In his new documentary, SONG SILENCED: COMING OUT IN CHRISTIAN MUSIC, Ry features beloved classic and current music artists and personalities like Marsha Stevens, Ray Boltz, Flamy Grant, Semler, Billy Newton-Davis, Jess Grace Garcia, Azariah Southworth, Rev. Diedre Gray, Jason & deMarco, Ricky Braddy, Trey Pearson, Derek Webb, Deacon Ross Murray and Ronté Pierce. The documentary tells the stories of faith-based music professionals, who took a great risk in coming out of the closet and faced silencing, and "Out" artists in the space, who share their message of love, faith, and inclusion far and wide, on a mission of equality and for the right to be who you are without sacrifice or silence. Ry is an Award-winning director of OUT IN THE RING. Support the film if you feel compelled Song Silenced Website

Imagine going from being an active church member of a very well known evangelical church in Houston, to becoming a drug addict, dealer, being homeless and serving in the armed forces. Take a ride on this crazy yet endearing story of De'Vannon Hubert as he shares his journey of life beyond struggles and near catastrophe to living his truth and not fighting against himself. About DeVannon De’Vannon Hubert is the author of Sex, Drugs, and Jesus, a memoir about his struggles with drug dealing, drug addiction, homelessness, serving in the Armed Forces, contracting HIV and HEP B, and rejection from his church for his sexuality. De’Vannon is also the host of the Sex, Drugs, and Jesus Podcast and is the owner of DownUnder Apparel. Aside from this, De’Vannon is an Honorably discharged veteran of the United States Air Force and a graduate of both Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and the Hypnosis Motivation Institute. He also graduated from the Medical Training College of Baton Rouge and is a Licensed Massage Therapist. De’Vannon’s story is one of surviving the social outskirts and finding one’s way back to a balanced path. Connect With DeVannon Website Facebook Twitter Instagram   You can also listen to the podcast on… https://apple.co/2RBmUxZhttps://bit.ly/2UxP9zN   https://spoti.fi/2JpvCfghttps://www.stitcher.com/podcast/rick-clemons/the-coming-out-lounge   http://tun.in/pjtKRhttps://bit.ly/30kT4kL   https://bit.ly/2FVH55j  

A massive breakup. Moving back in with the parents. Then getting thrown back out of that house. It's enough to make most people give up. But not J.R. Price. He found song, after song, after song to share with the world and turn his nightmare into his music. His inspiring story of accepting and loving yourself in your music and your life is what we are exploring today. About J.R. Grammy-nominated songwriter J.R. Price is out now with his Nightmare EP, the follow-up to his debut EP, Daydream.   Where Daydream was vibrant, exuberant and full of hope, Nightmare is the opposite.   “My light has been completely depleted,” Price, who has recently sustained a devastating break-up, admits. “When a dream is drained of all its light, it is by very definition a nightmare. The darkness I have felt lately is unlike any of the other things I have been through, because I was given hope first, then had it ripped away.”  To those who say it’s better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all, he adamantly disagrees. “After heartbreak, I am the exact opposite of who I used to be. I’m full of shadows and hatred. I am mad all the time. I cry myself to sleep. I wake up every few hours. I can’t talk to my friends. I am living in a nightmare.” The EP explores the five stages of grief, navigating through the dark, chaotic journey one must travel after experiencing loss; before ultimately, hopefully, achieving some level of normalcy.   The EP starts with “Dagger,” about the first cut to bleed and the denial one must feel in accepting the reality of the situation.  The second is the title track, about suffering through the aftermath of the split: the anger, the resentment, and the crushing heartache. In “Tiny”, the third single on Nightmare EP and the first release from it, Price sings about coming to the realization that the love who diminished him is really the one who is miniscule with little compassion and a shrunken heart. The song calls out all men who cause pain and feel no remorse. Through the process of writing and recording Nightmare, J.R. Price has finally come to the realization that the love he has been seeking from family and friends his whole life cannot be found until he loves himself.   “I have learned that I must accept what I have been dealt in life and that the only thing I can change is how I view myself. I have to love myself. That’s the real message I received while making Nightmare.” Connect With J.R. Price Website Album Facebook Instagram You can also listen to the podcast on… https://apple.co/2RBmUxZhttps://bit.ly/2UxP9zN https://spoti.fi/2JpvCfghttps://www.stitcher.com/podcast/rick-clemons/the-coming-out-lounge http://tun.in/pjtKR

What's the point of National Coming Out Day? It all depends on where you are in your journey. It can be a day of celebration or a day of starting your journey. Either way, today is a day for you to be you in your own way. Here's 5 Empowering Coming Out Thoughts to guide you on your journey. Happy National Coming Out Day. You can also listen to the podcast on… https://apple.co/2RBmUxZhttps://bit.ly/2UxP9zN   https://spoti.fi/2JpvCfghttps://www.stitcher.com/podcast/rick-clemons/the-coming-out-lounge   http://tun.in/pjtKRhttps://bit.ly/30kT4kL   https://bit.ly/2FVH55j  

In this third part of the National Coming Out Day Series, we explore living Unapologetically. Not by being a jerk, but by allowing yourself to be fully who you are in your own way and loving every minute of it. Take note of the cool exercises that can help you unapologetically step into being yourself on your journey out of the closet. You can also listen to the podcast on… https://apple.co/2RBmUxZhttps://bit.ly/2UxP9zN   https://spoti.fi/2JpvCfghttps://www.stitcher.com/podcast/rick-clemons/the-coming-out-lounge   http://tun.in/pjtKRhttps://bit.ly/30kT4kL   https://bit.ly/2FVH55j  

In this third part of the National Coming Out Day Series, we explore living Unapologetically. Not by being a jerk, but by allowing yourself to be fully who you are in your own way and loving every minute of it. Take note of the cool exercises that can help you unapologetically step into being yourself on your journey out of the closet. You can also listen to the podcast on… https://apple.co/2RBmUxZhttps://bit.ly/2UxP9zN   https://spoti.fi/2JpvCfghttps://www.stitcher.com/podcast/rick-clemons/the-coming-out-lounge   http://tun.in/pjtKRhttps://bit.ly/30kT4kL   https://bit.ly/2FVH55j  

National Coming Out Day is October 11th. And to celebrate this once a year event, Life (UN)Closeted is going solo with host Rick Clemons for a 3 part series on dumping your excuses, facing your fears, and living your unapologetic life as an LGBTQ+ person.  In this episode Rick challenges you to face down your fears. Look them in the eye, and slay them with powerful tips for being you - a proud LGBTQ+ individual.  You can also listen to the podcast on… https://apple.co/2RBmUxZhttps://bit.ly/2UxP9zN   https://spoti.fi/2JpvCfghttps://www.stitcher.com/podcast/rick-clemons/the-coming-out-lounge   http://tun.in/pjtKRhttps://bit.ly/30kT4kL   https://bit.ly/2FVH55j  

National Coming Out Day is October 11th. And to celebrate this once a year event, Life (UN)Closeted is going solo with host Rick Clemons for a 3 part series on dumping your excuses, facing your fears, and living your unapologetic life as an LGBTQ+ person. In this first episode Rick explores the excuses, brought on by confusion, that keep you from taking the brave step forward to be fully who you are in the world. He gives you the tool of curiosity to help you kick those excuses to the curb so that you too can celebrate National Coming Out Day when the time is right for you. You can also listen to the podcast on… https://apple.co/2RBmUxZhttps://bit.ly/2UxP9zN   https://spoti.fi/2JpvCfghttps://www.stitcher.com/podcast/rick-clemons/the-coming-out-lounge   http://tun.in/pjtKRhttps://bit.ly/30kT4kL   https://bit.ly/2FVH55j  

Being gay is hard enough. Imagine being gay in the margins where immigration, race, and LGBTQ issues clash with your sexual identity, and the conservative values, expectations, and fears of your hard working migrant parents make you feel less than the perfect son. Author, Anthony Christian Ocampo, PH.D. explores these types of stories in his new book Brown and Gay in LA: The Lives of Immigrant Sons, and he shares his insights, challenges and guidance on the podcast today. https://www.amazon.com/Brown-Gay-Lives-Immigrant-Sons/dp/1479824259/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1XDK4KIZS5EY1&keywords=brown+and+gay+in+la&qid=1661098699&sprefix=brown+and+gay+in+%2Caps%2C168&sr=8-1About Anthony Anthony Christian Ocampo, Ph.D. is Professor of Sociology at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. He is the author of Brown and Gay in LA: The Lives of Immigrant Sons and The Latinos of Asia: How Filipino Americans Break the Rules of Race, which has been featured on NPR, NBC News, Literary Hub, and in the Los Angeles Times. He is an Academic Director of the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity and the co-host of the podcast Professor-ing. His writing has appeared in GQ, Catapult, BuzzFeed, Los Angeles Review of Books, Colorlines, Gravy, Life & Thyme, and the Chronicle of Higher Education, among others. He has received fellowships from the Ford Foundation, Jack Jones Literary Arts, Tin House, and the VONA/Voices of Our Nations Arts Foundation. He was recently featured in the Netflix documentary “White Hot: The Rise and Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch,” as he was one of the employees involved in suing the company for racial discriminatory hiring practices. Raised in Northeast Los Angeles, he earned his BA in comparative studies in race and ethnicity and MA in modern thought and literature from Stanford University and his MA and PhD in sociology from UCLA. In his free time, he loves reading memoirs and essay collections, watching figure skating and gymnastics clips on YouTube, playing with his rescue dog Schmidt, binging queer content on Netflix and HBO Max, and being chaotic with his multigenerational Filipino American family. Connect With Website Facebook Instagram Twitter You can also listen to the podcast on… https://apple.co/2RBmUxZhttps://bit.ly/2UxP9zN   https://spoti.fi/2JpvCfghttps://www.stitcher.com/podcast/rick-clemons/the-coming-out-lounge   http://tun.in/pjtKR

From Monkeypox to Roe vs. Wade. Gay marriage to sodomy laws. This is not a time to say, "Oh that doesn't affect me, so I am not concerned!" Trust us, you do not want to get caught with you pants down during what could become very challenging times ahead for our LGBTQ+ community. Sharing his perspective as a media founder of Q.Digital, Scott Gatz, uses his platforms - GayCities, Queerty, LGBTQ Nation, and IntoMore - to bring truth to the world of what is really happening and important for LGBTQ+ people. There's no FAKE News here and don't let others fake you at about the truth of what is actually happening, or could happen if we don't' stay vigilant as a community to protect our rights. About Scott Throughout his life, Scott has managed to turn his hobbies into his career. His love of TV news led him to NBC News, Good Morning America, and Lifetime. Later, his passion for tech drew him to startups and to Yahoo! where he led products including My Yahoo! and Yahoo! Search. This experience ultimately resulted in his latest and most personal endeavor, in which he founded Q.Digital, the media company behind GayCities, Queerty, LGBTQ Nation, and IntoMore. Through these sites, Scott hopes to enhance the lives of LGBTQ people across the globe; helping them to live their lives to the fullest. Q.Digital enables dozens of major brands such as HBO Max, Mastercard, Nissan, Macy’s, Lexus, and Target to connect with our community in a way that only an LGBTQ-owned and operated network can do; creating touch points through custom branded content, video, live events, sweepstakes, high-impact display, and more. Aside from work, Scott is an avid traveler and lover of pop culture. Scott and his husband live in the Castro district of San Francisco with their 12-year-old son, and he is actively involved in furthering opportunities for LGBTQ families and aspiring parents. Connect With Website Facebook Instagram LinkedIn You can also listen to the podcast on… https://apple.co/2RBmUxZhttps://bit.ly/2UxP9zN   https://spoti.fi/2JpvCfghttps://www.stitcher.com/podcast/rick-clemons/the-coming-out-lounge   http://tun.in/pjtKRhttps://bit.ly/30kT4kL   https://bit.ly/2FVH55j  

Growing up LGBTQ can be very confusing. Your heart feels it before your head. You try to assimilate into hetero norms, but can't. Then once you accept who you are do you really take time to grieve the you that once was for the you that you've always been? Exploring all these types of thoughts in his brand new book - The You I See - author Danny Freemen brings us a big-hearted and humorous novel about young gay life and love. About Danny Danny Freeman is a native Texan: born in Dallas and raised in Houston. He is a former elementary school teacher and intervention program coordinator for a large Texas school district. Danny now lives and resides outside the Lone Star State in a happy spot somewhere between his head and his heart. He is busy writing his second novel. If there is an afterlife, he hopes he’ll get assigned to a small cottage between his two favorite couples in the world: Westley and Buttercup, and Alex and Brandon. https://rickclemons.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/The-You-I-See-cover.jpegAbout The You I See The You I See is a big-hearted, humorous novel that functions as both a sweet 'coming-of-age, coming-out' tale and an unapologetic affirmation of queer identity which traces the sexual awakening of two gay teens as they mature through adolescence. Set against the backdrop of a fundamentalist Christian context and the changing cultural landscape of Houston in the early 1990s, The You I See weaves together faith, politics, shifting social attitudes, the journey to self-acceptance, and the importance of LGBTQ+ allies like few other young adult novels. Connect With Danny Website Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn You can also listen to the podcast on… https://apple.co/2RBmUxZhttps://bit.ly/2UxP9zN   https://spoti.fi/2JpvCfghttps://www.stitcher.com/podcast/rick-clemons/the-coming-out-lounge   http://tun.in/pjtKRhttps://bit.ly/30kT4kL   https://bit.ly/2FVH55j  

As we wind up Pride Season, why not think about your next beach read. Even more provocative, why not think about the importance of having LGBTQ+ representation in our fiction life. After all, art imitates life...right? Proving that point, author Christopher Rice, writing under the pen name of C. Travis Rice shares a sizzling romance between two gay men in a luxurious coastal beach setting that not only enables you to be taken away in your fantasies, and also reminds us that we are queer, we're here, and we are not going away. In this episode you'll

• Discover why C. Travis Rice believes that gay romance deserves a place on your book shelves
• Learn why gay mentors should still be a part of growth for any queer person
• Unlock how to embrace the challenges of shifting perspectives as you grow into a mature gay adult

About C. Travis Rice CHRISTOPHER RICE is A New York Times bestselling author who writes under the pen name C. Travis Rice and delivers the fourth book in his Sapphire Cove series titled: SAPPHIRE DAWN. He is the recipient of the Lambda Literary Award. He is the Amazon Charts and New York Times bestselling author of: A Density of Souls; Bone Music, Blood Echo, and Blood Victory in the Burning Girl series; and Bram Stoker Award finalists The Heavens Rise and The Vines. An executive producer for television, he also penned 2 novels with his mother, Anne Rice: Ramses the Damned: The Passion of Cleopatra and Ramses The Damned: The Reign of Osiris. Together with his best friend and producing partner, New York Times bestselling novelist Eric Shaw Quinn, Christopher runs the production company Dinner Partners. Among other projects, they produce the podcast and video network TDPS, which can be found at www.TheDinnerPartyShow.com. He lives in West Hollywood, California, and writes tales of romance between men under the pseudonym C. Travis Rice. Connect With C. Travis Rice Website Instagram X-Twitter

Growing up a boy in a mans world is hard enough. But growing up a gay boy in a rural masculine, coal and ranch country is a whole other way of growing up. From bullying to beatings and watching the correlation of tearing up the planet as a metaphor for tearing up someone's self worth, author Taylor Brorby lays it all down in words with his new book BOYS AND OIL, a haunting journey of living life as a closeted gay man until you just can't any longer. About Taylor

Taylor Brorby is an essayist and poet. The coeditor of Fracture: Essays, Poems, and Stories on Fracking in America, his work has appeared in the Huffington Post, Orion, and North American Review, where he is a contributing editor.

https://amzn.to/3dVgDN5About The Book In BOYS AND OIL, a bracingly honest coming-of-age memoir, Brorby brings new focus to a chronically ignored region of the country whose rich resources—its land and its people—are too often ravaged for America’s expedient purposes. In his hometown, Center, North Dakota, there are no stoplights, grocery stores, or motels, just a few bars and churches, with pews filled on Sundays by men who will return to the coal mine or the power plant on Monday and every day after. Here Brorby recounts his story, and that of the prairie, too, interweaving historic coal-country vignettes with scenes from his youth to forge a new path across a notoriously unforgiving landscape. In visceral prose, Brorby recalls his upbringing in a trailer house in Center, and later in Bismarck; his adolescent infatuation with books; and how he felt intrinsically different from other boys in his home state, a state that ranks first in binge drinking. Childhood memories of picking chokecherries and fishing for bluegill with his beloved grandfather are soon replaced with the recollections of a closeted adolescent—of taunting and mocking, even beatings, from peers. Still, Brorby remained in North Dakota until he was outed to his family, and it became clear that to survive home, he had to leave first. Drawing readers into the tumultuous relationships of his early adulthood, Brorby relays his decision to flee North Dakota—physically, but never spiritually—for Minnesota, and eventually to come out on his own terms. Now an environmentalist, Brorby casts the prairie as a place of vulnerability, “where humans and animals must be resilient to survive.” Using the terror he experienced as a youth as a metaphor for the destruction of his homeland, Brorby describes his awakening as an activist, his arrest in Iowa at the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the yearning for the lush green grass and brown buttes of his childhood, “for a way to return.” Haunting and deeply affecting, BOYS AND OIL is as much a book about growing up gay in rural America as it is an extraordinary paean to the natural environment, and a plea to stop destroying the land we call home. Connect With Taylor Website Instagram You can also listen to the podcast on… https://apple.co/2RBmUxZhttps://bit.ly/2UxP9zN  

The Bible doesn't condemn homosexuality, DOES NOT, DOES NOT, DOES NOT. The bible actually preaches, start with love, and live each day from the point of love and all will be well with the world. However, for whatever reasons, religions, not all, but many have chosen to use the bible as a weapon to clobber the LGBTQ+ community. But one former Evangelical Pastor has said, there's another way. Author, Colby Martin, in his book Unclobber, literally unclobbers the Bible passages that have created pain and disillusionment LGBTQ+, all at the cost of his own space in the evangelical world. And he couldn't be happier as an amazing supporter of the LGBTQ+ community. Dive in and learn how you too can unclobber these Bible passages and know you are good in the eyes of God. https://amzn.to/3cgl4BJAbout Colby

Having experienced his fair share of pain and rejection from mainstream Christianity, Colby is awake to the flaws, tragic missteps, and misplaced earnestness that too often define the direction of the church. But God’s vision for creation as revealed in Jesus still compels him - a window into a way of being human that fosters wholeness, and can move communities away from shame into vulnerable, flourishing connection.

As author of “UnClobber: Rethinking our Misuse of the Bible on Homosexuality” and the soon to be released, “The Shift: Surviving and Thriving after Moving from Conservative to Progressive Christianity,” Colby has emerged as one of the leading voices of the Progressive Christian movement.

Together with his Co-Pastor and wife, Kate, they founded and lead Sojourn Grace Collective in San Diego, CA, while enjoying life with their four sons.

Colby is passionate about carving out a space within Christianity that includes:

• a whole-heartedly affirming posture toward LGBTQ individuals,

• a broader acceptance of other spiritual practices and religious perspectives,

• an agreeableness toward science,

• and a commitment to always growing, transforming, and trusting that the best days are yet to come.

Colby is currently partnering with other progressive Christian churches as a co-director for Launchpad Partners Inc, an organization committed to planting and resourcing similar faith communities all across the country.

It is Colby’s deeply held belief that when people are reminded they are loved children of God, wholly and exactly as they are, they begin to live from a place of freedom. His work as author and pastor aims to point us toward that freedom, stubbornly, hopefully, until we believe in it. Until we can live in it, that the church - fully loved, liberated, and empowered - may continue the long work of changing the world.

Connect With Colby Website Facebook Instagram Get Colby's Unclobber Cheat Sheet You can also listen to the podcast on…

Imagine growing up on a cattle ranch in small-town Wyoming and feeling like you are literally the only queer in town, or for hundreds of miles for that fact. No imagine you are creative, artistic, and want to be a music person, but you can't let the real music out of the bag you want write to express yourself because that would "out" you. Welcome to Alisia Kraft's world. She joins us today to showcase her cool queer self and to share her story from cattle ranch to music stages. About Alysia Having amassed devoted regional followings for projects Whippoorwill and The Patti Fiasco as an award-winning songwriter and incomparably magnetic frontperson, Alysia Kraft has sold out most of Colorado’s big stages and directly supported icons Bon Jovi, Blondie, Nathanial Rateliff and Bonnie Raitt on significantly bigger ones. Embracing the complexities of growing up queer on a cattle ranch in small-town Wyoming and choosing to love within a landscape that didn’t always love back, First Light is a triumphant homecoming and a defining solo debut. Kraft was signed to Louisville-based sonaBLAST records (Jack Harlow, Grlwood) in January 2022 and won Best Original Song at the Los Angeles International Independent Film Festival for Cold Mountain in February of 2022. Atwood magazine called the second single, Little River “a classic in the making… A driving outpouring of tension released through emotionally charged vocal lines brimming with heartfelt poetry.” With First Light dropping everywhere June 17, Kraft’s smart, retro-influenced indie pop and lush, bioluminescent folk will find crossover appeal with fans of HAIM, Sheryl Crow, Kacey Musgraves, and Waxahatchee. Enlisting close collaborator J. Tom Hnatow & Grammy-nominated Justin Craig to produce and mix and acclaimed engineer, Sarah Register to master, First Light is vastly open-hearted and thoughtfully hook-adorned and feels destined to put the-most-vibrant-yet version of Alysia Kraft onto a much larger map. Connect With Alysia Website Facebook Instagram You can also listen to the podcast on… https://apple.co/2RBmUxZhttps://bit.ly/2UxP9zN   https://spoti.fi/2JpvCfghttps://www.stitcher.com/podcast/rick-clemons/the-coming-out-lounge   http://tun.in/pjtKRhttps://bit.ly/30kT4kL   https://bit.ly/2FVH55j  

FUN. Something many of us have let disappear from our lives. Whether it is because of COVID, political strife, human rights, or simply because we keep letting life get in the way, FUN is a commodity that is worth fighting for to bring joy into our lives. Guiding us to uncloset fun and make it a habit is Mike Rucker, PH.D. He gives us cool insights on making fun an unapologetic habit in our lives. About Mikehttps://www.amazon.com/Fun-Habit-Disciplined-Pursuit-Wonder-ebook/dp/B09JPGPNQL Dr. Mike Rucker is an organizational psychologist, behavioral scientist, and charter member of the International Positive Psychology Association. He has been academically published in publications like the International Journal of Workplace Health Management. His ideas about fun and health have been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Fast Company, Forbes, Vox, Thrive Global, Mindful, mindbodygreen, and more. He currently serves as a senior leader at Active Wellness and is the author of the upcoming book The Fun Habit, available January 2023. Connect With Mike Website Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn You can also listen to the podcast on… https://apple.co/2RBmUxZhttps://bit.ly/2UxP9zN   https://spoti.fi/2JpvCfghttps://www.stitcher.com/podcast/rick-clemons/the-coming-out-lounge   http://tun.in/pjtKRhttps://bit.ly/30kT4kL   https://bit.ly/2FVH55j  

When you discover who you are, you need the power to move forward, get past the naysayers, and step into a space where you just may have to forgive and agree to disagree. Helping us embrace this way of showing up in the world, Meagan O'Nan, author of "Courage: Agreeing to Disagree Is Not Enough," helps us understand how to hold ourselves in a loving embrace so that we can be free. About Meagan

Meagan O’Nan is an award-winning author, keynote speaker, and vulnerable storytelling expert. She is the author of the award-winning book, “Creating Your Heaven on Earth,” and “Courage: Agreeing to Disagree Is Not Enough.” Her third book is forthcoming and will be published in September 2022 with New Degree Press.

Meagan has spoken to thousands of people at live events since 2008, including alongside internationally recognized spiritual leaders such as don Miguel Ruiz, author of the best-selling book, “The Four Agreements,” and she has appeared multiple times in local and national media. Meagan even received a personal note from Desmond Tutu after hearing a talk of hers on forgiveness.

Meagan is passionate about creating connections through storytelling as a way to overcome differences and generate healing. For the last decade, she has been a significant voice for the LGBTQ community in Mississippi, speaking with pastors, university representatives and classes, on the radio, and on the news as a voice offering unity and cooperation. Meagan now lives with her wife, Clare, and their daughter, Merit, in Starkville, Mississippi.

Connect With Meagan Website You can also listen to the podcast on… https://apple.co/2RBmUxZhttps://bit.ly/2UxP9zN   https://spoti.fi/2JpvCfghttps://www.stitcher.com/podcast/rick-clemons/the-coming-out-lounge   http://tun.in/pjtKRhttps://bit.ly/30kT4kL   https://bit.ly/2FVH55j  

Time to uncloset our creativity and consciousness. From wee ones to adults, author, speaker, and coach, Andrew Newman is inviting everyone to wake up, be creative and make the last 20 minutes of each and every day matter. About Andrew Andrew Newman is the award-winning author and founder of www.ConsciousStories.com, a growing series of bedtime stories purpose-built to support parent-child connection in the last 20 minutes of the day. His emerging work on The Creative Cycle heals ‘the dark aloneness of the unexpressed spirit’ by encouraging clients to stay connected to their creative spark and express their hearts fully. He is a graduate of The Barbara Brennan School of Healing, a Non-Dual Kabbalistic Healer and has been actively involved in the Mankind Project and Soul-Games men’s work for over 15 years. Connect With Sam Website Facebook Instagram Twitter You can also listen to the podcast on… https://apple.co/2RBmUxZhttps://bit.ly/2UxP9zN   https://spoti.fi/2JpvCfghttps://www.stitcher.com/podcast/rick-clemons/the-coming-out-lounge   http://tun.in/pjtKRhttps://bit.ly/30kT4kL   https://bit.ly/2FVH55j  

Ever filled out a Driver's License application? Doctors patient form? Passport form? School enrollment form? Of course you have. Now imagine filling out the form and the only options for the question - Male or Female - is Male or Female. Or even worse, "Gender at Birth!" This is where the nightmare starts for any transgender or gender non-conforming person when it comes to filling out the day-to-day forms of life, to do the stuff that life requires of us. Political Science and Women’s & Gender Studies Profession, Paisley Currah joins us to talk about his new book Transgender Right and Corpus: An Interdisciplinary Reader on Bodies and Knowledge, to help us better understand the continuing challenges of living your life uncloseted as a trans, non-binary, gender non-conforming individual in a world of conformity. About Paisley PAISLEY CURRAH is Professor of Political Science and Women’s & Gender Studies at Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. An award-winning author, he is the founding co-editor of the journal Transgender Studies Quarterly and the co-editor of Transgender Right and Corpus: An Interdisciplinary Reader on Bodies and Knowledge. Connect With Paisley Website Facebook Instagram Twitter   You can also listen to the podcast on… https://apple.co/2RBmUxZhttps://bit.ly/2UxP9zN https://spoti.fi/2JpvCfghttps://www.stitcher.com/podcast/rick-clemons/the-coming-out-lounge http://tun.in/pjtKRhttps://bit.ly/30kT4kL https://bit.ly/2FVH55j

What happens when a Mom says, "That's ok, you are who you are and I accept that!"? You get an amazing author who is giving out HOPE. Her debut novel, Mount Hope, takes readers on journey where a murder victim and Jesus have a conversation that could change the world...something we all need right now. A little change and empathy to let LGBTQ people just be themselves. About Kellie Kellie Woolf’s debut novel, Mount Hope, is set in Topeka, Kansas,where she was born and raised. While she now lives in Colorado With her husband, Steve, and her cat Figgy, Topeka will always be home. She graduated from Seaman High School, and all other children were born at Stormont Vail hospital. Mount Hope Cemetery is the resting place for precious family members, and as a young adult, her first employment experiences crisscrossed the city. Kellie has been a fierce supporter and advocate for the LGBTQ+ community. Multiple family members on every side, dear friends and herself belong. In this human experience, she believes three things are designed innately for everyone: faith, hope, and love. In this work, she presents all three, with the greatest of these being love. While she is serious about her family, faith, and social justice,you can usually find her laughing with friends and exploring nature. Her adventures include marrying Steve, raising three children, and adopting two teenagers—to say nothing of evading London’s subway bombs in 2005, competing in Irish Hard shoe dancing, and being a contestant on Ellen’s Game of Games. She is currently acting as co director of a non-profit organization that offers healing and inspiration to today’s weary teachers and is working on her second novel. Connect With Website Facebook Instagram Twitter You can also listen to the podcast on… https://apple.co/2RBmUxZhttps://bit.ly/2UxP9zN   https://spoti.fi/2JpvCfghttps://www.stitcher.com/podcast/rick-clemons/the-coming-out-lounge   http://tun.in/pjtKRhttps://bit.ly/30kT4kL   https://bit.ly/2FVH55j  

As we wrap of PRIDE MONTH, let's never forget, our lives and our freedom as LGBTQ individuals continues to be in the crosshairs of so many people in the world. Over 300 bills to date, in 2022 have been brought to the political forefront as a strike to who we are and how we live our lives. Helping us see how to be more vigilant and active to keep our freedoms is Fran Hutchins, Executive Director of Equality Federation. This candid and fun conversation shows how to take a stand and never give up as an LGBTQ Person. About Fran Fran Hutchins is the Executive Director at Equality Federation, the national strategic partner to state-based organizations working to win equality in the communities we call home. She has been with the Federation since 2012 and has worked on the ground with our partners to build strong organizations, develop tailored strategies, and create data-driven solutions to meet the needs of our movement. Fran’s career has focused on building a strong progressive movement that changes the way we approach some of our most pressing social problems: poverty, homelessness, education, economic inequality, and discrimination. She is especially proud to have served as Regional Field Director for Mainers United for Marriage, the successful 2012 campaign to win marriage for same-sex couples in Maine. Fran completed her MBA and Masters of Public Policy and Public Administration at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Fran grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, and now lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with her wife, Laura Kalba, a professor at the University of Minnesota, and their orange cat, Oscar Wilde, and fluffy dog, Otis. Connect With Website Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn You can also listen to the podcast on… https://apple.co/2RBmUxZhttps://bit.ly/2UxP9zN   https://spoti.fi/2JpvCfghttps://www.stitcher.com/podcast/rick-clemons/the-coming-out-lounge   http://tun.in/pjtKRhttps://bit.ly/30kT4kL   https://bit.ly/2FVH55j  

Being LGBTQIA is messy. Hell, being human is messy. But no one prepares you as a mother of four to have two of two kids that are LGBTQIA. Yet what she never saw coming is her life calling to come out of her cocoon to support kids and families on the journey out of the closet. Heather Hester, proud mom, coach and podcaster joins this PRIDE season with a candid conversation and insights about raising two LGBTQIA children and the ups and downs of parenting. About Heather Heather is a podcast host and coach for parents and allies of LGBTQIA+ adolescents and young adults. She believes the coming out process is beautiful. She works with her clients to let go of fear and the feelings of isolation so that they can reconnect with themselves and their child in a meaningful, grounded way. She is a writer, the mother of four (two of whom are LGBTQIA), and a student of life who believes in embracing the messiness, opening to education, strengthening through empowerment, and overcoming anything with love. Connect With Heather Website Podcast Facebook Instagram Twitter You can also listen to the podcast on… https://apple.co/2RBmUxZhttps://bit.ly/2UxP9zN   https://spoti.fi/2JpvCfghttps://www.stitcher.com/podcast/rick-clemons/the-coming-out-lounge   http://tun.in/pjtKRhttps://bit.ly/30kT4kL   https://bit.ly/2FVH55j  

Imagine being a young, closeted TV newscaster trying to make your way during the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Then because of one innocent move out in public, your whole world shatters. Joining us today on the podcast is three-time Emmy® award-winning anchorman and best-selling author turned actor, Mark Pettit, to share his journey of coming into being himself in a world hellbent on telling him he would never work again because of his sexuality. In this episode you'll

• Hear the moments that most impacted Mark's life to help him live his truth
• Unlock hatred that existed and still exists towards the LGBTQ+ community
• Learn how live your truth, anything is possible

About Mark Mark is a three-time Emmy® award-winning TV news anchorman and best-selling author turned actor. In his new, heart-wrenching memoir, ANKRBOY (a #1 bestseller on Amazon), Pettit reveals what it was like growing up as a young, closeted TV newscaster trying to make his way during the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. His first book, A Need to Kill, also went to #1 in three categories on Amazon. Pettit has worked in journalism for more than 30 years on both the national and local level. A former anchorman at CNN, Pettit also worked as an anchor and investigative reporter at WXIA-TV (NBC), KMTV-3 (CBS) in Omaha, and at CBS46 News (WGCL-TV) in Atlanta (Now "Atlanta News First"). As an actor, Mark has appeared in a number of hit TV series including "True Detective," "Mindhunter," "Mr. Mercedes," "Sweet Magnolias" and "The Game." Pettit is also Executive Producer and appears in the horror film "The Curse of La Patasola" which is airing now exclusively on STARZ and will soon be available worldwide. In this episode you'll...

• Hear Mark's  incredible + inspiring comeback story
• Why it's important to ignore naysayers and live your most authentic life
• Learn the importance of remembering history to continue our LGBTQ+ progress

Connect With Mark Website Instagram LinkedIn YouTube

It's Pride month and that means go, go, go. Celebrate, celebrate, celebrate. Then you hit the block wall of overdoing it, overthinking it, and even getting down on yourself because everyone else is doing Pride so much more fabulous than you are. WRONG.

But what do you do when you start getting in your head? How do you get back to you? What if you could navigate Pride in a very health way and state of mind? You can with a Pride Wellness Survival Guide. That's what the Fabulous Victoria Albina (Certified Life Coach, UCSF-trained Family Nurse Practitioner and Breathwork Meditation Guide) is sharing today, besides her lipstick recommendations, on the Life (UN)Closeted Podcast. She gets real about her FEM self, taking stock of our lives, and making things better with a dose of self-care, self-love, and self-appreciation.

About Victoria Victoria Albina (she/they) is a Certified Life Coach, UCSF-trained Family Nurse Practitioner and Breathwork Meditation Guide with a passion for helping women realize that they are their own best healers, so they can break free from codependency, perfectionism and people-pleasing and reclaim their joy. She is the host of the Feminist Wellness Podcast, holds a Masters degree in Public Health from Boston University School of Public Health and a BA in Latin American Studies from Oberlin College. Victoria has been working in health & wellness for over 20 years and lives on occupied Munsee Lenape territory in New York’s Hudson Valley. Connect With Website Facebook Instagram LinkedIn You can also listen to the podcast on… https://apple.co/2RBmUxZhttps://bit.ly/2UxP9zN https://spoti.fi/2JpvCfghttps://www.stitcher.com/podcast/rick-clemons/the-coming-out-lounge http://tun.in/pjtKRhttps://bit.ly/30kT4kL https://bit.ly/2FVH55j

How do you live with courage to become an everyday leader in your life? As an LGBTQ individual? As a Human? Let's ask Ash Beckham. She's got a new book at - Step Up: How To Live With Courage and Become an Everyday Leader, where she takes everything she's learned about leadership since her TEDx Talk "Coming Out of Your Closet" went viral, and distills it down in an easy to understand and apply way of being in life. https://www.amazon.com/Step-Up-Courage-Become-Everyday/dp/1683642783/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1652632089&sr=8-3About Ash Ash Beckham is an inclusion activist whose TEDx Talk “Coming Out of Your Closet” became a viral sensation. Her intrepid, relatable, and intrinsically comical style has made her an in-demand speaker, including events at Microsoft, Lockheed Martin, Bank of America, and the keynote for the first LGBTQ Conference at Harvard University. Connect With Ash Website Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn You can also listen to the podcast on… https://apple.co/2RBmUxZhttps://bit.ly/2UxP9zN   https://spoti.fi/2JpvCfghttps://www.stitcher.com/podcast/rick-clemons/the-coming-out-lounge   http://tun.in/pjtKRhttps://bit.ly/30kT4kL   https://bit.ly/2FVH55j  

It's Pride Month and we are kicking it with a celebration and a deep dive into loving yourself in your prideful skin as an LGBTQ person - regardless of your flaws and addictioins. During this fun and deep conversation, David Houle a multidisciplinary artist shares his coming out and addiction recovery journey with ways to celebrate you and your life this pride season. Happy PRIDE everyone! About David From rural Loretteville, Quebec, Canada, multidisciplinary artist David Houle battled addiction for a decade; he is now motivating audiences to face their struggles and inspires them towards a path of recovery and healing. In 2019, as a guest keyboard artist and dancer with Montreal’s atypical metal band Deadly Apples, he performed at the 25th Vans Warped Tour, alongside Simple Plan, Good Charlotte and Blink 182. He also performed at the VIVO X El ROCK festival in Peru with Slipknot, The Strokes and Bullet for My Valentine and toured with Marylin Manson. Both of his parents served in the Canadian Armed Forced, and after his mother’s death in 2003, he decided to study dance full-time, later graduating from the School of Toronto Dance Theatre. In 2015 he worked alongside Cindy Lauper in the Tony Award-Winning musical Kinky Boots in Toronto. In 2020 before the global pandemic, he was set to debut the world premiere French adaptation of it in Montreal with Serge Postigo and Just for Laughs Productions. Singer/Songwriter David Houle was also the lead character for two productions of Cirque Du Soleil and a dancer for the Canadian Opera Company. He is also the choreographer for Billboard charting artist Dion Todd. Connect With David Website Instagram LinkedIn You can also listen to the podcast on… https://apple.co/2RBmUxZhttps://bit.ly/2UxP9zN   https://spoti.fi/2JpvCfghttps://www.stitcher.com/podcast/rick-clemons/the-coming-out-lounge   http://tun.in/pjtKRhttps://bit.ly/30kT4kL   https://bit.ly/2FVH55j  

Imagine being a gay dad. Cool. Now imagine your child loving, loving, loving sports. Is that your worst nightmare come to life? Maybe and if so, you will love this conversation with writer, journalist and hopeful TV Writer of a new sitcom - looking for a home - Bradley Jacobs. No he's not looking for a home but his sitcom, "One of the Guys," needs to land in the public eye in order to bring laughter, insights about the world of  gay parenting and sports in a heteronormative world. About Bradley Bradley Jacobs (also known as BJ) grew up in Santa Monica, California, and graduated from Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism. He has served as a writer and editor at Newsweek, Entertainment Weekly, Bloomberg, and Us Weekly, attending the Oscars and Sundance and regularly discussing showbiz news on CNN and MSNBC. His collection of essays on the ups and downs of being a gay dad for Shondaland, USA Today, Mom.com and more inspired his 2022 comedy pilot, “One of the Guys.” He's also the author of “The Bungalow,” a short about four-times-wed “Rebel Without a Cause” director Nicholas Ray’s secret romance with future Oscar-nominee Gavin Lambert. Connect With Bradley Website Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn You can also listen to the podcast on… https://apple.co/2RBmUxZhttps://bit.ly/2UxP9zN   https://spoti.fi/2JpvCfghttps://www.stitcher.com/podcast/rick-clemons/the-coming-out-lounge   http://tun.in/pjtKRhttps://bit.ly/30kT4kL   https://bit.ly/2FVH55j  

We all want to experience freedom, joy, confidence. Many of us also want to keep it simple. When you bring all those desires together, along with burning desire to carve your own path, you meet a woman named Meg He - a clothing brand innovator, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu athlete and a queer, British-Chinese digital nomad. She's here keeping it real simple about living her life uncloseted. About Meg Meg He is the co-founder and co-CEO of Aday, a sustainable capsule clothing brand designed for outfit repeating, so you can do more with less. Aday sources innovative super fabrics and partners only with factories who put people + planet first. Aday has been named one of the Fast Company’s World’s Most Innovative Companies and Meg has been named one of Goldman Sachs' 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs, Forbes 30 under 30 and Gaingels 100. She's also a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu athlete and World medallist. Connect With Meg Website Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn You can also listen to the podcast on… https://apple.co/2RBmUxZhttps://bit.ly/2UxP9zN   https://spoti.fi/2JpvCfghttps://www.stitcher.com/podcast/rick-clemons/the-coming-out-lounge   http://tun.in/pjtKRhttps://bit.ly/30kT4kL   https://bit.ly/2FVH55j  

Our LGBTQ bodies are beautiful machines, but not unless we take care of them. Now add the stress of being LGBTQ, plus normal life stuff, and it can easily become a recipe for disaster. But what if you had a plan that stoked your body full of good just by eating right and know what is best for your body, not the fit you in the box way most medical professionals try to make you fit into. Enter Andrea Nakayama, Founder of Functional Nutrition Alliance to guide us with tips and ideas for fueling our LGBTQ lives and bodies in a powerful sustainable way. About Andrea

As the host of the 15-Minute Matrix Podcast and the founder of Functional Nutrition Alliance, Andrea is leading thousands of students and practitioners around the globe in a revolution to offer better solutions to the growing chronic illness epidemic. By highlighting the importance of systems biology, root cause methodology, and therapeutic partnerships, she helps historically underserved individuals reclaim ownership of their health.

Connect With Andrea Participate In Andreas Case Study Website Facebook Instagram LinkedIn You can also listen to the podcast on… https://apple.co/2RBmUxZhttps://bit.ly/2UxP9zN   https://spoti.fi/2JpvCfghttps://www.stitcher.com/podcast/rick-clemons/the-coming-out-lounge   http://tun.in/pjtKRhttps://bit.ly/30kT4kL   https://bit.ly/2FVH55j  

We've all heard the term "life imitates art, and art imitates life" or something along those lines. Now add to the mix a person who lives, as themselves, as trans and nonbinary opera singer and you have today's guest - Aiden K. Feltkamp (they/he). They are breaking the molds of opera and musical theater with their intimate perspective of their release of the Anthology of New Music: Trans & Nonbinary Voices. Get ready for an enlightening and eye-opening journey of truly expressing one's authentic self. About Aiden https://newmusicshelf.com/product/trans-nonbinary-v1/Aiden K. Feltkamp (they/he) is a Turn the Spotlight fellow and graduate of Bard College Conservatory’s Graduate Vocal Arts Program.   As a trans nonbinary singer, Aiden often found opera and musical theater compositions to be aggressively gendered and binary and was at a loss for repertoire that spoke to them. Aiden came up with the idea to build a first-of-it’s-kind collection of vocal and piano music that, rather than focusing on a particular instrument or voice type, centered on identity.  In partnership with NewMusicShelf, Aide is proud to release the first-ever volume of songs written for and/or by transgender and nonbinary people, Anthology of New Music: Trans & Nonbinary Voices. The collection presents composers who highlight the multifaceted intersections unique to the lived experiences of transgender and nonbinary people and stands as a declaration that despite the many historical attempts to isolate them, these communities will not be silenced. Their voices are beautiful, and through printed compositions, the anthology spotlights these important artists so that the world can recognize and revel in their beauty.  NewMusicShelf Anthology of New Music: Trans & Nonbinary Voices, Vol. 1 is published by Dennis Tobenski and curated by Aiden Feltkamp. They hope it will be a resource for voice teachers and recital presenters and reach audiences beyond the book through live performance. Connect With Aiden Website Instagram Twitter LinkedIn You can also listen to the podcast on… https://apple.co/2RBmUxZhttps://bit.ly/2UxP9zN   https://spoti.fi/2JpvCfghttps://www.stitcher.com/podcast/rick-clemons/the-coming-out-lounge   http://tun.in/pjtKRhttps://bit.ly/30kT4kL  

Regardless of what's going on in the world, or how you struggle to find yourself in this crazy world, the one thing I want you to know, is you can, should, and have the right to be UNAPOLOGETICALLY YOU! That's what this short little solo episode with me, Rick Clemons, your host is all about. You can also listen to the podcast on… https://apple.co/2RBmUxZhttps://bit.ly/2UxP9zN   https://spoti.fi/2JpvCfghttps://www.stitcher.com/podcast/rick-clemons/the-coming-out-lounge   http://tun.in/pjtKRhttps://bit.ly/30kT4kL   https://bit.ly/2FVH55j  

Who are you and why are you? Do you ever entertain those thoughts as you navigate your life? As you wander out of the closets of your life? Of course we do, but what if you could step deeper into those questions and uncover that we are on an ever evolving journey into discovering yourself as yourself, completely uncloseted. Benjamina and Azrya Bequer, co-founders and stewards of BEQOMING, a platform and process for unveiling the deepest aspects of ourselves to awaken our aliveness. Join us for the journey in this powerful and informative conversation. About Benjamin and Azrya Azrya and Benjamin Bequer are the co-founding stewards of BEQOMING, a platform that provides transformational tools, media, and experiences to help people see beyond the veil of who they thought they were supposed to be and awaken their full-spectrum aliveness.  They also co-authored a book titled BEQOMING: Everything You Didn’t Know You Wanted. To purchase the special edition hardcover (not available on Amazon) please visit www.BEQOMING.me/book or download at www.Audible.com/BEQOMING.  Connect With Website Instagram Instagram - Azrya Instagram - Benjamin You can also listen to the podcast on… https://apple.co/2RBmUxZhttps://bit.ly/2UxP9zN   https://spoti.fi/2JpvCfghttps://www.stitcher.com/podcast/rick-clemons/the-coming-out-lounge   http://tun.in/pjtKRhttps://bit.ly/30kT4kL   https://bit.ly/2FVH55j  

Sara Church, author of the new book Mending My Mind, spent much of her childhood living below the poverty level.  Her mother was a crystal meth addict. One summer she lived in a tent. This caused her severe, constant anxiety and distress. Filled with shame, she became hooked on receiving external validation as she grew older through both her studies and ultimately, her career.  She put herself through college by working two jobs.  She got her graduate degree at night.  Today, she’s a successful biotech executive. But hard work wasn’t all it took for her to get there: she also needed to overcome the trauma that her childhood poverty and parental addiction led to.  The trauma nearly destroyed her chance at happiness despite her professional success. Ultimately, through a journey of self-exploration and with the help of therapy, Sara was able to heal and retrain her mind -- and reap true satisfaction from both her career and her personal life. About Sara Sara Church is a biotech executive and an advocate for mental health. At age forty, upon discovering that she was suffering from Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder...

The journey of an LGBTQ+ persons life, more often than not, requires the GOD TALK. And even more often that not, that conversation kills their desire to talk about GOD. Today we have a candid discussion, just in time for Pride month, about the relationship you can have with GOD and all the lies you've been told. Author Dr. Jamie Marich shares her forthcoming book - You Lied to Me About God: A Memoir - is a captivating journey to coming to terms with being a Christian and a bisexual - OH MY! It's also available for pre-order now, wherever books are sold. In this episode you'll

• Discover how you can be Christian and a bisexual
• Unlock the answers for being with God in your own way
• Learn how God speaks to you and loves you even when extreme Christians want you gone

About Jamie

Dr. Jamie Marich (she/they) inspires people and systems to heal the wounds that keep them stuck, allowing for authentic transformation free of shame and stigma. A TEDx speaker, clinical trauma specialist, expressive artist, lay spiritual director, short filmmaker, Reiki master, yoga teacher, and recovery advocate, she unites all of these elements in her mission to redefine therapy. She is a woman in long-term recovery from an addictive disorder and lives with dissociative identities. As a queer woman who survived multiple spiritually abusive experiences in childhood and adulthood, Jamie is passionate about helping people to recognize where religion and spirituality may be causing harm in their lives so that they can chart a course for personalized healing.

Jamie travels internationally teaching on topics related to trauma, EMDR therapy, expressive arts, and spiritual abuse while maintaining a private practice and online education operations in her home base of Akron, Ohio. Marich is the founder of the Institute for Creative Mindfulness and the developer of the Dancing Mindfulness approach to expressive arts therapy. Her new book - You Lied to Me About God: A Memoir - captures her story about the tumultuous she has had to be with God and the candid ways she has chosen to be Christian and a bisexual. Available for pre-order now. Connect With Jamie Website Instagram Facebook LinkedIn YouTube

Life is a series of change and transitions. Yet, when we get most frustrated with change - coming out, losing relationships, navigating a career change, battling life threatening diseases - do we really take the time to pass through that change and honor, release, and welcome in the new way of being in our life. Today, we venture into creating rituals for some of life's biggest moments with Author and Ritual expert Day Schildkret. About Day

Day Schildkret is an award-winning author, artist, ritualist, teacher and is internationally known for Morning Altars, which Buzz Feed calls, “a celebration of nature and life.” Working for over a decade with individuals, communities and organizations, Day is helping to heal the culture through a meaningful and creative response to change. Day is the author of Hello, Goodbye: 75 Rituals for Times of Loss, Celebration and Change (Simon Element/Simon & Schuster) publishing in 2022 as well as, Morning Altars: A 7-Step Practice to Nourish Your Spirit through Nature, Art and Ritual (The Countryman Press/W.W. Norton). More about Day at morningaltars.com and dayschildkret.com

Connect With Days Personal Website Morning Alters Website Facebook Instagram You can also listen to the podcast on… https://apple.co/2RBmUxZhttps://bit.ly/2UxP9zN   https://spoti.fi/2JpvCfghttps://www.stitcher.com/podcast/rick-clemons/the-coming-out-lounge   http://tun.in/pjtKRhttps://bit.ly/30kT4kL   https://bit.ly/2FVH55j  

We've all got our story and stories. Yet, in this day and age where books are being burned that inform young minds about LGBTQ+ people, it's more apparent than ever that we need a hero. An author hero. That hero is author Greg Howard who lovingly and bravely puts pen to paper, or in this modern age types like a mad man on his computer the stories that bring LGBTQ+ life to spotlight, unlike when most of us were growing up. It is not time to hide the truth, but to print the truth and continue to live the truth and to let our stories, even fictional stories, stake our claim as human beings who do belong in society - no guilt or shame. Here's Greg's story. About Greg

Greg Howard was born and raised in the South Carolina Lowcountry where his love of stories blossomed at a young age. Originally set on becoming a songwriter, Greg followed that dream to Nashville, Tennessee, and spent years producing the music of others before eventually returning to his childhood passion of writing stories. Greg’s critically acclaimed debut middle-grade novel, The Whispers was nominated for an Edgar Award and his second middle-grade novel, Middle School’s a Drag, You Better Werk! is being adapted for television by Harry Potter producer, David Heyman, Heyday Television, and NBC/Universal.

Greg writes about LGBTQ characters and issues as his focus is writing the kind of books he wishes he’d had access to as a gay kid growing up in the South. There’s also a measure of his own life in all of Greg’s stories. On writing, Greg says, “The more of yourself you leave on the page, the more the readers will connect and engage. But once you write your story and send it out into the world, it no longer belongs to you. It belongs to the reader.”

Also, the author of the young adult novel Social Intercourse, Greg’s latest middle-grade offering, The Visitors, will be published by Putnam/Penguin on February 1, 2022. Still involved in the music industry as co-owner of an independent record label in Nashville, when he’s not writing books or producing music, Greg enjoys traveling, reading, hiking, and spending time with friends. He currently resides in Nashville with his three rescued fur babies--Molly, Toby, and Riley.

Connect With Greg Website Facebook Instagram Twitter You can also listen to the podcast on… https://apple.co/2RBmUxZhttps://bit.ly/2UxP9zN   https://spoti.fi/2JpvCfghttps://www.stitcher.com/podcast/rick-clemons/the-coming-out-lounge   http://tun.in/pjtKRhttps://bit.ly/30kT4kL  

Coming out late in life has its moments. In this case it started with a graveside moment that made him realize, "It's time to be me." He called himself out of hiding and shares his story in his book "Leather and Lace: a gay man, lost love, and a road trip with his dead sister," Matt Bays takes us on the road trip of love, loss, and redemption. About Matt Matt Bays is a writer, speaker, and life coach with a passion for calling people out of their hiding places. He joins the ranks of writers such as Anne Lamott, Donald Miller, and Glennon Doyle in offering readers honest, raw, funny, and insightful compassion for the journey of life. He and his husband, Chris, live in Cincinnati, Ohio. Connect With Website Facebook Instagram Twitter You can also listen to the podcast on… https://apple.co/2RBmUxZhttps://bit.ly/2UxP9zN   https://spoti.fi/2JpvCfghttps://www.stitcher.com/podcast/rick-clemons/the-coming-out-lounge   http://tun.in/pjtKRhttps://bit.ly/30kT4kL   https://bit.ly/2FVH55j  

We're all creating stories and doing sales jobs in our lives - all day long. From coming out to getting a new job, to finding the right relationship, to closing your next big client. There's always a story we tell ourselves and a sales job that leads to us finding our next level of happiness and trust in ourselves. Using the art of selling and our own smarts, sales coach and lesbian (gasp) Leah Neaderthal shares her story and insights for selling yourself through life and making the most of who you are meant to be in the world on the other side of the closet doors. About Leah

Leah Neaderthal is a sales coach for women who run B2B consulting and coaching businesses, the founder of Smart Gets Paid, and the host of The Smart Gets Paid podcast. A three-time business owner who started her career in corporate marketing, Leah didn’t learn to sell by being a commissioned salesperson. She taught herself everything she could about selling, overcame “selling shyness,” and created a sales approach that feels comfortable, builds strong client relationships, and gets results. Prior to starting Smart Gets Paid, Leah built, grew, and sold three businesses. Learn more about Leah at smartgetspaid.com or connect with her on LinkedIn.

Connect With Leah Website Facebook LinkedIn You can also listen to the podcast on… https://apple.co/2RBmUxZhttps://bit.ly/2UxP9zN   https://spoti.fi/2JpvCfghttps://www.stitcher.com/podcast/rick-clemons/the-coming-out-lounge   http://tun.in/pjtKRhttps://bit.ly/30kT4kL   https://bit.ly/2FVH55j  

This is not where you anticipate being but yet here you are. Ever had one of those moments? Maybe when you finally decided to come out? Or, maybe it was when you took that next big career move, or wrote that song you thought would never hit the airwaves? Regardless of where you are, here you are. Elisa Nicolas - singer, songwriter, and proud member of the LGBTQ community - shares her story, her craft and her truth about being "here you are!" About Elisa Elisa Nicolas is a Canadian-born, Ohio-based Asian-American songwriter. Nicolas has been observing, experimenting, and translating the human experience into song for almost three decades. Respected as a multi-instrumentalist, solo artist, singer and songwriter, Nicolas has been writing and recording across numerous styles including rock, jazz, country, pop, and R&B. Nicolas has been described as having a “wryly eloquent self-awareness” - 614 Magazine. “Nicolas swings with the Jazz power of Rickie Lee Jones, sways with the Pop chops of Aimee Mann and spits with the authority of Chrissie Hynde, sometimes all within the same song.” -Cincinnati CityBeat. "A smoky voice guides a gorgeous album of low-key -- but definitely not low-wattage -- jazz, blues and pop.” - The Columbus Dispatch. Connect With Elisa Website Facebook Instagram Twitter Spotify You can also listen to the podcast on… https://apple.co/2RBmUxZhttps://bit.ly/2UxP9zN   https://spoti.fi/2JpvCfghttps://www.stitcher.com/podcast/rick-clemons/the-coming-out-lounge   http://tun.in/pjtKRhttps://bit.ly/30kT4kL   https://bit.ly/2FVH55j  

We all have secrets. We all keep Secrets. And, all those secrets cause pain and trauma. Sharing her own secret, as an LGBTQ ally, Elaine Pasqua takes us on a journey of a family secret that took her own Mother and Step Father that led her to turn to one community, that helped her find solace, while that community was having the world turn their backs on them. About Elaine A 6’5″ 250-pound man once looked at Elaine Pasqua standing at 5’3″ and said: “You are the biggest little thing I’ve ever seen!” For 25 years this funny, passionate, and energetic woman has been traversing the country, helping her clients obtain peak performance through positive relationships and choices. She has worked with countless businesses and associations, 31 professional sports teams across the NFL, NBA, and MLB, hundreds of college campuses, our military leaders, and high schools and parent groups. Her passion lies in transforming people to create stronger, innovative teams to increase business profits. When Elaine is not traveling for fun, or singing with friends, you can find her home in her gardens with plenty of dirt under her fingernails! Connect With Elaine Website Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn You can also listen to the podcast on… https://apple.co/2RBmUxZhttps://bit.ly/2UxP9zN   https://spoti.fi/2JpvCfghttps://www.stitcher.com/podcast/rick-clemons/the-coming-out-lounge   http://tun.in/pjtKRhttps://bit.ly/30kT4kL   https://bit.ly/2FVH55j  

Imagine being gay, and being institutionalized. Imagine being gay and being jailed for being gay. Nothing to imagine, this is reality. The reality of being gay in the 1950's, just a little over 70 years ago, this was our LGBTQ reality. Robert C. Steele, captures Jim Foshee story in the book he authored, Banned From California - of what it was like to grow up as an out gay man, in the '50s being banned from family and life, just because he was gay. We're exploring this true story that truly shows why our fight to be who we are is never done. About Robert https://www.amazon.com/Banned-California-Persecution-Redemption-Liberation-ebook/dp/B0899DV3B2Robert C. Steele served as a reporter and producer at various radio and television stations in Colorado and Arizona. He was a broadcaster at the Italian National Broadcasting Company (RAI Radiotelevisione Italiana) in Naples, Italy. While on active duty in the U.S. military he was a reporter for Armed Forces Radio and Television along the coast of Vietnam, the Asian Western Pacific and Vicenza, Italy. He was a volunteer and activist in the early gay liberation movement with the Gay Coalition of Denver and with two weekly gay radio shows in Colorado. Later, as a federal government public affairs officer, he served as a government spokesperson and managed media relations with reporters who worked for media outlets from across the USA and around the world. Connect With Robert Website You can also listen to the podcast on… https://apple.co/2RBmUxZhttps://bit.ly/2UxP9zN   https://spoti.fi/2JpvCfghttps://www.stitcher.com/podcast/rick-clemons/the-coming-out-lounge   http://tun.in/pjtKRhttps://bit.ly/30kT4kL   https://bit.ly/2FVH55j  

Diversity and inclusion isn't just a once a year endeavor to be brought out of the closet and then shoved back into the closet. It is a daily practice of learning to stand in other peoples stories. Taking us into the diversity zone, Don Reed - master storyteller and entertainer - guides us to step into other peoples world so we can be better humans for all. About Don Don Reed (NPR Storyteller/Tonight Show with Jay Leno/Co-Headed NBC Advertising & Promotion Voice Over/Radio Division) is a multi-hyphenate with a career that spans television, stage, and network advertising & promotion. But the fundamental building block of all his successes is that Don… tells stories. With over 20 years of experience in the world of storytelling – tales of diversity and inclusion have been the overarching thread throughout Don Reed’s multi-faceted career. From public speaking to stand-up comedy to advertising for film and television to his solo shows – Stories of cultural diversity and gender inclusivity are at the heart of it all. In addition, Don has attended and participated in JEDI Discussion Series Training (Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion). He is on the Board of Directors of both Elevate Oakland – a non-profit that brings culturally vibrant art, music, and speakers to Oakland’s public schools – and Shotgun Players – a theater company determined to create bold theatre that inspires, challenges and impacts EDI for both artist and audience within the community. Connect With Website Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn You can also listen to the podcast on… https://apple.co/2RBmUxZhttps://bit.ly/2UxP9zN   https://spoti.fi/2JpvCfghttps://www.stitcher.com/podcast/rick-clemons/the-coming-out-lounge   http://tun.in/pjtKRhttps://bit.ly/30kT4kL   https://bit.ly/2FVH55j  

From South Africa to New York City, you never know when you are going on your journey or where you will find yourself to finally be yourself. Speaking straight from a very purposeful heart, Yumna Aysen - aka Yumi - helps people find themselves so they can be the best version of themselves. Funny, insightful and full of energy, Yumi joins us today with tips on how to be you regardless of where you land on the planet. About Yumna Yumna Aysen is a success coach & a motivational speaker who has a passion for helping people find purpose, clarity, happiness and success. She ultimately aims to help people become the best version of themselves and to create a life that they can’t wait to wake up to and live every day. Yumna has been featured in Medium and interviewed on national television and on local radio in South Africa including eNCA, The Afternoon Express Show and Cape Talk Radio. She has also been featured in the Weekend Argus and on Bizcommunity. Connect With Website Facebook Instagram LinkedIn You can also listen to the podcast on… https://apple.co/2RBmUxZhttps://bit.ly/2UxP9zN   https://spoti.fi/2JpvCfghttps://www.stitcher.com/podcast/rick-clemons/the-coming-out-lounge   http://tun.in/pjtKRhttps://bit.ly/30kT4kL   https://bit.ly/2FVH55j  

You need to make more space. Get a storage unit for the crap in your life so you can make space for more PEACE in your life. Why? Without PEACE, it's a pretty miserable existence here on the good old planet earth. To help us get there, I've found an awesome guest - Diana Cutaia -  who is witty, funny, and GASP a lesbian who coaches people and team to bring more PEACE into their lives and work places. About Diana Diana Cutaia founded Coaching Peace in 2012, a company focused on using the power of play and connection to empower organizations and teams to create cultures of care, belonging, and peace. However, the work started for Diana 25 years earlier when she first began to explore the meaning of peace. In that time, she hasn’t just defined it; she has built a brand bringing the principles of Coaching Peace to her vast clientele.  Today her clients range from school districts to national organizations and global companies. Diana takes pride in discussing how employers, sports teams, and organizations alike can challenge norms and define a culture that doesn’t just make people feel welcome but makes them feel like it was designed for them. She brings high energy, a sense of humor and great story telling to any conversation! Connect With Website LinkedIn You can also listen to the podcast on… https://apple.co/2RBmUxZhttps://bit.ly/2UxP9zN   https://spoti.fi/2JpvCfghttps://www.stitcher.com/podcast/rick-clemons/the-coming-out-lounge   http://tun.in/pjtKRhttps://bit.ly/30kT4kL   https://bit.ly/2FVH55j  

Living your truth, and being who you are, is every human beings right - provided it doesn't hurt someone. Which is always the tricky thing to discern. Yet, how is someone being gender fluid hurting anyone? In reality it is just another aspect of whom a person is. So live and let live, and just go be your own version of an unapologetic rebel. Speaker and coach Don Mamone joins us for the pride celebration podcast about living their truth on their terms - as we all should. Take a listen and learn the how to me more aligned with yourself, and how not to succumb to the guilt and shame of living by others expectations. About Don

Don Mamone is a speaker, identity coach & consultant teaching audiences and clients how to reach their maximum potential & impact by discovering & embracing their true identity and supporting companies dedicated to safe spaces that support unapologetic authenticity.

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Imagine, growing up in a cult, being married to a female-to-male transgender individual for 10 years, and through all of that, plus life's other twists and turns, you find your calling to help others come out of their subconscious closets to live their fullest life! Today, Dr. Frances Yahia, tells her story and guides us to uncover the one impure thought we have about ourselves that '"we closet" repeatedly in our lives that gets threaded into every single problem or story we tell (or don't) about ourselves. About Dr. Frances Dr. Frances Yahia is an archetypal astrologer, shaman, akashic records' reader, and spiritual counselor based in South Florida. She earned her Ph.D. in Mental Health Counseling and Educational Leadership from Barry University and has studied and taught metaphysics for over two decades. Dr. Yahia's main interests are Jungian analysis with an emphasis on depth psychology, patterns, shadow work, and the use of symbols and archetypes to assist clients with their deepest subconscious patterns. She helps client identify the narratives they've built their lives upon, deconstruct the story and build a new foundation with the clients authentic values and philosophy at the forefront of their life. She is the author of The Seven Gates: Seven Steps beyond Self-Awareness & Witch Bitch: Ceremonies, Rituals and Magic for Gods and Goddesses. She is the President at Hidden Truths College of Metaphysics where she teaches consciousness coaching, her 12 truths to a spiritual path, akashic records, esoteric astrology, universal laws and metaphysics. Connect With Website Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn You can also listen to the podcast on… https://apple.co/2RBmUxZhttps://bit.ly/2UxP9zN   https://spoti.fi/2JpvCfghttps://www.stitcher.com/podcast/rick-clemons/the-coming-out-lounge   http://tun.in/pjtKRhttps://bit.ly/30kT4kL   https://bit.ly/2FVH55j  

Religious trauma. Seems to be the norm for a majority of LGBTQ people that you encoutner. “You’re damned to hell!” or “You’re a sinner!” Of course most those people hurling those words for get that they’re divorced (a sin), have committed adultery (a sin), have eaten pig (a sin), worn woven fabrics (a sin), but all of that is forgivable, but you just can’t be a man and lay with another man, or a woman and lay with another woman – well women that’s ok because men find that pleasing to their naughty little minds. Well listen up you LGBTQ sinners (which you're not), there’s a new minister in town and his name is Eric Feltes and he is sashaying his way into your world on Instagram and TikTok show you a new light for accepting yourself and moving past your religious trauma. About Eric Through creativity, authenticity, and courage, Eric Feltes cultivates connection and tells stories in order to inspire others to love themselves and the world around them. In his professional life, he does this through acting and life coaching. Through his coaching business, Eric helps other gay men free themselves from Church shame, a topic he knows a great deal about, seeing as he has lived through this trauma himself. In his free time, Eric loves spending time with his dog, his twenty plants, and his close friends in Los Angeles. Connect With Website TickTock Instagram https://tylerschrenk.com/ You can also listen to the podcast on… https://apple.co/2RBmUxZhttps://bit.ly/2UxP9zN   https://spoti.fi/2JpvCfghttps://www.stitcher.com/podcast/rick-clemons/the-coming-out-lounge   http://tun.in/pjtKRhttps://bit.ly/30kT4kL   https://bit.ly/2FVH55j  

In 2014 when my friend Leah Jantzen approached me to take over her radio show - I scoffed and said, "Not my thing!" Well, it's very much my thing and here we are at the 500th Episode of Life (UN)Closeted. What started as an Internet radio show known as The Coming Out Lounge, has now become one of my greatest joys. A place where guiding and inspiring people to come out of the closets of their lives, fills my soul with joy. Today, I want to celebrate by taking you on a journey, of how you, yes you, can dump your excuses, face your fears, and live your unapologetic life. Today, I celebrate you and the 500th Episode and from the bottom of my heart I think you for being a listener. Hope this episode gives you inspiration to step out, step up, and step into living your uncloseted and unapologetic life. You can also listen to the podcast on… https://apple.co/2RBmUxZhttps://bit.ly/2UxP9zN   https://spoti.fi/2JpvCfghttps://www.stitcher.com/podcast/rick-clemons/the-coming-out-lounge   http://tun.in/pjtKRhttps://bit.ly/30kT4kL   https://bit.ly/2FVH55j