Proudly on Record

Kit Sargent (they/them) is the host and creator of the Queer Consciousness podcast, a show built around one deceptively complex question: “ What does being queer mean to you? ” Kit shares what it was like growing up in evangelical Christianity (“fundy-light”), being homeschooled, and later walking away from the faith they were raised in. What followed was a full-scale deconstruction. Kit also spea...

We sit down with Shelly Ayers who is a high school counselor, Appalachian writer, and “true mountain child” from Stinking Creek, Tennessee (yes, it’s real). Shelly talks about the deep pull of Appalachia: the clan-like ties to land and kin, the pressure to protect your people, and what it means to tell your truth. Together, we unpack growing up Pentecostal and all the shouting, speaking in tongues...

Rachel (she/her) joins Holy Homo Healing Hour to talk about leaving Mormonism. A lifelong LDS member, Rachel breaks down the everyday realities of Mormon culture: the pressure to perform obedience, the gendered power structure of the priesthood, missions, and the way purity culture shapes adults long after they’re married. She also unpacks the moment everything shifted in 2015 with the LDS baptism...

In this Holy Homo Hangout Hour, Kari and Elise continue their relationship mini-series by diving into toxic relationships, especially the subtle, covert kind that makes you feel like you’re losing your mind. They unpack love bombing, hidden emotional manipulation, and the “small” comments and behaviors that slowly chip away at your confidence (until you’re monitoring moods, walking on eggshells, a...

In this episode, we sit down with author, blogger, and long-time witch Yvonne Aburrow (they/them). Yvonne shares their journey out of high-control Christianity, through atheism, and into paganism and Wicca, unpacking what it looks like to rebuild your beliefs after religious trauma. We discuss the many books they have written and how their work centers on queer, trans, disabled, and neurodivergent...

In their very first Holy Homo Hangout Hour, Kari and Elise finally hit record on the conversations they usually have after the podcast ends. This time, they are talking about first queer relationships, especially when those firsts happen later in life. They unpack puppy love that shows up “late,” why lesbians get stereotyped for U-hauling, secret first loves that never got closure, and the messy o...

TW: Rapture anxiety, hell imagery, exorcism, depression, suicidal ideation, self-harm Theo (they/he) grew up Pentecostal in rural southeastern Kentucky, where church meant all-day services, speaking in tongues, and constant warnings about the rapture. As a kid, they went to bed terrified that a blood-red moon meant Jesus was coming back and leaving them behind. In this episode, Theo shares how fea...

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

Lucas Wilson, editor of Shame-Sex Attraction: Survivors' Stories of Conversion Therapy, joins us to unpack how conservative Christianity frames the world in stark binaries and how those behavioral scripts police gender, sexuality, and personal identity throughout our society. We swap Liberty University party stories and trace the difference between official conversion therapy programs and everyday...

TW: Suicidal Ideation, Parental Death Freddy (he/him) is a teacher, activist, and comic-book community builder from Washington DC. He identifies as a queer Christian and is currently exploring the United Church of Christ. We talk about holding faith and queerness together, moving from rigid church spaces to fully affirming community, and why “love your neighbor” has to look like action. Freddy als...

TW: Death of a parent at a young age Jess (she/her) grew up where church wasn’t just on Sundays, it was in the air. In this conversation, the ex–Southern Missionary Baptist, queer mom, grad student, and aspiring horror novelist traces a path from small-town indoctrination to hard-won clarity. We talk about the rumor-mill “witch hunt” that trailed her as a teen, losing her dad and carrying adult gr...

TW: Conversion therapy, domestic violence, sexual assault of a minor, spiritual warfare, and cult dynamics. Adam (he/him) revisits his journey from Independent/Southern Baptist upbringing to agnostic spiritualist. He shares early church memories alongside the trauma that shattered his safety there. Adam recounts being outed twice, pushed into conversion therapy, and scapegoated during a year-long...

TW: Purity culture, spiritual warfare, cult dynamics, abuse, drugs This week, we sit down with Danielle (she/her) as she traces her religious path from Presbyterian roots to a high-control “house church” steeped in spiritual-warfare theology and her eventual deconstruction from evangelical culture. She describes recognizing how spanking doctrine, political partisanship (especially during the Trump...

TW: Drug Addiction, Abuse, Hate Speech Chloé (she/her) is a Kentucky-born activist who has spent a decade working in domestic and sexual violence clinics. Raised by her grandmother after losing her mother to addiction, Chloé grew up in a small, Baptist town and attended what she calls a “cult school,” where creationism replaced science and queer people were condemned from the pulpit. Her quiet pra...

TW: Abuse, Suicide, Death, Birth Trauma, Infertility Alpha (she/they) was raised in a lineage of deeply conservative Catholics dating back fifteen generations. Their deconstruction and queer awakening happened side by side in high school sparked by compassion for queer friends and a dawning awareness of her own bisexuality. Years later, a near-death experience during childbirth reshaped their beli...