Canada Out of the Closet

Send a text In this Series Finale episode, Travis & John reflect on the past three seasons of Canada Out of the Closet. They discuss a few of the recurring themes that came up through many of the chats with their guests, and share their own takeaways from those conversations. 

Send a text Cole Alvis is a Metis and Two-Spirit artist based in Toronto. Originally from Alberta, Cole joins Travis & John today to talk about her own journey to finding her true identity, and shares how the world of theatre has positively impacted her life. 

Send a text Originally from the BC Okanagan, Jenni Barrientos now makes her home in Medicine Hat with her wife and children where she is an archivist for the city. She joins Travis & John today to share her own coming out story, while also giving a little glimpse into the queer history of the city all three of them call home. 

Send a text Based in Edmonton, Alex Marshall is a transgender woman who is working to better the lives of 2SLGBTQ+ youth all over Alberta. Today she joins Travis & John to share about her own story and talk about her experience working with queer youth and the folks who support them. 

Send a text Along with being a performer, playwright, composer and writer, Edmontonian Darrin Hagen has been active in the drag scene for many years. Today he joins Travis & John to share his own story, and how it has shaped his award-winning body of work. 

Send a text Originally from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Max Craven now lives in New York, where he is pursuing his dream of performing in musical theatre. He recently finished a national tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber's iconic musical, Cats , and joins Travis & John today to share his own coming out story. 

Send a text Meagan Thorson is a fellow “Hatter” who was well into adulthood before she discovered she’s a lesbian. She joins Travis & John today to talk about her own story, coming out to her parents and now ex-husband, and showing us it’s never too late to find out who you are. 

Send a text Based in Edmonton, Alberta, Trevor Schmidt is an award winning playwright and the artistic director of Northern Light Theatre. Today he joins Travis & John to talk about how his own story has influenced his work on stage.

Send a text Originally from a small farming community in Saskatchewan, Jeffery Straker is a singer/songwriter who now shares his music all over Canada, Latin America and Europe. He joins Travis & John today to open up about his own story, and explore how his identity has influenced his music. 

Send a text Travis & John are back for a third season! In this preview episode they talk about what this season looks like, and make a major announcement about the upcoming season.

Send a text In this season finale episode, Scott Blair returns to help Travis answer a couple questions from John, as well as some from our listeners! Then Travis & John share their final big takeaways from the season. 

Send a text Turns out we really like to talk. We recorded a little too much with Scott Blair for our Season Finale next week - so today we present a deleted scene from that episode! Scott joins Travis & John to revisit the list of movies and plays that we have talked about over the past two seasons. The movies and plays mentioned are:  The Birdcage  Brokeback Mountain Bare: A Pop Opera The Tal...

Send a text It only took us almost two full seasons before nepotism brought a guest into our studio. Travis’ husband, Curtis Perrin, joins him and John this week to talk about his own story of growing up in the Salvation Army in Southern Ontario, being a music educator, and how he found love on the Prairies. John also asks Travis and Curtis about what marriage means to them and how their recent we...

Send a text In early August, news broke about 18 former students of a Christian high school in Saskatoon who were accusing the school and its leaders of abuse. Coy Nolin is one of those 18, and this week he joins Travis & John to share his own story. Coy details how he was outed by another student, shares how school leaders performed an exorcism to “cast out the gay demons,” and tells us how h...

Send a text In the short year since being elected as the Member of Parliament for Edmonton Griesbach, Blake Desjarlais has made a name for himself in the Canadian political scene. Desjarlais is the first Two-Spirited MP to serve in the House of Commons, and joins Travis & John this week to discuss what it means to be Two-Spirited and to share his own story as a member of the community. 

Send a text Travis & John took a road trip to Saskatchewan this week to meet Jim Saville, owner of the Spring Valley Guest Ranch near Cypress Hills. For over thirty years Jim has hosted the Ranch Rendezvous weekend, where LGBTQ+ people have been able to freely be themselves, even when they couldn’t always at home. Jim shares his own coming out story, how he found his identity in bigger cities,...

Send a text Not all coming out stories are told from the perspective of the person coming out. Alison Wearing, author of Confessions of a Fairy's Daughter: Growing Up with a Gay Dad , says that after her father came out, it took her years to come out herself as the daughter of a gay man. This week she joins Travis & John to share the story of her father coming out of the closet while she...

Send a text Boden Broadhead joins Travis & John this week to talk about his coming out story, growing up gay in the LDS Church, and how he found a home in the world of performing arts. 

Send a text In this premiere episode of season 2, Travis & John are joined by Gabriella Hoff, a new teacher in the province of Alberta. Gabriella opens up about her own story as a bisexual woman, and dives into some of the misconceptions around this part of our acronym. 

Send a text Travis & John are back to talk to more Canadians living outside of the closet. In this preview for Season 2, they reflect on what Season 1 meant to both of them, and provide an update on the release for Season 2. 

Send a text In the final episode of the first season, it is John's turn to sit in the hot seat. John opens up about his own story -  how he has not always been an ally, how him and his high school friends treated a classmate who came out, and the people who helped him along the way to become an ally. Travis & John also share their three big takeaways from the entire season of the show.

Send a text Surprise! Our conversation with Jasper Hallows continued after we finished recording his episode - and we decided to share our conversation with you in this bonus episode. This informal chat sees Jasper answering more of our questions, and diving into hot topics in the Trans community like the Olympics and Caitlyn Jenner. 

Send a text Travis's good friend Stephanie Martin joins him and John today to share her own coming out story. An educator from Medicine Hat, Alberta,  Stephanie opens up about not being confronted with her identity until later in life, where she fits on the LGBTQ+ spectrum, and the importance of GSAs in our schools. 

Send a text Travis & John are joined today by Gavin Crawford, host of CBC Radio's  Because News . Gavin shares his own coming out story, how he always knew he was gay while he grew up in the Mormon church, and about being a visible member of the LGBTQ+ community in the public eye. 

Send a text In today's episode Travis and John are joined by Jasper Hallows, a transgender man from Toronto. Jasper shares about his own journey to finding his identity, how he first came out as a lesbian, and how other people in his life helped him find who he truly is. Jasper also shares some information about how the process of transitioning can be different for everyone.