Straight Friendly Global

In this follow-up episode, Carmel Tanaka and Michael Ross reflect on the impact of personal ancestry, exploring resilience amid trauma and adversity. Carmel shares insights from her genealogical research and the unique challenges faced by Jewish communities in light of recent conflicts. Mentioned in this episode: This category is for internal use only. Here you can try out whatever you’d like rega...

In this first conversation, Michael Ross and Carmel Tanaka discuss her role as the founder of JQT Vancouver, a unique non-profit advocating for inclusivity in Jewish queer spaces. They delve into Carmel's identity as both Japanese-Canadian and Jewish, exploring how these intersections shape her activism and community work. Introduction to Carmel’s identity, activism, and the creation of JQT Vancou...

Takeaways: The future of queer entrepreneurship looks optimistic, with increasing focus on community and innovation. Understanding the three types of LGBTQ+ businesses helps entrepreneurs strategize effectively for their ventures. Purpose-Driven businesses not only generate profit but also foster meaningful social change within communities. Diversity and inclusion are crucial for creating supporti...

In this episode of "Straight Friendly Global" host Michael Ross sits down with Sarit Ben Shimol and Barak Krips to discuss the influential "Four Sectors" model in entrepreneurship and its vital role in understanding business strategy, competition, and cooperation. Michael, a seasoned entrepreneur and LGBTQ+ consultant, emphasizes how this model forms the backbone of his courses, offering a macro v...

In this emotionally stirring episode of the 'Straight Friendly' podcast, host Michael Ross engaged in a deeply personal conversation with Rick Poulin, a survivor and activist from the daunting era of HIV and AIDS in the United States. The episode offers listeners an opportunity to delve into an intense recount of Rick's firsthand encounters with the deadly disease, unmasking the initial silence an...

In this episode of the 'Straight Friendly' podcast, host Michael Ross engaged in a deep and eye-opening conversation with Steve Wiseman, a Jewish gay man about their varying experiences with antisemitism, prejudice, and the LGBTQ+ communities. They also explore the shared experiences of immigration, adapting to new environments, and the power of community. With Steve having experienced a series of...

Nate Looney is an American Jewish University alum and a social entrepreneur. A US Army veteran and an urban farmer, Nate has a broad range of experience across multiple disciplines. He wears numerous hats such as a diversity strategist and currently serves as the Director of Community Safety and Belonging on the Jewish Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) team at Jewish Federations of North Ame...

In this insightful episode of the ‘Straight Friendly’ podcast, hosted by Michael Ross, international Jewish leader and renowned social justice activist, Rabbi Denise L. Eger, engages in a thought-provoking dialogue about navigating identity, unity, and hope in troubled times. Rabbi Eger, the founding rabbi of Congregation Kol Ami in West Hollywood, CA, and a prominent figure within the Jewish comm...

In this episode, we delved into a heartbreaking event that unfolded in June 2023, shedding light on the life of Sarit Ahmed, a young woman whose tragic story touches the depths of the human heart. Through intimate conversations with Sarit's close friends and confidants, we gained in-depth insights into her struggles, hopes, and triumphs. As Sarit's story unfolds, we witness her journey to find acc...

Part 2 out of 2 wonderful Straight-Friendly episodes about the special field of LGBTQ+ tourism! Last episode was fascinating, and we are eager to share with you the next one! This time we get into the nitty-gritty. After years of gender-normative treatment such as asking the guy for the couple’s order, how should one teach a cruise staff to treat LGBTQ+ customers? Michael and Ed tackle some tough...

Join us for part 1 out of 2 exciting Straight-Friendly episodes about the fascinating world of LGBTQ+ tourism! Get ready as host Michael Ross sits down with the wonderful Ed Salvato to dive into the details of what makes this tourism so unique and different from regular tourism. Ed is a true travel expert, with a background in applied math, economics, and market research, and he's here to share hi...

In this episode, we talk with a famous figure in the ecosystem of LGBTQ+ Tech industry. Patrick Driscoll started his career in international development working with entrepreneurs in Senegal for over 2 years, where homosexuality is illegal. He became there the diversity coordinator and found meaning underrepresented groups, including the LGBTQ+ community. Now he is the General Partner of "Chasing...

Taiwan is an LGBTQ oasis in the large and vast continent of Asia. It is the first (and currently the only) country in Asia to have legalized same-sex marriage, and same sex couples have almost all the rights of heterosexual married couples. In the last 20 years, the gay community has reached great achievements in the field of legislation, ensuring equality in employment and education. Although it...

Ruti Frensdorff spoke to several experts in an attempt to better understand GLBTQ life in Nigeria. The episode begins with a brief general overview of what makes Africa unique, by Dr. Irit Back, Head of African Studies at Tel Aviv University. We elaborate on the state of LGBTQ life in the continent with Dr. Moshe Morad from the African Centre in Beer Sheba and finally zoom in to the nuts and bolts...

Technological advancements, in particular Artificial Intelligence (AI), are moving in a fast way in our world. Some of the advancements made public interest or even had a public debate around it, but there are some advancements that we are not even aware of, focusing on Artificial Gender Recognition that concerns that the LGBT communities are facing today. In this Episode, Michael Ross, the host o...

What is our responsibility as content creators for the LGBT communities? In this second part of the New year special Michael and Jonathan continue their conversation about Creating LGBT+ & Straight Friendly Global Content. In this Episode Jonathan Elkhoury the production assistant of SFG Podcast, a speaker and content creator himself, continues the Conversation with Michael Ross, the Host and Crea...

Do all the LGBT+ people and Communities around the world have a similar story? In this special episode, that is split into 2 parts, we will reflect on the amazing year we had at Straight Friendly Global creating LGBT+ and Straight Friendly Global Content, reflecting on some of the amazing episodes we recorded and published. Jonathan Elkhoury the production assistant of SFG, a speaker and content c...

The importance of digital content became crucial in the 21st century, moreover in became more relevant while a world pandemic when people are looking to connect and discover on events happening worldwide. In this special episode, we talked with Scott Gatz about the creation of Q.Digital and how can we, as content creators, reach the LGBTQ+ communities around the world, even in difficult places and...

Join us for a special conversation about the 2nd populated country in the world- INDIA with Vikramaditya Sahai. We will discuss the Political and Law situation in India for LGBTQ+ people, different Cast structures and how social media affect marginalised communities for the different cultures in the country. Our mission At straight friendly global is to bring unique and inspiring stories for and a...

Dating Apps have turned out to be one of the main ways for the LGBTQ+ community to meet and date. The lack of queer Places and bars in some places made the App dating scene to be the only way for LGBTQ+ people to meet. In this special episode, we invited Reut Sugar, the Host and Creater of the podcast "BANOT" (Woman) for a conversation about the differences between the dating scene in the Gay VS....

From the first brick thrown at the Stonewall INN more than 50 years ago to the Ballroom Culture & RuPaul, Join us for a journey discovering the History and current Gay Queer culture in the US. The United States is the third biggest Country in the World, after China and India. It seems that all LGBTQ+ people live in the US, yet they resemble only 4.2% of the world LGBTQ+ population. We had a conver...

Hidden from history – In this episode we will be discovering some of the earliest Gay poems ever written, more than 1,000 years ago. We will discuss and learn about the term Pederasty and its effect on current day definitions. "We know only what other leaders in previous generations wanted us to know, that’s why we put a lot of effort in reconstruction" We talked with prof. Moshe Sluhovsky, specia...

Hannah Safran is an Israeli feminist, activist, and researcher. She is one of the founders of the Coalition of Women for Peace and Women in Black. In this episode, we will be talking about so many aspects of feminism - and only with the regular academic western perspective. We will discover the stories behind different feminist movements and their impact on the freedom of so many individuals. We w...

Poland has been mentioned so many times in recent news, because of the "LGBT Free Zones" - municipalities and regions of Poland that have declared themselves unwelcoming of an alleged "LGBT ideology", in order to ban equality marches and other LGBT events. We have interviewed the activist Filip Pawlak, that participated in some demonstrations called "The Polish Stonewall Riots" in which he got arr...

In this episode, we are going to talk about a very important subject, which is very close to my heart. In this episode, we will be talking with and about transgender people. Transgender people have a gender identity or gender expression that differs from the sex that they were assigned at birth. Being transgender is not necessarily have anything to do with sexual orientation, because transgender p...