In The Den with Mama Dragons

Send us Fan Mail Today’s In the Den episode is a rerun and one that cuts right to the heart of our Mama Dragons mission — we’re diving into the truth that parenting is political. Whether we like it or not, the choices we make as parents, how we show up for our kids, what we teach them, how we advocate for them, all ripple out into the world around us. When you’re parenting queer kids, those ripple...

Send us Fan Mail Content Warning: this episode contains frank discussions of self-harm and suicidality. This episode is a rerun and an increasingly important topic for today’s environment. At Mama Dragons we know the value of shame-free spaces where parents of LGBTQ+ kids can explore, learn, and grow. Building families and communities rooted in genuine support is an important part of creating heal...

Send us Fan Mail At the end of May, the Seattle LGBTQ+ Commission sent a letter to their mayor asking the city to declare a civil state of emergency in response to the growing number of transgender people and their families fleeing states with escalating anti-trans laws. Families are leaving homes, schools, jobs, churches, and entire support systems behind because remaining where they are no longe...

Send us Fan Mail The moment your child says something that changes the story you thought you were living, time can seem to split in two. There’s the before — the assumptions, expectations, and dreams you carefully built — and then there’s the after, where love, fear, confusion, grief, joy, protectiveness, and possibility all arrive at once. For many parents of trans kids, that moment can feel over...

Send us Fan Mail In conjunction with our recent episode on Canyon County Pride, we’re resharing this past episode with drag queen Cookie Pusss. Drag queens are living proof that courage can come in sequins, heels, and unapologetic self-expression. They show us every day that bravery isn’t just about facing danger—it’s about showing up fully as yourself, even when the world might not be ready for i...

Send us Fan Mail Today In the Den , we’re talking about family—how it’s formed, how it’s nurtured, and how love can expand beyond the narrow definitions our culture sometimes tries to impose. For so many queer people and their loved ones, building a family can come with extra layers of hope, complexity, vulnerability, and resilience. Queer families have always existed. They have always found ways...

Send us Fan Mail There’s something wonderful happening in small towns all across America, Pride festivals are on the rise offering rural communities a safe and welcoming celebration for the LGBTQ+ folks among them. In places where people assume everyone thinks the same, where visibility can come with real risk, and where showing up authentically sometimes feels like an act of courage in itself—the...

Send us Fan Mail Perhaps some of our listeners were cheerleaders and already know the magic: the adrenaline of a routine, the trust it takes to lift and be lifted, the deep bonds that form on a squad. For others, cheerleading might bring up a story shaped by stereotypes, fueled by movies and media, by a sense that this was a space with very specific rules about who belonged and who didn’t. Maybe y...

Send us Fan Mail Even as the headlines keep returning to trans athletes—who gets to play, who gets excluded, and who gets to decide—there’s another story unfolding on fields and courts across the country. A quieter one. A more human one. A story about belonging. Beyond the legislation and the debates, there are real kids just trying to play the sports they love—and real coaches shaping what those...

Send us Fan Mail Imagine belonging to a faith that is fighting to keep you out—and refusing to leave. Some of you in our Mama Dragons community know this experience well. Some of you are still living it, loving your families and your traditions while also working, every day, to make change from within. That tension—the push and pull between belonging and exclusion—is not unique to any one faith. T...

Send us Fan Mail We know that one of the most powerful things we can do as parents is raise kids who know who they are, who treat others with dignity, and who have the courage to live out loud. Today In the Den , Sara is joined by author, educator, and speaker Kevin Cripe, who spent 27 years as an elementary school teacher helping young people—many of whom felt overlooked or underestimated—discove...

Send us Fan Mail Lack of representation is one of the biggest issues facing the LGBTQ+ outdoors community. Queer adventurers don’t often see themselves represented in the marketing campaigns and media narratives of mainstream brands and companies, but queer people are out on the roads and trails doing awesome things outside every day, and today’s guest is forging the trail for LGBTQ+ representatio...

Send us Fan Mail State laws across the country, and now even federal policies, increasingly target transgender people and LGBTQ people more broadly.  Lifesaving, necessary gender-affirming care is being restricted or criminalized. Discriminatory policies and legislation, such as proper identity document bans, restrictions on participation in sports, and “sex definition” laws that police public res...

Send us Fan Mail The Supreme Court is currently considering two major cases brought by West Virginia and Idaho which address state-level bans on transgender female students playing on girls' school sports teams. Together, these cases could determine whether states can legally exclude trans athletes from school sports nationwide. Politicians and pundits argue about fairness, biology, and the f...

Send us Fan Mail Research indicates that autistic individuals are more likely to identify as transgender or gender diverse compared to the general population. Studies show that people who do not identify with the sex assigned at birth are more likely to be autistic than cisgender individuals. This overlap between autism and gender diversity may be confusing to some parents.. Parenting a child who...

Send us Fan Mail Every news cycle lately brings yet another headline about transgender people and their families, whether it's the inflammatory remarks during the State of the Union or the recent invalidation of driver's licenses in Kansas, or any number of other recent court cases. These stories are showing up across the country and creating confusion and fear and a whole lot of questio...

Send us Fan Mail Accessing best-practice gender-affirming care for transgender youth is becoming increasingly challenging: 27 states have passed laws banning or restricting care, the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld these bans in the Skrmetti v. L.W. case, and the current Administration has pursued a relentless campaign attacking access. As a result, thousands of transgender youth and their families...

Send us Fan Mail Families with trans and non-binary kids are facing bans on bathroom use, bans on sports participation, bans on affirming pronoun use in schools, bans on use of chosen names, and even bans on life-saving medical care for their trans children. Those of us with trans family members find ourselves in, what often feels like, an impossible situation of trying to figure out how we can po...

Send us Fan Mail We doubt anyone listening to this podcast will be surprised to hear that transgender folks face unique challenges, including social stigma, bullying, and family rejection. Even if we are doing our best as parents to support and love our trans children, most of us are not trans ourselves, and so we can’t fully understand the particular difficulties that our children will face in th...

Send us Fan Mail Life can be hard, especially for our queer children. They often face unique obstacles, encounter discrimination, and endure marginalization in their lives and in their pursuits of happiness. Resilience helps our children (and us) cope with life's challenges and setbacks, allowing folks to recover and grow stronger from difficult experiences. Resilience fosters emotional regul...

Send us Fan Mail The Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s recent Youth Report shows that more than 46 percent of LGBTQ+ youth, including almost 55 percent of transgender and gender-expansive youth, feel unsafe in at least one school setting. And despite the pervasiveness of school bullying, many teachers and staff remain unaware — or are explicitly unhelpful when informed. This is why HRC’s Welcomin...

Send us Fan Mail Every day seems to bring another headline, or another policy, another attempt to make trans lives disappear altogether. As Mama Dragons, we know this fear intimately. We carry it in our bodies, even as we keep showing up for our kids and our communities. Today In the Den , Sara sits down with Dru Levasseur, an openly trans attorney, nationally recognized advocate, and a leader in...

Send us Fan Mail What happens when an object that once felt magical becomes a symbol of harm—and then is transformed into an act of remembrance? Today’s conversation In the Den invites us to look closely, to move past what we think we see, and to sit with art that refuses to let us look away. Our guest is Tai Ericson, an artist known for transforming the familiar into the unexpected. Tai’s current...

Send us Fan Mail Life and parenting often feels so fraught, so overwhelming, and so frustrating. We’re navigating unprecedented attacks on queer and trans folks and youth. Of course, as parents, we stay vigilant, trying to anticipate what might come next so we can support and protect our kids. But even as we hunt for answers to all our practical questions, we still need something else to keep us g...

Send us Fan Mail There are days when fear and grief sit heavy in our chests. The headlines, the laws, the hateful rhetoric–it can all make us wonder how to protect our children and queer loved ones. So many of us, parents and queer folks, are feeling so drained, perhaps sometimes teetering on the edge of despair. But, sometimes what we need most aren’t just plans or protests, but blessings—words t...