Life (UN)Closeted: LGBTQ+ Coming Out Stories & Advice for living out and proud!

It's really easy to get uptight, and lost in the holiday shuffle. Especially when you are part of the LGBTQ+ community, and you may not have fond experiences surrounding the holiday. Yet, in the words of RuPaul - "If you can't love yourself, then how the hell you going to learn to love anyone elses!" To that I say, if you can't give yourself some gifts this season to make you appreciate you, then...

You're parents are aging, you're settled in your gay life, and all of that gives you plenty of material to come out of the closet as a comedian...until you do. Then life throws you curve balls, and then the comedy comes to you not on stage, but through the words of your book, addressing the challenges of funerals, caring for parents, and managing your gay relationship. So let's dive in and explore...

Nothing anyone did caused them to know they were different. But, they felt it and began exploring it and realized they were on the right path for them. Beyond addiction and into full recovery they found that their music, digital artistry and desire to explore more of who they are, led them to create “Knock Knock,” a psychedelic folk-rock sound recently launched by Baroque-pop singer-songwriter and...

We all have our story. We live our story daily. And, some of us take our stories, and the stories in our heads and turn them into our passion purpose...as a an author, with thousands of pages of articles and books. Gregory L. Norris is that person, a gay author who writes the stories that brings his life to life, even if many of those stories are fiction...because that is what brings him alive. To...

You had a plan. Marriage - check. Children - check. Your own flesh and blood family - no check. But that didn’t stop you and you went full-in to become a parent - despite the odds, and challenges. Giving full gratitude this Thanksgiving Eve, my friend Liz Grubb and I uncover her route to non-traditional parenthood and why her forever children are just the right fit for her and her hubby.  About Li...

"This transgender walked into the bar..." Cringe. Or, "You can tell he's a man by the apple logged in his throat, no matter what dress he wears!" Cruel, cruel, cruel. These are the types of off-handed, transphobic remarks that can have a painful impact on the person in your office, in the cubicle right next to you that causes us to have to honor, those who are no longer with us on Transgender Day...

You're a man, with a penis, but you enjoy dressing up as a woman. OMG, you must want to be transgender! Not exactly. Ok, so you want to do strange things to children in bathrooms by dressing up as a woman..HELL NO. Truth is, you are simply a man who likes men and women, and who one day you like presenting as a man, and the next day presenting as a woman, and you enjoy sex with both...Welcome to be...

The holidays are upon us along with the fun, joy, and STRESS. So how do you not let the stress drive you into your potential addiction, or ratchet up that addiction? You take the necessary steps to say, I need help. You also realize as an LGBTQ inidivual that you are up to 10x's more likely to become an addict than our heterosexual counterparts on the planet. Helping us unravel the mysteries of ad...

Sometimes you hit a big block wall life and realize "It's My Time!" Through heartache, a wake up call or even a simple moment when you realize you do need to put yourself in the driver's seat of your life, and that's ok, no matter what anyone else says. Singer, artist, and dancer Joey Salinas, a a latin gay man, channeled all that energy into his latest pop song "My Time / Too Much Goin On" to hel...

Sometimes life throws you a curveball, and before you know it, you find yourself in bed, and not for the funnest reasons. For many of us that would mean - THIS LIFE SUCKS! For others, it means kick yourself in the ass, even though your ass is the reason you're bedridden and transforming nearly overwhelming physical challenges and into your greatest superpowers. Inspirational is the best way to des...

One of 6 children. Surrounded by a family of pastors. Drawn to theater. Is it any wonder why one might be GAY? Well bless your heart. When grow up in White Settlement, Texas (yes that is a for real city deep in the heart of Texas), and you're called (he hates that term BTW) to the arts and theater, you just gotta let your gay shine and shine it has for Tyler Martin. Join us on a fun filled, spirit...

It happens every October 11th, since 1988 - National Coming Out Day. The day was founded in 1988 by Richard Eichberg, a psychologist and Jean O'Leary, a gay rights activist, to raise awareness of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and its civil rights movement. They chose October 11th to mark the anniversary of the second major National March on Washington for Lesbian and...

It's one thing to come out, but to do it again...oy vey. That takes guts, bravery, and courage. Yet, when we are who we are, the world is so much easier to navigate. That's why, we, Jenna Slaughter and I believe it is important to have the conversation about being exactly in the world just as you are. Jenna is a non-binary individual who first came out as Lesbian (which is about sexual orientation...

It's been 22 years, since I finally made the brave step to come out of the closet after living for 36 years in the closet. It was scary, exciting, worrisome, and joyful. Here are a few things I've since learned about coming out of the closet, that I hope will inspire some of you to take the brave step to just be yourself...YOU'RE WORTH IT! You can also listen to the podcast on…     &nbsp...

What do you do when you need some help? Call a super hero. But what do you do when you've been medically laid up, off work, and then jsut as you come out of that challenge, COVID-19 hits? You finally let your dream to be a superhero come to life...or you create your Drag Super-SHERO. Anthony Hand let the solitude of COVID-19 bring his dream of creating a comic book character come to life by introd...

Today I celebrate 20 years with my guy, my man, and I don't mean that in an ownership sort of way. I mean it in a "look what we've created" way. It takes love, work, patience, understanding, and getting each other, to make it this far. Here's my insights about what I have learned over the last 20 years with my man, George Solis to make it work, work, work. You can also listen to the podcast on… &n...

It's time for the "sex shame" brigade to sashay away. For to many years, those ashamed of sex, except for the purpose of procreation, have tried to shame the rest of us into submission. Well, "Buh-bye, and buh-bye, to you pent up angry sex-deprived individuals!" We're queer and we're here because God made us to be humans and sexual humans and to enjoy our sexual selves not be shamed into hating se...

Relationships are wonderful and ho hum. Loving and conflicted. Easy and challenging. Then add a dose of being gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, polyamorous, or any of the other sexual orientations, gender identities or ways of being in a committed relationship, and the plot thickens. Or does it have to? Bring their own unique sense for awakening relationships to make quantum leaps of success -...

Whether you're 30, 40, 50, 60, etc. , it's never too late to come out and there are actually huge benefits to coming out and being authentically you in your sexuality. Here's a few of the most common reasons to come out and be who you are, even when you think you are to old, or have wasted too much time. You can also listen to the podcast on…        

Stuttering, and one arm About Nick Nick is an incredibly unique individual. Born with only one arm, Nick was forced to turn what many would call a handicap into an unforeseen opportunity. Nick grew up playing sports and was blessed with the opportunity to play football at both the collegiate and professional levels. He has been featured in many local and national publications and TV shows includin...

In the midst of the lovely and unexpected pandemic - COVID19 - love can was found and lost. It was a season. A season that brought to a head by a clear cut understanding that you can think and feel one way about the person you are in a relationship with, only to find out they are thinking and feeling a completely different way, and suddenly - GAME OVER - or in this songwriter/singers case - THAT'S...

We're all flawed, all complicated, and all hunger to be accepted to be just who we are in the world. But, we also desire to feel safe. The bigger question is, "How do you feel safe when everyone sees you as flawed or complicated?" You don't let them IMPACT your life. You live you, and share your flawed and complicated life, even if that means you admit you've been abused - physically and emotional...

Dating is either an adventure or a thorn in your side. Then add to the mix being LGBTQ and all that comes with dating the same sex, dating both men and women, or trying to explain the difference between sexual orientation and gender identity, and the dating world needs a whole new way to interact. Well how about connecting with connection and having a real conversation on that first encounter rath...

From being an obese young man who was bullied, to bullying himself into a job that everyone else - including himself - thought was the perfect path for him, Travis Daigle just couldn't come out to be himself, until he realized, the Army was calling. Tricked into joining and being told they would teach him how to swim, Travis takes on his own coming out journey to live life on the other side of abu...

you Do you ever wish your parents were as accepting of you as Betty DeGeneres was of Ellen? Or maybe you wish you could just accept that your parents our on a journey, just like you, when you make that grand announcement that you are LGBTQ? We all have our moments where we wish, wish, wish we could have more acceptance - one family at a time. Banding together, in true LGBTQ fashion, Angel Briones...