Lgbt Stories

Please donate to LGBT Stories now! Visit www.ourlgbtstories.com and click Donate at the top of the screen.   Michael Vaccaro Sometimes life can feel so lonely and as though no one "gets you." It's times like this when life feels like it's out to get you. Like it has this unbeatable doom for you to be alone FOREVER. I've experienced that feeling before. It's very uncomfortable to go through. Some people are able to hold a pocket of hope in their mind's eye. A small yet not insignificant bit of fantasy that something, somewhere, someday is waiting on you to arrive to it. And when you do, everything makes sense. Michael Vaccaro came across a poem once, and never let it go. Till this day, he carries that poem in his pocket. Today you're going to hear a story of how two men were connected years before ever meeting or knowing each other existed all because of a simple poem. The natural wonder that Michael had led him to hold onto this poem year after year after year. Then one day, he meets its author. What unfolds

Support LGBT Stories by donating or shopping at www.ourlgbtstories.com   Finding My Inner Self - James Lucas   Today's guest is someone I've known for I'd say somewhere around 3 years now. His name is James Lucas, and he and I are actually roommates. When I first met James, he had been sharing with me and a few mutual friends different stories of his life and some of the struggles that he had been experiencing. I couldn't help but more personally introduce myself to him, as we seemed to have a lot in common. I can remember just being there to let him know that if he wanted some support, it was here for him. That was the start of a beautiful friendship. I have wanted James to share his story on the show for a few years now; however, the timing for him just hadn't been right. And now, finally, my friend is opening up with you all his incredible story. James tells us what it was like growing up gay on a British island, what it felt like when his father passed away when James was in his early 20's, and how hiding

Shop and Donate to LGBT Stories www.ourlgbtstories.com Coming out to your friends and family is never really that amazing of a thing. It's exhausting and oftentimes terrifying. If you're lucky, you were raised in a family that expressed emotions and create space for you to be just as you are, which made it easy for you to "come out."  If that was you, damn, I am happy for you! However, for many others, that was not their experience. For some who haven't come out yet, they continue to operate in a space where they fear the worse.   Today's guest is Rick. Rick's coming out experience was pretty pleasant and "easy." He is going to share with you what it was like for him to tell his family that he is gay and how that lead him on a path to writing his book, "Rainbow Relatives - Real World Stories and Advice on How To Talk to Kids about LGBTQ+ Families and Friends."   Talking to children about this topic is essential. I think that parents need to educate themselves more on the LGBTQ community. Your kids, whether yo

www.ourlgbtstories.com   Happy National Coming Out Day (NCOD)! To everyone who took the leap of faith and came out, congratulations to you! Today you did something courageous and exciting. Proclaiming who you love may it be someone specific that you're revealing or gender in general, I am proud of you! For those of you who are not coming out today, I am also proud of you. Making a decision for yourself to stay closeted is also a huge decision to make. We might not know your reasons for it, but I chose to believe that you have very valid ones. I want to make sure that you know that there is space for you in this world to operate and be as unseen or low-key as you would like to be. When so many people today are waving the pride flag bright and high in the sky, there can be a lot of pressure to come out of the closet before you're actually ready. Not giving in to peer pressure, or the influence of society to do that is commendable and equally as courageous. I hope you know this too. Knowing who you are inside,

IF YOU'RE IN DANGER, CALL EMERGENCY SERVICES 9-1-1 (IN THE UNITED STATES)   www.ourlgbtstories.com If you live in almost any major US city I am almost certain that you've seen many people zipping around the streets on electric scooters. Even electric bikes and skateboards are becoming more of a "thing". If you saw my Instagram post a few weeks ago you may have seen the post of myself and Karamo Brown from Queer Eye. And then if you read the caption, you'd see that I don't have a car (well, at the time I didn't have a car, I do now, but that's not important to the story). Living without a car in Los Angeles is not ideal, the transit system is anything but robust and glamorous. So as the rise of electric scooters took off, I naturally was a big fan. In fact, I needed to figure out how I could get one of these bad boys for myself! I started digging around the internet and thank you IG ads, I came across, Boosted Boards! Boosted Boards flagship product is that electric skateboard that you see all over town (at

Support LGBT Stories Donate or Shop Here www.ourlgbtstories.com In today's episode, our guests Steven & Lorevic share their journey going through the adoption process. They discuss what it was like when they first met and how at times the talk of children created some discomfort in their relationship. However, in the end, I think you'll see that it all worked out beautifully.   CONNECT WITH LGBT STORIES ONLINE! If you haven’t joined our facebook group yet just go to facebook.com/groups/lgbtstories and click “Join”.   www.instagram.com/ourlgbtstories www.ourlgbtstories.com www.kevingerdes.com   Contact Us contact@ourlgbtstories.com 310-750-3841 text or call us 24/7   IF YOU'RE IN DANGER, CALL EMERGENCY SERVICES 9-1-1 (IN THE UNITED STATES)

Support LGBT Stories Donate or Shop Here www.ourlgbtstories.com   Yesterday was Bisexual Visibility Day. It's a day for those in the bisexual community to stand up, declare their bisexuality, and proclaim their seat! This last weekend has been nothing short of transformational for me. I went to the 2nd annual bisexual pride parade in West Hollywood, CA. The event started off with a festival where I was able to meet new friends and eat good food, then a parade walking around the streets of West Hollywood. The bisexual flag was flying high above us all, while we chanted rhythmic chants in support of bisexuality. It was pretty amazing. I could sense the pride and comfort that so many people there felt - they finally felt as though they're being not only seen but acknowledged. However, what they might not have been able to see was how I was feeling. The entire time, and I mean, the whole time; I was feeling a deep sense of sorrow and remorse for my lack of participation in the bisexual community. Here I am, a gay

This episode is rated explicit. If you are under the age of 18, DO NOT LISTEN to this episode. There is mention of sexual assault as well as descriptions of sexual activities. This episode is only for adults over the age of 18. www.ourlgbtstories.shop If you would like to support our mission to spread the stories of the LGBTQ+ community around the world, please do us a favor and donate as little as $5 to us. It helps keep the lights on around here. No really, all donations go back into promotion and the overall running of this big ship. Donate To LGBT Stories here http://bit.ly/donatelgbtstories thanks! It's no secret that many young boys are victims of sexual assault growing up. I'm not sure of the exact numbers; however, I would assume that more often than not, many of these young men go on never to speak a single word of the assault. Well, that is not what Sean Segerstrom did. From the age of only four years, old Sean experienced sexual assault from a family member and then a close family friend. This

Support LGBT Stories By Purchasing A T-Shirt! www.ourlgbtstories.shop 5% of all profiles are donated to an LGBTQ non-profit! Use promo code: grandhotel for 25% off   Laganja Estranja, you probably know her from Season 6 of Rue Paul's Drag Race. Well, behind every fierce queen's face, is an even a badass boy! For those of you who may not know, Laganja Estranga or Jay Evan Jackson is an American choreographer and drag queen based in Los Angeles, California. I personally never watched more than season 1 of Rue Paul's Drag Race, but I did know of Laganja from I guess word of mouth. Nevertheless, I was very excited to have her tell her story on the show. As with any guest who comes on LGBT Stories that has some sort of notoriety or fame, I'm not looking for stories of glitz and glam. I want the guest to go to a more intimate place with us. I love it when the guest finishes up their stories and tell me how "that was the best thing they have ever done" for themselves. There is something very powerful about sharing

This morning I woke up to something pretty amazing. LGBT Stories has officially passed 100,000 downloads across iTunes, Spotify, and the other podcast platforms out there. December will be 2 years that I’ve been producing this show, there have been ups and downs, I’ve questioned a lot, and tried to “do the most viable thing” for the show at times. However, there is one thing that this journey has taught me, always go back home. Any time I’ve wondered what direction I should go in regards to the show I’ve always reminded myself to BE AUTHENTIC, just like I set out to do from the very beginning. It’s awesome how that’s never steered me wrong. I’m very happy with this success and I am looking forward to our new “First Kiss Friday” segment of the show (those details are to come), as well as the all-around growth that’s currently happening with all things LGBT Stories! So... cheers to 100k, and time to go grab 200k! Thank you, everyone, who listens, literally can’t do this without your ears.

Click the following here for all the links and more show notes discussed in this episode. http://bit.ly/Amirshareshisstory  For daily episodes listen to our show, The Microcast, on Patreon. Find it here http://www.patreon.com/lgbtstories  

www.harrys.com/lgbt  I did not grow up with immigrant parents, well, technically they did immigrate here from Haiti but they were so young when they came here that they are extremely assimilated. I can’t really claim that I know what it’s like to have parents whose ideologies and morals are so grounded in the ways of their home country. That's why while I can, of course, relate to what its like to be gay and grow up in America, I have not the slightest clue as to the added difficulties that people like our guest today go through, being gay and having immigrated parents who simply WILL NOT accept this sort of “Lifestyle”. And please note. I am not saying that LGBTQ people who have immigrant parents have it “harder” than those of us whose parents were born in America. This episode is simply to point out the differences and to take a look at those differences because no one's story is the same but everyone’s story deserves to be told. As we continue to work this month with “Harry’s” and support them in their wor

Whats better than a classical violinist or a beautiful shirtless man? Well, I’ll tell ya… how about a beautiful shirtless man who plays the classical violin? Yeah, the imagery, right? Today you’re in luck! Let me introduce you to Matthew. Matthew grew up from a very young age playing the violin and it’s followed him throughout his life, all the way into his 30’s. His violin has been the catalyst to performing in local malls and also to the heartwarming story of how he met his now boyfriend. However, like so many of our guest, and many LGBTQ people around the world, Matthew faced a lot of rejection for being gay from the religious people in his life. You’ll hear him talk about this more in debt, but part of it is losing the support of his loving family, eventually leading to the demise of his relationship with his mother for sometime when he came out to her. As Matthew navigated his twenties and early thirties as a gay man looking for love. Soon he finds himself enamored by an unexpected love that lasts to thi

Nathan Postlethwait is an extraordinary man, and today you’re going to learn why. Nathan reached out to me a few weeks ago in hopes that he would be able to tell his story on the show. He recently released a blog called The Other Side of Saved that is unexpectedly touching so many people. Nathan is finding that as he opens his life up to the world that he is meeting more and more men that lived through similar things as he did for so many years. In today’s story, you’ll Nathan will tell you about his life from the childhood internal struggles he had trying to meet the expectations of his father, sexual abuse throughout his teens with a man two times his age, and his time being taken through gay conversion therapy and how that affected him. Nathan is a strong man; everything that he has gone through in life is what has led him to be able to share his truth with the world, and along his own personal journey be able to inspire other LGBT people to do the same. I hope you enjoy today’s story. After listening to I

Help Support LGBT Stories! Visit us on Patreon and show your TODAY!    Justin Lee, the original founder of The Gay Christian Network, GCN, shares his story of coming to terms with who he is as a gay Christian. Justin is a speaker and author of "Torn: Rescuing the Gospel from the Gays-vs.-Christians Debate". Check out his website www.geekyjustin.com for more! Follow Justin On: facebook Twitter Tumblr YouTube Snapchat Instagram     Our shows logo was designed and donated to us by Ryan Sirois, author of, "King of Stars". Pick up Ryans inspiring book today! Follow Ryan On: facebook Instagram LinkedIn hello@ryansirois.com     LGBT Stories is Supported by The Menlo House. Use our promo code LGBT at check out for 50% off your first two months!     LGBT Stories is created and hosted by, Kevin Gerdes. Follow Kevin On: facebook Twitter Instagram   Follow LGBT Stories On: facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube contact@ourlgbtstories.com       LEARN HOW TO PODCAST IN ONLY 30 DAYS!

EPISODE 17 - BREAKING THE RUHLS ***REVIEW US ON ITUNES TODAY*** In todays episode author Larry Ruhl shares an emotional roller coaster of the story with us. In his story he shares the back-and-forth relationship between his mother and father, the sexual abuse he sadly injured by his father, and horrible verbal abuse from his mother.  However, in the end, Larry comes out triumphant! He understands that telling our stories is the one thing that can bring hope an understanding to all.   Follow Larry Online Twitter @LarryRuhl Instagram @LarryRuhl Facebook search Larry Ruhl LinkedIn search Larry Ruhl   Follow Kevin Gerdes Online Twitter @KevinGerdes Facebook Instagram @KevinGerdes   Follow LGBT Stories Online www.ourlgbtstories.com Twitter @ourlgbtstories Instagram @ourlgbtstories Facebook   Sign Up for Menlo Club Use Promo Code LGBT at checkout! www.themenlohouse.com     ***REVIEW US ON ITUNES TODAY***

Our guest Trace shares his story of what it was like to grow up in the Mormon church while discoing his sexuality as a young man. He talks about the struggles that he went through within the church, his own family, and internally. Take a listen to Traces story and share your thoughts on one of our social media platforms! We love to hear from you! Don't forget to rate us on iTunes! Instagram Facebook Twitter lgbtpodcast@gmail.com   Join the Audible free subscription today!

In this episode we are going to hear the story of a good friend of mine… his name is Stan. For as long as I have known Stan I’ve always known that he was in the Army. Foolishly I never thought about was how it must have been for him to be a gay man in the army. For some reason, it just never crossed my mind. Stan is also a very spiritual man. He has a deeply personal relationship with his God and it is admirable, to say the least. I would imagine that being a gay man in the army, and being a spiritual man who happens to be gay creates a sense of a distorted self-identity. However, much to my dismay, Stan does a wonderful job at debunking this belief of mine.Originally I had asked Stan to tell his story of what his experience was like being in the Army before and after DADT was repealed. What I got was a story about the intersection of faith, homosexuality, Originally I had asked Stan to tell his story of what his experience was like being in the Army before and after DADT was repealed. What I got was a story