Second Adolescence

This week's guest is writer Lamya H (she/they). Lamya is the author of the recent debut memoir, Hijab Butch Blues (The Dial Press, Penguin Random House). I cannot recommend this book enough, it was such beautiful and powerful book, and I was so excited to talk with Lamya all about it! On this episode, Lamya shares about the process of writing the memoir, both structurally how they decided to put it together and emotionally what it was like for them to tell the story of their younger selves. Lamya also shares about her resonance with the experience of Second Adolescence, and what this has looked like in their life. About the guest:Lamya H is a former Lambda Literary Fellow whose writing has appeared in Vice, Salon, Vox, Black Girl Dangerous, Autostraddle, and the Los Angeles Review of Books. They currently live in New York with their partner.You can order Hijab Butch Blues here, and follow Lamya on Twitter (@lamyaisangry) and IG (@lamyaisangry)For more, visit www.secondadolescencepod.com or @secondadolescencepod. Download episode transcript here. 

This week's guest is Rebecca Minor (she/her). Rebecca is a Gender Specialist therapist and educator who uses her platform to further the conversation, education, and support surrounding the experience of trans and gender nonconforming youth. In this conversation, we talk about her work as a Gender Specialist and also dive into her own experience of discovering and navigating the identities she holds and how this in turn supports the work she is doing in the world. As a therapist and a queer person, I SO loved getting to talk with Rebecca and am so grateful she wants to invite you all into the conversation, too. About the guest:Rebecca Minor, MSW, LICSW is a neuroqueer femme, clinician, consultant, and educator specializing in the intersection of trauma, gender, and sexuality. As a Gender Specialist, Rebecca partners with trans and gender nonconforming youth through their journey of becoming, and is a guide to their parents in affirming it. Rebecca is part-time faculty at Boston University School of Social work and always works through a lens that is neurodiversity-affirming, trauma-informed, and resilience-oriented. In addition to her clinical work, Rebecca has provided cultural humility training and consultation to organizations, schools, and businesses for the past decade. You can follow her work on IG at @gender.specialist or visit www.genderspecialist.com.Links mentioned in the episode:The Myth of Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria blog post by RebeccaFor more, visit www.secondadolescencepod.com or @secondadolescencepod.Download episode transcript here. 

This week’s guest is Shlomo Satt (he/him) who works within the Jewish Non-Profit Sector and is based in New York City.  Shlomo shares with us about his experience growing up within Orthodox Judaism and what it was like to navigate a community with limiting beliefs around queerness and mental health. He shares about his experience being sent to Conversion Therapy and then recovering from that experience, and then later walks us through how psychotherapy and 12 step programs became helpful spaces for him to heal and grow in such an empowered way. He goes on to talk about shifting emphasis in his life from growing to finally fully living, and what this means for him, what else was entailed within his Second Adolescence experience, and how Community is such a big part of both his personal and professional lives. This was a super fascinating conversation and I feel so grateful to Shlomo inviting us all into his story. About the guest:Shlomo Satt (he, him) is 27 years old, a lifelong New Yorker, and works in the Jewish nonprofit sector. Currently, he works for itrek: an Israel-focused organization. Shlomo has significant experience with LGBTQ nonprofits and is an Advisory Member for Shtetl: a new haredi journalism initiative. In 2021, Shlomo graduated summa cum laude from Bellevue University with a Master's in Public Administration. Shlomo is an active member of the his local Jewish community and enjoys hosting game nights and Shabbat meals with his fiancé Mattan. His dog Jax likes getting involved too!For more visit www.secondadolescencepod.com or @secondadolescencepod.Download episode transcript here.

This week's guest is Lindz Amer (they/them). As some of you may know, they are the founder and creator of Queer Kid Stuff, an entertainment company that brings LGBTQ+ and social justice media to kids and families. They also currently host of the queer and gender affirming parenting podcast, Rainbow Parenting. Their book, Rainbow Parenting: Your Guide to Raising Queer Kids and Their Allies, publishes on May 30, 2023. I have been a personal fan of Lindz and their work for several years. They have done to support changing the landscape for queer youth and their parents, and so it was just so special to get to have them on to share about both their work and their own personal journey. Lindz was so generous with how much they let us into their own story and the not always easy behind the scenes of the work they are doing in the world. About the guest:Lindz Amer creates LGBTQ+ and intersectional social justice media for kids and families. They created their beloved LGBTQ+ family webseries Queer Kid Stuff in 2016 which now has 4M lifetime views and counting! You can pre-order their debut book Rainbow Parenting: Your Guide to Raising Queer Kid and Their Allies which publishes on May 30, 2023 with St. Martin's Press. Currently, they host the Rainbow Parenting podcast, perform at schools and libraries across the country, while also writing and consulting for children’s television. They worked with Nick Jr on the Webby award-winning Blues Clues & You “Pride Parade” music video, The Fabulous Show with Fay and Fluffy,  an upcoming episode of an extremely paw-pular show, and more! You can watch their TED Talk on why kids need to learn about gender and sexuality now with more than 2.5 million views! You can follow Lindz on IG at @lindzamer and support them on Patreon here.For more visit www.secondadolescencepod.com or @secondadolescencepod.

This week's guest is Chip Hall (he/him). Chip is a US Coast Guard Veteran and shares with us his experience of being a gay man in the Coast Guard while the anti-queer Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell legislation was in full effect. He was a leader in bringing internal change to the US Coast Guard and Coast Guard Academy with regards to queerness and queer visibility in the greater effort to repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. Chip shares with us about all of this plus his own personal journey of discovering and navigating his identity as a gay man.  Chip is a real life friend of mine and so it was an extra treat getting to chat with him in such a focused way, and I am SO excited to invite you into this conversation.About the guest:Chip Hall (he/him) is a San Francisco based lawyer and US Coast Guard Veteran. For more, visit www.secondadolescencepod.com or @secondadolescencepod.Download episode transcript here. 

This week's guest is Kami Brannon (she/her). Kami is a therapist based in Columbus, OH. In addition to her therapy practice she and her wife are also working to create a queer campground in Hocking Hills, OH (so cool!). On this episode, Kami lets us into her experience growing up as a Black girl navigating anti-queerness with her family system and religious community. She shares about the challenges this placed in her way and how this continued to impact her as she navigated adolescence and beyond. She lets us into her story of pain and suffering, and then the deeply powerful healing work she engaged in to eventually get to where she is at now. This conversation was such an offering by Kami, I feel so incredibly grateful she wanted to come on to offer her story to this collective work supporting queer healing and liberation.  About the guest:Kami Brannon (she/her) is a 38 y/o black, lesbian therapist and small business owner based in Columbus, OH. She works full-time, in her business, as a queer therapist. Part-time, Kami and her wife, are working to create a queer campground in Hocking Hills Ohio. Most of Kami’s life work has been focused on turning her personal pain into purposeful action forward for the queer community. Her goal is to create the diverse, accessible, safe, queer spaces she would have benefited from. In her leisure time, Kami enjoys spending time in nature with her kids and pets .You can follow Kami’s queer campground on Instagram @brannonacresYou can check out Kami’s Queer Therapy EAP Center at @columbusqueertherapist and www.columbusqueertherapist.com.For more, visit www.secondadolescencepod.com or @secondadolescencepodDownload episode transcript here.

This week’s guest is Jake Fedorowski (they/them) who I believe is changing the running industry with their advocacy work (they created the incredible resource: The Guide to Non-Binary Inclusion in Running). And this conversation isn’t just for runners or people who sign up for 5ks, half marathons, marathons (though if you are then you’ll absolutely want to listen!). We talk about Jake’s advocacy work, but Jake also lets us in to their own story and their own journey of finding themself. They embody such an arc of queer healing that I think is really helpful for folks to be witness to. On this episode, they share with us about their youngest, most purely them self who was so playful and expressive, before the world tried to socialize them into the box of boyhood. They share with us about their process in college and beyond of finding that playful, free self again, and their journey of identity understanding and affirmation. About the guest:Jake (they/them) resides on the beautiful, traditional land of the Coast Salish peoples (Seattle). As an advocate for non-binary inclusion in the running industry, they have written The Guide to Non-Binary Inclusion in Running, consulted for major marathons, and founded Run Beyond (RUNN+), a community for non-binary athletes to exist, participate, advocate, and represent. Visit nonbinaryrunning.com to learn more about the movement and give Jake a follow on TikTok, Instagram, or Twitter (@jakefedorowski) if you love running, musical theatre, and makeup as much as they do.For more visit www.secondadolescencepod.com or @secondadolescencepod.Download episode transcript here. 

This week’s guest is sex educator and sex science communicator, Eva Bloom (they/she). In this conversation, Eva shares about the journey that led them to the work they do in the world now. Along the way, Eva lets us into their own personal journey. They share with us about being a queer person who didn’t have conscious awareness of their queerness until after adolescence. As with others with a similar story, Eva recounts lots of  those hindsight’s 20/20 examples where they could see their queerness budding and expressing itself before they were really aware it was doing so. They go on to share about the gradual evolution of queerness coming more to the forefront and about their initial queer experiences, the ongoing coming outs we do, navigating patriarchal systems, and so much more. This was such a great conversation and I feel so grateful to Eva for wanting to come on and let us all into their story. About the guest:Eva Bloom (they/she) is a non-binary, queer award-winning sexuality educator and sex science communicator. With a Masters of Science (MSc.) in the social psychology of sexuality they help people of all genders and sexual orientations bust their sexual shame and cultivate their authentic desires. You can find them across social media "@whatsmybodydoing", as well as their Sex Ed for Late Bloomers Masterclass at evabloom.ca/sex-ed-for-late-bloomersEva mentions the Lesbian Masterdoc in this episode, here is a link to that.For more, visit www.secondadolescencepod.com or @secondadolescencepod.Download episode transcript here.

This week’s guest is Khye Tyson (they/them). Among many things, Khye is a reproductive rights activist, birthing worker, and founder of Kuluntu Reproductive Justice Center. On this episode, Khye talks about their work and the experience that many queer and trans folks can have when navigating the birthing world, but also spends the majority of time letting us into their own personal queer journey. Get your notebooks ready as you’ll want to write down many things shared and likely inspired by Khye. I feel so grateful they wanted to come on and invite us all into their work and story. Oh, and those of you who want to dive deeper into work with Khye, check out this:Khye’s Self-Love Card Deck:Are you feeling the collective spiritual leveling up happening? Are you looking for a simple way to learn more about yourself or guide others to self-reflection? Pre-orders are open for Kuluntu RJC's self-care prompt card deck! Get this gorgeous tarot-size deck (2.75"x4.75") with 52 of the prompts you love to use with journaling, one on one conversations, or small group discussions. Pre-sales are open now! Click here to pre-order!About the guest:Khye Tyson (they/them) is an unapologetic southern queer Black femme who enjoys yoga, building community, laughing, subverting the gender binary, and reminding people that they can fire their doctors. Khye is a sacred transition guide, entrepreneur, healer, consultant, and educator. As the founder of Kuluntu Reproductive Justice Center (founded in 2018), Khye is working toward a world in which Black women and femmes can live, thrive, and raise healthy families freely within a healthy community. Khye loves to hike, sew, thrift, create art, sing, and dream of a world in which education is intuitive and culturally responsive. They are originally from Nashville, TN and currently reside in Atlanta. You can follow @KuluntuRJC to stay connected with Khye.For more, visit www.secondadolescencepod.com or @secondadolescencepod.Download episode transcript here.

This week’s guest is Jen Isher-Witt (she/her). Jen was so generous with her personal story which was such an example of what it means for us queer people to navigate through Second Adolescence. Before going into Second Adolescence, we dove into her first adolescence - talking everything from middle school, anxiety, those first indicators of queerness and the dread and panic that can come in response to internalized anti-queerness. Jen goes on to share about the rest of her adolescence which was marked by effort to be straight and distance herself from these feelings she was having. Then, it was in college that her queerness began to emerge more fully and her Second Adolescence began. I felt so much personal resonance with her and her story and feel so beyond grateful she wanted to invite us all into it!About the guest:Jen (she/her) is a 34-year old queer woman who grew up at the Jersey shore and now lives in North Carolina. Since coming out at 21, she’s spent a lot of time thinking, talking, and writing about the impact of her queer identity on her first adolescence and, more recently, on becoming a parent. You can check out some of her reflections on Medium. Jen also has a PhD in social psychology and gets joy from making it more accessible to others. Learn more on Instagram by following @SocialPsyQ.For more, visit www.secondadolescencepod.com or @secondadolescencepod.Download episode transcript here.