Talk Out Loud - Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Intersex LGBT LGBTQ Stories

On this episode of Talk Out Loud we are joined by the talented Michael D. Cohen from Nickelodeon's hit sit-coms Henry Danger and Danger Force where he plays the genius, Schwoz Schwartz. Michael shares how a degree in molecular biology gave him a different understanding of how everything works while pursuing his dreams at all costs. All the while, he was fully living authentically to get there!

Sophie Santos is a tv writer and comedian behind The Lesbian Agenda Show and we are diving into her hilarious and heartfelt memoir, The One You Want to Marry (And Other Identities I've Had).  Sophie is the only child of a perpetually transferring Filipino, Spanish, US Army officer and a spitfire nurse, she spent her early years starting over again and again―and accumulating her fair share of anxieties.  This led her to creating a life that she realized was not the one that she truly wanted. In her memoir she shares just how she found her way while using her brilliant wit and remarkable sense of humor!

Max Harwood and Lauren Patel star in the film adaptation of the award-winning hit musical from London's West End, Everybody's Talking About Jaime. Inspired by true events,  the film tells the story of Jamie New, played by Max Harwood, a teenager in a blue-collar English town with a dream of life on stage. While his classmates plan their livelihoods after graduation, Jamie contemplates revealing his secret career ambition. He wants to a fabulous and proud drag queen. His best friend Pritti played by Lauren Patel and his loving mom shower him with endless support.  Local drag legend, Miss Loco Chanelle, played by Richard E. Grant, mentors him toward his debut stage performance. But it's not all rainbows for Jamie. His deadbeat dad, an uninspired career advisor, and some ignorant school kids, attempt to rain on his sensational aspirations. With rousing and colorful musical numbers, Jamie and his community inspire one another to be more accepting. They come together to see the value in facing adversity and stepping out of the darkness into the spotlight.  

Alexandra Grey is an actress, musician, and screenwriter. Alexandra lost her mom at a young age and grew up in Chicago in seven different foster homes. Her relationship with God sustained her over the years through some tough times. She knew that she had a story to tell as a black trans woman and had to keep going.  Holding on to the wise words of a friend, she took a leap of faith. With little money in her pocket, she moved to Los Angeles, to pursue her dream. Navigating her way through the Hollywood network, she eventually broke through and began working as an actress.  Through hard work, determination, and much faith, Alexandra has been able to play important roles. This includes Lucy Hicks Anderson in the HBO Documentary, Equal, and Stonewall activist Marsha P. Johnson in Comedy Central's, Drunk History. You can also find her helping to solve the case as Parker Phillips in the fifth season of the CBS action-adventure series MacGyver. 

From a young age, Justin Mikita has had a love for performing. His passion got him accepted into UCLA's theater program. That experience did not go as planned which led to him switching majors and becoming an attorney. While studying he would meet his husband to be, Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Their work would parallel one another. Jesse changed hearts and minds playing a gay man on ABC's hit show, Modern Family. Justin worked diligently on the legal front to help overturn California's controversial Prop 8 and achieve marriage equality across the country.   Justin's activism has also come through his organization, Tie the Knot, and with the film, Welcome to Chechnya. Today because of their and countless other's work they get to celebrate their first Father's Day this weekend with their son Beckett that they welcomed during the pandemic. 

River Gallo is a GLAAD award-winning Salvadoran-American filmmaker, actor, writer, model, and intersex activist. Growing up in New Jersey, River experienced the concept of hiding your true self at times for survival purposes. Particularly as a child of immigrants, living in a predominantly white area. They also had to hide their non-consensual operation as an intersex teen.    Beginning to find themselves in the arts, River's dream led them to NYU and eventually to USC. This is where their thesis would become the first-ever intersex short film, Ponyboi. In creating the film they came to find that they were not alone.   Today, River is working to create representation and understanding of intersex people through film, television, and theatre. They are working on making Ponyboi a full-length feature with Ezra Miller and with interACT to fight for intersex human rights.

Mack made history when he went undefeated to win the Texas State women's wrestling championship in 2018.  He identifies as male but as a result of a ruling by Texas' University Interscholastic League, he was required to compete with the team aligned with the sex stated on his birth certificate.  He now amplifies his story to help create understanding and dialogue for the next generation of athletes.  Today Mack shares about his personal spiritual journey since high school in self-acceptance, learning noble universal life truths, and healthy boundaries. We also learn why he was inspired to change majors in college from exercise science to psychology focusing on human development and social change in the world. Just in time for Pride month, Changing the Game, the Hulu Original Documentary, debuts following Mack and three other high school transgender athletes all at different stages of their athletic seasons, personal lives, and their unique paths as transgender teens. Photo Credit: Ben O'Neil 

Excited to announce a special pride series featuring influential members of the LGBTQIA+ community.  Every Wednesday in June, we will be releasing a new episode. The guest lineup will include Mack Beggs who is a noted athlete featured in the upcoming Hulu Original Documentary about transgender athletes "Changing the Game";  River Gallo writer, co-director, actor in the film Ponyboi and an intersex rights activist; Justin Mikita, producer and activist, co-founder of Tie the Knot; and Alexandra Grey, actress, and recent OUT Magazine cover star.

Dr. Kristin Beasley, better known as Dr. B., by her clients is a clinical psychologist.  She is the Founder of Leave a Lifeprint Coaching and Consulting and the host of the podcast, Delusional Optimism. Her passion is empowering people to heal trauma and build resilience specifically when it comes to Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). Today she shares about navigating her own childhood trauma, coming out after being married to a man for 20 years, and what life is like today.

Harma Hartouni is a self-made entrepreneur, proud husband, father, and survivor. Born in the U.S. and raised in Iran, Harma learned at a young age that he needed to rely on himself. After surviving a tragic accident, came with it the opportunity to move to the United States. Once arriving in LA he began to embrace the gay man that he was and live from the inside out. This would lead him to become a successful business owner and create a family of his own. Harma has embraced the challenges that he has faced and used that tenacity to continue to move his life forward. He talks about his life story in his new book, Getting Back Up: A Story of Resilience, Self-Acceptance & Success. And today, we are just scratching the surface of his journey.

Anjali Rimi was born in Hyderabad, India, and realized that she was different from the other children around her. Having to flee from her homeland to begin to understand who she was, she found herself in The United States. For the first time in her life, instead of facing harassment over her gender identity, she faced racism. After obtaining her degree and understanding how to navigate in this new world, and keeping to herself, she thrived. Only to find, that hiding her transgender experience from the world did not feed her soul. She needed to come out to the world and thus, Parivar was born.

Jeff Miller is the Co-Host and Co-Creator of Talk Out Loud. Jeff has fond memories, when he was young, of the magical stories he would hear from his father and at church. As he was maturing one of the stories that the church told, did not allow for a part of who he was. Having to leave home to be himself, he realized that the self-destruction in his life would only turn around, once he took ownership of it. In doing so, he found himself with a loving family, a farm, and eventually, true love. Today he finds joy in helping others tap into intuition by examining instincts and fear.

Dr. Jesus walks us through his journey in life as what it was like growing up in the countryside of Puerto Rico. Having a solid foundation from his family and rustic roots, he moved into bigger cities later in his life. Facing challenges, hardships, and a family tragedy, he found a passion for the art of drag as Yeveah Altieri, which helped him travel all over the world. All the while he was finishing his Doctoral program to become an Epidemiologist, which would take him to Washington, D.C. to work for the Federal Government.  You can also listen to his podcast, ¡Ya! con Yeveah Altieri on all major platforms.

Ryan Cassata is an award-winning singer-songwriter, actor, performer, published writer, LGBTQ+ activist, and motivational speaker. Ryan has worked hard to advance his career since the age 13. Learning that his love for music came at a young age, his mother encouraged him to follow his passion. His music helped take him on a journey, learning about love and himself. Today, Ryan is working to help combat homelessness and equality for transgender people.

Nicki ‘Faith’Turner is the Founder of Helping Facilitating Access Into Transformative Housing (F.A.I.T.H), an organization dedicated to strengthening the minds and futures of transgender, nonbinary, and intersex humans. Their work includes rehousing those who are homeless and helping acquire essential goods from clothing to cell phones, and more. They also help provide access to medical care, rides to doctor visits, and other appointments.  

Jeffrey Masters is the host and producer of the podcast, “LGBTQ & A.’ He speaks with some of the most interesting queer people in the world, including Roxane Gay, Laverne Cox, and Pete Buttigieg. Jeffrey was raised in North Carolina and being in a sheltered community, he grew to understand how important it is to have visibility for minority communities. After moving to Los Angeles, he discovered the art of podcasting. He was a pioneer in the industry where with hard work, determination, he has created a platform for queer people.

Coach K is a spiritual life coach that is helping the LGBTQ+ Community fully embrace their spirituality and sexuality. Growing up in a conservative family, she was taught that being a queer person was not ok. When trying to express her sexuality in a parochial religious environment, everything that she worked for was almost taken away from her. Eventually, she learned that she could live as an out person, but that was not enough. She had to go back and heal herself from her past traumas in order to blossom into the person she is today. 

Matthias is a psychotherapist, author of the book Beyond Shame: Creating a Healthy Sex Life on Your Own Terms, and the host of Queerology: A Podcast on Belief and Being. He grew up in the midwest in a conservative Christian community during the purity movement of the ’80s and ’90s. Realizing that he was gay as an adolescent he set out to change his same-sex attraction. This journey actually led him to accept his own sexuality. Today he is helping LGBTQI plus people connect and live fulfilling lives by writing and speaking nationwide.  He also serves on the board of Beloved Arise, a non-profit dedicated to fighting for the lives of queer youth of faith. 

Eric is a journalist, author, and the host of Making Gay History, The Podcast. Growing up what books he could find about being gay were disturbing. This inspired him to set out to write the books he wished had been on the shelves when he was a young person. To do that, he began interviewing people and started to uncover the history of our queer ancestors. In the process he recorded these interviews and learned that ultimately, most of them rejected what society said about them, they followed their passions and instincts, and they helped change the world. Thirty years later after writing the book Eric would carry the torch again bringing the stories to life in a whole new way.  

Alysse is a Midwest plus-size fashion blogger, LGBTQ influencer, writer, designer, and professional speaker based in Cleveland, Ohio. Growing up, she was inspired by her business-savvy mother and drawn to gender studies and fashion. After leaving Ohio, she made her way to the big city, Chicago. For the first time, she met other queer people like her. On the outside, her style displayed a strong confident woman but underneath that was a timid personality wanting love. Then one day while crossing a busy intersection something happened that would forever change her life. From that moment on she would realize that she was capable of anything! 

"JR" is the Director of LGBTQ+ Ministry for the Diocese of Lexington, Kentucky, and the Executive Director of Fortunate Families. He travels speaking about LGBTQ+ intentional welcome and ministry within the Catholic Church. At a young age, he was inspired by the Franciscans to help rebuild the church and went to work in music ministry at a Church. Over the years he grew in confidence and was able to come out as a gay man while being part of a groundbreaking movement, catering to those patients marginalized with HIV and AIDS through the Church. From that tremendous learning experience, he has continued to help the Church bring dignity to those in peril. "JR" reminds us that by answering the tug at our hearts to love others we are in turn loving God.

Alex is a diversity and inclusion speaker and has a passion for building bridges between communities. Alex shares his journey from growing up in a religious household and what it was like coming out to his Baptist Minister father and family. After leaving home, he found others like him. During his coming of age, he met the love of his life, which had it's own set of hurdles. Alex today works professionally educating people on how we can build bridges between those who are different from one another, using consistent gentle behaviors.

Bodhi is an artist, coach, mentor, and an internationally renowned DJ and music producer that has remixed legendary artists including Yoko Ono, Ricky Martin & Pitbull.   Growing up in Dubai, they experienced there is something mystical in music that soothes the soul that can give birth to new ideas and ultimately lead to new adventures. After moving back to the states they started creating music. Spending hours mixing, listening, and studying they mastered the art of remixing. After achieving much success, a dark period of life encompassed them and they wanted to vanish. They trusted their intuition that led them to the Rocky Mountains where they took a deep dive into personal work, healing of past trauma, and reconciling their gender. This created a desire to be of service and help other people heal and be free to express their heart’s calling.

Channyn is a Human rights advocate, public speaker, community-centric leader, Director of Strategic Partnerships for Howard Brown Health Center and serves on the board, at Equality Illinois. In 2011, the Cook County Board of Corrections set out to implement new policies for transgender inmates. This coincided with Channyn being brought on as a Re-entry Specialist. While working at the jail, she started encouraging the inmates to have conversations that led them to think in ways they did not know they had the capacity. This new thinking inspired worthiness and value in their lives. She then brought in non-transgender male inmates where they experienced common ground aside from their identities and realized that there is a shared humanity amongst all of us. From this experience, she realized the way things are going to get better is if all of us come together as the sum of humanity and let go of what is blocking us. 

Jared is a talented makeup artist, cancer survivor, and Be the Match Board Ambassador. At the age of twenty-four, working two jobs and saving as much as he could, he moved across the country to Los Angeles. There, working at a restaurant he met some other creatives that were impressed with his makeup skills when he showed up to work in drag on Halloween. He was encouraged to expand his work beyond weddings and proms. Around the same time, he was motivated to get involved with an organization helping homeless youth. There, a chance meeting led to him working with some young reality TV stars. As his career had taken off he observed that something was wrong with his body that led to a cancer diagnosis that would change everything.

Brandon is a Pulse Nightclub survivor and a nationally recognized gun safety and LGBTQI civil rights activist. Growing up Brandon had a difficult time finding acceptance for who he was from his family, friends, school, and hometown.  He auditioned for a job that brought him to Orlando, Florida.  This is where he found his “chosen family” and began to learn to love himself and be comfortable with who he is in the world. Finding refuge in gay bars and being surround by his friends he did what so many of us do and went out Saturday night June 12, 2016. Tragedy often strikes change for someone, and as you will hear, that is what happened for Brandon after that night.  He now is the Central Florida Development Officer and Media Relations Manager, for Equality Florida and works to end violence through action.

Anthony Navarro is the Founder and Creative Director of Liven It Up Events, a nationwide event production company with offices in Chicago and Los Angeles. He’s an author, producer, entrepreneur, talk show host, and speaker. His early years were shaped by the time spent at his family's restaurant. There he witnessed the importance of coming together around the table with friends and family. He then had to learn how to navigate life when there is loss and pain so he could continue to live and flourish. He’s now using all those skill sets in crafting life experiences for people through various media formats.

Bob Kiser is an author, speaker, coach, mediator, and radio host. He empowers people to let go of fear, embody who they really want to be, and create sustainable change in their own lives. Using the challenging situations he faced during his childhood as a springboard to create the life that he wants, he now teaches those lessons through various media. We spend some time working through his book, Create the Life of Your Dreams, to use strategies he teaches to help turn a dream into reality.

Lisa Cordileone is a writer, producer, and actress who continues to find her way in making her art reflective of inclusivity and empowering women.  With such works as, Freelancers Anonymous and Easy Abby, her body of work continues to expand and represent women.  Through all of this, she learned how to deal with fear and shame and strives to help change the trajectory for the next generation of women.

Seven Graham is a British intersex activist, comedian, filmmaker, playwright, and drug addiction counselor.  At a young age, Seven had an operation that was supposed to save their life only to find out years later that the procedure actually was harmful to their body.  Discovering that they were an intersex person, Seven has taken their pain and turned it into gold helping expand care, visibility, and understanding for Intersex people.

Rodney Wilson is an author, teacher, and the founder of LGBT history month. Growing up in a small town in Missouri, the message he and others heard was that gays and lesbians were "damaged goods" and so dangerous that they should not be allowed in the classroom. But Rodney’s thirst for knowledge and calling was louder, leading him to obtain multiple degrees in education and becoming a teacher. Then a few years later on a continuing education trip to Washington DC, he came across some history that changed his life. This led to him coming out to his students during a history lesson that forever changed the world.

Michelle is a four-time Emmy award-winning hairstylist for some of our favorite television shows produced by Ryan Murphy Productions.  You can see some of Michelle’s work on American Horror Story, Hollywood, Ratched, and many more.  You can also see her work on multiple projects with actress, Sarah Paulson. Michelle comes from humble beginnings in New Jersey and shares with us how she had a dream, and when doors started opening, she stepped through, took the opportunity, and ran with it.  

Sam shares his journey in self-acceptance and looking inward-facing everything after not wanting to be himself for most of his life.  By looking inward, he was able to get past the distractions and discover his true essence.  This discovery has also greatly helped him accept people with different points of view and create opportunities for conversation and understanding. One of his joys today is volunteering as a mentor helping at-risk LGBTQI youth in Los Angeles.   

Growing up in Oklahoma City, Armand attended one of the first magnet schools for the Performing Arts.  Having big dreams for their college life and career, Armand moved away from home to study at a prestigious art school which led to a rude awakening that life is not always easy.  With some time, getting quiet, and listening to that voice inside, an acting career was born for Armand that includes live stage productions and TV work as well. And let’s not forget about Cleo Pockalipps– Armand’s Drag persona that has helped lead them to coming out in a whole new way.  Armand is an inspiration by showing us you can create the life that you really want, you just have to dream it and go for it.  

Aurora is an artist and actress that has had quite a creative career.  After leaving home at the age of 13 and being raised by Drag Queens, she began performing in nightclubs in her early teens and quickly became one of Denver’s top Drag performers.   She built quite the following after moving to Chicago and was one of the only drag performers to work in every club on the strip.  Her talent took her to win drag show pageants, including being crowned Miss Gay USofA, giving her the opportunity to be a resident Drag Performer in Nashville.   After creating her own hour show in P-town, she now is working as an actress, perusing her passion in Los Angeles.  Aurora is an inspirational advocate and beloved member of the transgender community. 

Akeem Woods shares about what it is like to be a gay, black man who is a stand-up comedian.  Los Angeles is home but his joy is being out on tour making people laugh across the country. Akeem tells us what it’s like performing his act in small towns and what he has learned, being on the road.  You might be surprised on where his favorite cities are to perform at!

Hear from Jeff and Anthony, the Co-Hosts of Talk Out Loud and learn a little of what you can expect when you listen to the show.