Emma : 0:05
well. Hello friends. Yes, I know, I know it's been far too long. I've not called, I've not written and, more importantly, you've been deprived of new episodes of coming out stories for six months. I know one minute was christmas and now, hello June, another Pride month is upon us. I don't even really have any excuses, other than life getting in the way. It's amazing how time consuming being a parent to a three year old really is. I think most of these six months has actually been taken up with potty training. I now no longer remember a time when my house and my car didn't smell of piss. Apologies if that's TMI. She is absolutely gorgeous, really.
Anyway, all you need to know is that we are finally back with season six. Can you believe it? We are now in our seventh year and, believe me, there have been times when I've thought about giving up. But then I take a look at this crazy fucking world that we're all sharing and I think now is not the time for quitting, because now more than ever, we really have to share stories of queer joy, of gay awakenings, of coming out, stories that give us hope and inspiration to a whole new generation, a generation who are growing up in a world that's increasingly homophobic and transphobic, a generation who still faces intense shame and hatred and bigotry. A generation that includes individuals who sometimes believe they're better off dead than being gay or trans. It's not okay. So, yeah, things are getting worse for our community, not better.
Rights are being eroded across the US and here in the UK. Earlier this year, the UK Supreme Court ruled that gender is defined by biological sex and not gender identity, effectively saying that trans women don't exist and eroding a whole host of hard-fought equal rights. We don't even really know how far-reaching the implications will be. At the beginning of this so-called Pride Month, the FA's new ban came into place, banning all trans women from playing in sanctioned football matches. So now more than ever, we need to be spreading trans love and sharing trans stories in particular. So what have we got in store for you? Well, here's just a small selection of guests coming up in season six.
Guest: 2:29
At some point I got from being kind of androgynous presenting to looking in the mirror and seeing a girl looking back at me and when that happened like I can't really describe the euphoria from that and it was like something I didn't know was missing.
Guest: 2:51
I remember I broke up with my high school girlfriend or something in the first year of college and I was trying to tell my mom something and I remember she cut me off and she was like you're not gay, are you? And she was kidding. For a minute I was like I could come out right now and I just decided I was like no, I'm not. And she was like, oh, thank God. And so that delayed me coming out probably by three years.
Guest: 3:23
I think I was about 14 or 15. That's when Queer as Folk came out. And then, as soon as I saw Queer as Folk, I was like yeah, I'm gay. I think it's absolutely amazing. I still watch it now, actually.
Guest: 3:35
My mother said to me. She says oh, you know, you should never lie about things. And I said to mom there's moments in your life where you have to. And she went nope, you should never lie, not at all. I went, mom, there are some in your life where you have to. And she went nope, you should never lie, not at all. I went, mom, there are some situations in life where you have to lie. Nope, always be honest. And I just snapped. I was a very vindictive person, so I just went okay, fine, I'll be honest. And my dad came upstairs and he went there's naked men on my computer, explain. And I went I have sex with men. And he went, oh, and he went straight downstairs. And my mother came upstairs and went God damn it. Which means you know, god damn it in Dutch. And she went what the hell did you say? And I went, I was honest. She went well, not that honest. And I went nope, you said there's no situation you should not be honest about and I went. So I was honest.
Emma: 4:20
So do make sure you give us a follow on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts and, while you're there, please do give us a five-star rating too. It all helps. You can also give us a follow on Facebook or on Instagram. On there we are Coming Out Stories Pod. We probably won't be putting much on the platform previously known as Twitter, since it became a playground for transphobes in particular, so come and join us and do tell your friends, in our first episode you'll hear from Wendy, who tried to transition back in the 1970s but would then wait another 45 years to finally become the woman she is today. She told me what it was like having that conversation with her wife.
Wendy: 5:02
In 1978, we did talk a little bit about it and you did talk about surgery. So Lord knows what else you're going to do. I'm not a lesbian. I'm not going to be married to someone who lives like a woman or is a woman Period. I just looked at her and said okay.
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