Queer, Holy & Divinely Led | with Guest, Rev. Rainbow Weldon (PT3)

Part 3: Identity, Becoming, Celebrating

It’s Part 3 of the 3-part series with Rev. Rainbow Weldon—Queer New Thought Minister, Consciousness Coach, Meditation Facilitator, and founder of the Queer Spirit Collective.

In this episode, Rainbow shares about her sacred activism, her journey of embracing her queer identity, and her vision to create a space for LGBTQ spirituality, joy, and healing—which would later become the Queer Spirit Collective.

Recorded in late 2025, this conversation captures a moment in time as that vision was still unfolding.

Rainbow brings over 20 years of experience working with individuals and groups, guiding people toward deeper self-awareness, spiritual connection, and living with intention.

To check out Rainbow's work, go to: queerspiritcollective.com

Thank you for listening! Learn more at suzannsole.com

Check out Suzanne's spiritual and sassy t-shirts at personallyspiritual.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

A place where people can feel that sense of authenticity and healing and belonging and love and acceptance, and know that they don't have to give up God or any kind of spirituality or spiritual community, even.

SPEAKER_00 0:14

You're listening to the Spiritual Shit Show Podcast. It's Suzanne Soul, episode 78. Hey, you perfect rays of light and being, and welcome to the Spiritual Shit Show Podcast, where we get into the wild ride, the healing and spiritual awakening journey can be. I'm your host, Suzanne Soul, comedian, lifelong spiritual student, and I'm sharing some of the tips and tricks I've learned along my journal that have helped me, and that I hope help you too. It's part three of my incredible, engaging, and very special three-part series with Rainbow Weldon, the fabulous queer, new thought minister, consciousness coach, meditation facilitator, and spiritual director and founder of the Queer Spirit Collective, an online community centered around authenticity, connection, and queer joy. Because I mean, what more could you want? In part three, we talk about identity, authenticity, and Rainbow's own journey to her identity as queer. She talks about her desire to create a celebration of spirituality and queer community, and what would later become the now Queer Spirit Collective, the online community she created since this interview, which was recorded in late 2025. How's that manifestation for you, huh? I mean, she's got it. Let's get into this amazingness.

SPEAKER_01 1:41

And so Sweets was able to get this person, you know, off the hook or out of jail and out of off the record, all that kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_00 1:50

Sounds like sweets have quite the charm. Yeah, I know. She was like an advocate and a charmer and all the way. And it's like like people disliked her and like they got past what that she was, you know, dressed or she was in drag or whatever. And I think that's I think that's such an important part of it. Is like when we get into the humanity of it, when we get into the community and the people and the person, right? That's not a persona, but a persona being not looking objectifying and looking at oh, this group of people. It's like if that person was in, like you worked with them and they were a really nice person, you would have a different opinion because you knew them and you knew them as a human being. So I love that. It's so, so important. Yeah. So sweets was just tearing it up. She was like, Yeah, handling it.

SPEAKER_01 2:48

She that moment that was the last time that anyone's been arrested in a gay bar in Lexington, Kentucky, just for being gay. Wow. You know. Yes. There's been other arrests, but yeah. But you know, but that is like a bar was raised.

SPEAKER_00 3:05

Maybe a few other things happening there, but that's everybody nobody can do that part. That's for all of us. But um can may I ask you, like, yeah, did you always know that you were you identify as queer?

SPEAKER_01 3:22

I identify as queer, yes. Um, and I like that term because it's more of an umbrella term. And I've always been like, okay, like when I realized, so I didn't really realize that I was attracted to women until I was um in my early 20s.

SPEAKER_00 3:39

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 3:40

Um I always knew, like, that's when I realized for myself. I always knew and felt different, but I felt more different just because of my like perspective on the life and my spiritual world. Like that that kind of made me feel different. Yeah. Um, but I also like never really dated. Like another funny family story was like, you know, I go on my first date in high school, I'm like 14. And then afterwards, and we went to a putt-putt golf place or whatever. First of all, I made him call his parents to pick us up early. All he wanted to do was like try to like make out under every little like putt-putt place. And I'm just like, no. And so then there's like a, you know, I I got together with my family. We used to get together over my grandmother's house all the time. And so my cousin or something, he's 10 years older than me. They were asking, like, well, so we heard you how'd your date? How'd you, you know, or what? And I was like, oh no, that I was like, he's just not deep enough. And then they he laughed. He was like, Oh, good luck, you know.

SPEAKER_00 4:53

You're going in a shallow pool for deep.

SPEAKER_01 4:57

Get in, guys. So but to think that, yes, in high school, you know, if you're looking for deep, especially, you know, maybe not exactly.

SPEAKER_00 5:09

Yeah. Yeah. But I just uh I yeah, I already like I like it sounds like you didn't know what you that what you wanted, but you knew what you didn't want. Exactly. That was where you started.

SPEAKER_01 5:22

Yes, yes, yes. And then, you know, and I did date some guys in college and different things, um, but they were also like artists, musicians, theater people, you know, like had it was I I and I think I've also uh when I heard a few years ago maybe the idea of demisexual, I resonated with that as well. And that was a new one for me, which is like you really have to feel a connection with the person. 100%. Yeah, not just like you aren't just sexually attracted to people. It's like that the sexual attraction almost comes after there is like some other kind of emotional connection, um, you know, or something else. So I relate to that as well. Um, so then yeah, when I first like then I first was with a woman in my early 20s in Chicago, then I kind of and I still never really said like came out like I'm a lesbian. It was like uh I fell in love with this woman.

SPEAKER_00 6:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:31

You know, and so then I was like, well, maybe I'm a pansexual, like I fall in love with the person, not the gender. Um, and I kind of related to that as a as well, too. Um and then so I've had two wives, um, part of the two wives club. So that first relationship ended, and then I was with my next partner for all these many years that just ended. So I never really dated that much. Um and just, you know, had those two long-term, you know, so very U-haul moments. But so then, you know, just it was kind of assumed that I was a lesbian. I know. What are you gonna do? Yeah, you know, and I was like, that's fine too. Like, you know, if people would assume or say like that I'm a lesbian, because they, you know, for I was married to a woman for many, many years. Yeah. Um, and then I started embracing the idea of being a lesbian more recently too, because of it has kind of a more of a even a like um activist political component to it, right? Like the history of um lesbians. Lesbians are just awesome people, honestly. You know, like get things done, very successful, um, as well as standing up for what's right and taking care of people, the lesbians that took care of, you know, the gay men during the AIDS epidemic and like made things happen, you know?

SPEAKER_00 7:57

Yes. I I I saw a documentary on that on how lesbians in the San Francisco area, especially, were literally like taking care of all of these gay men who were just is so ill. And they speak to that and say how these women just like took care of them completely.

SPEAKER_01 8:19

And that is just And it's interesting because I know I'm like y younger, but that still impacted my life because I was growing up, I was a kid at this church in Atlanta with a large gay population. Right. And so Yeah, so maybe you saw that, huh? I saw a lot of m my youth teachers, my mom's friends. I I was I remember going to a hospital, you know, and seeing and seeing some of these guys, you know, and the the um lesions, you know, and the so these this was all when I was like, you know, eight, nine, ten, or you know, and the I can think a handful of of men that I knew that died. Um and so that, yeah, that's something I don't often until the little bit of time I lived in LA, I did get involved. I I never really thought or processed that much until um we had uh when we moved there, a friend that was involved in the AIDS life cycle, and we started training for that. And then I realized that because they're kind of like everyone's touched by it, even if you don't realize it. And I was like, oh, I actually do have a pretty um direct uh relationship with that, even though I'm you know kind of younger for that time.

SPEAKER_00 9:40

Sounds like it was a very impressionable time, and yeah, that sounds like it was deeply affecting, of course. How could it not be?

SPEAKER_01 9:47

And even though my own spiritual sexuality, you know, felt like a little bit later in life, relatively speaking, um I also like there were things like in high school studying theater, I wrote a play about a high school reunion, and one of the characters comes back and is trans. And I'm thinking about that, I'm like, I don't even know if I like really knew about, you know, like that was like in the mid-90s. Like, how did like where I don't know? Where did I get that? Yeah. Where did I get that, right? Yeah. But it feels like something within me has always really been an advocate for the trans community.

SPEAKER_00 10:30

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 10:31

Um and as that has become over these, you know, past few years so politicized. Yes, yes, and specifically using religion, yeah, you know, as a harm and a hurt. And here in Kentucky, I have never met so many people personally that went to conversion therapy. Oh, I know.

SPEAKER_00 10:58

I know several. It's incredible. These poor I don't I mostly know young men. I don't know if I mean, and oh my god, the stories and I mean it's I you know how if if it's if Jesus literally was like, love everyone. Right. And they were like, okay, that means where'd you get that? Where the hell did you get? Okay, now I decide that everyone like needs to be like this or that. And you know, obviously, as they say, and I am a huge believer of this, anyone with a big problem about it is is has their own stuff in themselves that they haven't worked out with themselves. Yeah. I believe that wholeheartedly.

SPEAKER_01 11:43

Yeah, yeah, definitely. Well, and sometimes the greatest haters are those with internalized shame.

SPEAKER_00 11:51

Yeah, it always turns out that the you know find them, they've had a relationship with a trans or gay person, and it's like, why are you tormenting them because you can't make peace with yourself?

SPEAKER_01 12:03

Yep, you know, yep. And the idea of drag being attacked so much right now when it's like such a creative and expressive art and it's and it's authenticity, but it challenges the status quo and gender norms. So people in their life that feel like they have to live this box and aren't free to be who they are get confronted by that amount of self-expression, so feel like they have to shut it down because I can't be that free to be, I have to wear this suit and tie and mask up every day, you know, like masking, not COVID masking. Yes, then how dare you be so free and have fun wearing heels and a dress because it feels good for you. I can't, you know, and so then it's a let's legislate that. That can't happen.

SPEAKER_00 12:53

Yeah, it's like the misery loves company people are running things right now. Yeah. Fucking blows. Yeah. Really raining on our parades. Yeah, right. Yeah. So uh your uh uh so your sacred activism is coming from the uh honoring the queer community and the LGBT community.

SPEAKER_01 13:18

Is that yeah, a lot a lot of it is, yeah. I mean, there's so many marginalized communities and people that you know I I feel for and are being attacked right now. But my personal experience with that has me, you know, be in a close relationship to um a lot of other queer folks and family that I see religion has been such a place of hurt. So I would really just like to create a place where people can feel that sense of authenticity and healing and belonging and love and acceptance, um, and know that they don't have to give up God or uh any kind of spirituality or spiritual community, even all that that comes with the a community, not just uh, you know, because anyone can have their own beliefs and practice on your own. But there's something to this ritual of gathering and community and fellowship that all of a sudden it's like in this region and this day and time, whatever, you know, um, that certain people are being excluded from that experience. And so it seems like gay people are all, you know, anti-religion or whatnot, and it's like, no, it's just more of a they've been pushed out.

SPEAKER_00 14:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:39

And so how can we make sure that we are doing our best to create a space um understanding the hurt and the trauma and holding space for that? So that yeah, because there are and I find many queer people, gay people, LGBT people are deeply spiritually connected.

SPEAKER_00 15:01

Oh yes. Yeah, very much so. I mean, I have many friends in the LGBT community, and if you didn't know, I uh identify as I put the B in LGBT. Yeah I identify as bisexual, but my my circle is so filled with people from LGBT community, LGBTQ community, and all spiritual. Yeah, all of them. Literally every one of them lives their spirituality, lives their healing path, w wants to get honest with who they are. I mean, and so that's you know, to come full circle around that is why I love new thought. Yeah. Because new thought is dealing with each person individually. Yeah. You know? So how if you're melding your sacred activism and being uh a minister, how does that look for you?

SPEAKER_01 16:12

Um it's creating opportunities uh for healing and connection. Um so using the platform, so to speak, the you know, the the privilege that I have through um the the influence I have as being a spiritual leader to create an inclusive space and not just that but a welcoming space by we've done things, you know, we've hosted a um fundraiser that was a drag show. Um you know, we as part of joining with other uh leaders in this clergy group, we did at the Pride Festival something called Blessed at Pride Fest and offered blessings, you know, to people at our booth, and they could kind of do like a choose your own adventure, you know, what what word do you use for God or spirit? What qualities do you want? You know, pray how do you refer to spirit, you know, like uh and it was like this little sheet, so then individually we could speak to where that person's need was. And I really thought that I was like, I don't know, is anyone even gonna, you know, we didn't know how it's gonna go. Like, is anyone gonna come to the booth? And I kind of thought, like, yeah, you know, maybe a handful of people. There was like a line. Oh my god, people love and young people, yeah. A lot of young people, they are like in you know, like 20s, you know, in their 20s and coming and in teens, even, you know, and just like with their little and very vulnerable and authentic, and putting, you know, stuff down on that prayer stuff that you're just like, wow. And then people want to share their story, you know. They just show up and are like, This happened to me, or thank you for being here, or that you know, you you hear a lot. Um, and being in spaces, um, this is another thing that as a part of the clergy group, we talk about being in certain spaces and being seen as affirming clergy. So I have a rainbow stole, and um, you know, we'll go to something at the Capitol to a rally, you know, um downtown for marches, and we as clergy go as a group and stand together up front with our various, you know, religious garb, um, but usually in rainbow. And we had some rainbow stalls made for the group too, to, you know, so it's like just for people to have that visual and that and like hosting this visual vigil and stuff, like just to have a space to come and like light candles and be together and sing songs and to to see that there are affirming clergy and spaces that people can come in these times and be together and share what's on their heart and to heal. Um, so that's what that's what it looks like in some things in my life. Um and then also, yeah, just what I'm reading and what I'm sharing and conversations I'm having and that kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_00 19:24

Yeah, it sounds like you're showing up to your sacred activism from a place of love. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I love that. Yeah, it's powerful. Yeah. So if you were to say like what you your message, what what is feels like a part of the message of your own personal ministry, uh that feels important for you to be uh expressing and sharing and letting people know, what would that be?

SPEAKER_01 19:53

That's a question that I'm always asking myself. That's it today. It's yeah, it's one of those things it's like you're so close to it, you can't see it sometimes, you know. Um, so I can answer it in part, but I will also say that what I have experienced in life over the past couple years has really changed me in ways that I haven't fully integrated. Um and I'm moving into an extreme gift and opportunity, which is taking a three-month sabbatical. Oh, wonderful. So the community has the core counsel, the board has granted me this three months off to really rest, right? And to heal and process everything, and as well as then get to that space where I can really hear clearly that inner voice, right? And that visioning for what is my ministry. I love that. Um so something that has been kind of consistent in my life is is these in in what used to be my bio was very simple, just always like creative, spiritual activist. Yes. Um, so the idea of creativity, self-expression, authenticity, oneness, love, non-judgment, healing.

SPEAKER_00 21:28

Yeah, and showing up in that, not in a passive way, showing up in that of being like, I want to be part of the solution.

SPEAKER_01 21:36

Yes, and really living it, living the teaching, living these principles and practices, uh, and being in the moment. Yeah. So moving more, I'm excited to move into this winter, which is a time of really slowing down. You know, I see patterns in my life and I love seasons because of that.

SPEAKER_00 21:56

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 21:57

Um, but yeah, to Have the opportunity to even not have to still keep things going, you know, and Sundays keep coming Sunday after Sunday, and you're just like it's like a whole, you know, production every week. Oh, I know.

SPEAKER_00 22:11

On top of, you know, yeah, all the other churches. I know. Yes. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:16

So it's like, uh it's wonderful.

SPEAKER_00 22:20

Oh my gosh, I'm so excited for you to have this time. Well, Rainbow, this has been such an amazing, amazing conversation. I have loved to hear so much about your journey and what uh you've been involved in and what you're doing, and your activism is so incredible. Thank you. And where could people find your work?

SPEAKER_01 22:43

On Instagram at Rev Rainbow. And um YouTube, where you can find a lot, is on Ahava's YouTube channel because all the live streams and all my talks are on there for the past, you know, five, six years now. So that is um at Ahava A-H-A-V-A C S L. Um and I have a YouTube channel too. I don't do as much with it, but you know, just my name, if you put in Reverend Rainbow Weldon, whatever. It'll all show up. It will all come up. There's yes. Although there is another Reverend Rainbow that is a CSL minister. Get out. Yes. Okay. Isn't that fun? What other organization would have two, yes, the two rainbows? And I was like, we need to do something together. The double rainbow. Double rainbow. Yep. Oh my god, I love it. What is it? It's a double rainbow. Right?

SPEAKER_00 23:47

Yes. Well, thank you so much for being on the shit show.

SPEAKER_01 23:53

And I'm glad that I brought my little shit, my new little kitten to your shit.

SPEAKER_00 24:01

My shittin' to add to the chaos. It has been such a joy. And I've learned stuff about you. I've known you for a long, long time. I learned so much stuff about you that I didn't know, and that's why I love doing these podcasts. Yeah. Yeah. And what an incredible journey you've had and listening and always keeping your eyes and ears open to the message that Spirit is talking to you is just such a beautiful thing to hear about and see.

SPEAKER_01 24:28

Yep. Yep. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_00 24:31

Welp that is a wrap of this fantastic three-parter with the fabulous Rainbow Weldon. Thank you ever so much to Rainbow for sharing her amazing story and journey with us. And for showing up to be a space for queer spirituality, community, love, and total joy. And it was a total joy to chat with Rainbow, I'll tell you that much. If you want to connect more with Rainbow, you can find her anywhere at Rev Rainbow Weldon, as well as her online community, the Queer Spirit Collective. A place for joy, a place for spirituality, a place for celebration and connection. Sounds good to me. Anyways, as always, this has been the Spiritual Shit Show Podcast. My name is Suzanne Sowell. Thank you ever so motherfucking much for listening, and I will see your gorgeous ass on the next one. Roll it, you wonderful being you. Thanks, Rainbow. Love you.