Last week the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference’s published 'Created and Loved: A guide for Catholic schools on identity and gender'. It's a 12-page guide for principals, teachers and parish priests about how to work with young people in respect to their identity and gender. The Catholic Church + advice on gender = a very anxious Sean. We've read the guide so you don't have to. What's it all about? Should I be worried? What can parents do to support their kids in Catholic schools? Listen an...
Sep 15, 2022•18 min•Season 4Ep. 8
"We should be allowed to succeed and win” When Rudy Jean Rigg was at the height of their competitive badminton career, they made the decision to affirm their gender and transition. For Rudy, playing competitive sport and being trans sadly couldn't co-exist at the same time. At least not a few years ago. But what if they could now? In this riveting episode, Sean speaks with queer, non-binary, trans-masculine legend Rudy Jean Rigg about the future they want for transgender people in sport. We cove...
Sep 13, 2022•46 min•Season 4Ep. 7
It's our very first Ask Me Anything episode. And we're doing it with our non-binary hero, Sandy McIntyre. We start off easy: What's the difference between non-binary, gender non-conforming and genderqueer? Does everyone use they/them pronouns? Should I choose gender-neutral names for my kids? And then we turn up the heat and throw in some 🌶 spicy 🌶 questions! Is calling yourself non-binary just a phase young people are doing to rebel? Can't you just remain a man and wear a dress? Is it harder ...
Sep 08, 2022•29 min•Season 4Ep. 6
Imagine you're a young girl dreaming of serving in the Australian Army. Then, it becomes your reality. You have your dream job now. And a few years into your service, you fall in love with one of your colleagues. Harmless, really. Except... it's the 1970's. And that colleague is another woman. This was the reality for Yvonne Sillett who served in the Corps of Signals in the Australian Army for 10 years before she was forced out due to her sexuality. On today's episode, Yvonne talks with Sean abo...
Sep 06, 2022•47 min•Season 4Ep. 5
Singapore is repealing its controversial 377A gay sex law. But it's not all good news. Because at the exact same time, the government is making it impossible for same-sex partners to marry by amending their constitution. One step forward, two steps back. What is Section 377A? Why is it being repealed? What do Singaporeans think about it? And what does this constitutional amendment mean for same-sex partners who want to marry? We'll answer those questions (and many more) in today's episode of Que...
Sep 01, 2022•12 min•Season 4Ep. 4
If you're a woman who's in a relationship with a woman, people call you a lesbian. If you're a woman who dates men and women, people call you bisexual. But what if you don't feel like either? Trainer, podcast host and former beach sprinting Junior World Champion, Katie Williams, came out with her girlfriend Georgia in 2021. But even though she's a woman in a relationship with another woman, she doesn't want your labels. Katie sits down with Sean to share about exploring her sexuality in secret, ...
Aug 30, 2022•51 min•Season 4Ep. 3
Monkeypox is here and we need to talk about it. For our inaugural Queer Questions episode, Sean asks if Monkeypox (a virus that is mostly affecting men who have sex with men) is a gay disease? What is Monkeypox? Why are gay men being infected? What can be done about it? What can we learn from HIV/AIDS? And is it ever okay to tell gay men to stop having sex? Join in the conversation on Instagram: @comeoutwhereveryouare Ask us your Queer Questions: [email protected] If you want more informatio...
Aug 25, 2022•12 min•Season 4Ep. 2
We're here, we're queer and we're finally BACK to regular publishing! Things will look a little bit different this season. Not only will we be in your podcast feed every Wednesday sharing coming out stories from members of the LGBTQIA+ community... But we're introducing a second episode each week. Every Friday, we'll be answering your Queer Questions. You know, things like what does this certain word mean? What's the history behind the rainbow flag? Or how do I ask my boss to use different prono...
Aug 23, 2022•4 min•Season 4Ep. 1
What happens when everyone in your life totally supports you coming out? It never occurred to comedian and content creator, Samantha Andrew, that being queer could be a bad thing, because everyone in her life loved and supported her so strongly. But regardless of how proud you are to be queer, the rest of the world can still be homophobic towards you, which Samantha discovered when she started exploring her sexuality. In this episode, Samantha shares with host Sean Szeps about finding comfort an...
Apr 19, 2022•54 min•Season 3Ep. 8
Intersex is the 'I' in the LGBTQIA+ alphabet. It's estimated that there are more intersex people in the world than people with red hair but it's one of the most misunderstood parts of the community. Mari Wrobi is an intersex educator and advocate based in Sacramento, California. They discovered they were intersex in their late teens after they'd already come out as trans years earlier. Since discovering they were intersex, Mari has devoted themselves to educating people within and outside the LG...
Apr 12, 2022•41 min•Season 3Ep. 7
Coming out isn't always easy but being gay can be a source of pride and joy for so many in the LGBTQIA+ community. Louis Hanson is one of Australia's most well-known and beloved queer content creators but growing up, he knew gay = bad. To convince others he was straight, he forced himself to abandon any hobbies or traits that would give him away as gay. In this episode, Louis shares with host Sean Szeps about how he hid himself as a teenager, living through a 'second adolescence' after high scho...
Apr 05, 2022•54 min•Season 3Ep. 6
Almost everyone in Liam Cooper's life found out he was bisexual when he was outed on Married At First Sight Australia. Liam was open to producers about being bisexual before appearing on the show, but he expected to come out on his own terms, not forced to come out at his own wedding ceremony to his brand new wife Georgia. Since leaving the show, Liam has started a relationship with fellow MAFS contestant Samuel Levi and now he cops criticism that he's "been gay all along" from people who don't ...
Mar 29, 2022•57 min•Season 3Ep. 5
What does it take to be an advocate for your community? In January, students at Brisbane's Citipointe Christian College were forced to sign homophobic and transphobic contracts as a condition of their enrolment. When comedian Christian Hull found out, he asked his audience to sign a petition asking the school to withdraw the contract and he unintentionally became the spokesperson for the campaign. Christian received thousands of messages over the course of a few days and was interviewed by news ...
Mar 22, 2022•50 min•Season 3Ep. 4
Coming out to your religious family is hard. Going to conversion therapy and then not speaking to them for 10 years is even harder. Rod Jones, one part of the famous Australian Amazing Race duo Tim & Rod, came out to his family in high school. He was raised in a staunch Christian environment, where being gay was a sin that landed you in Hell, so it wasn't a complete shock that he was sent to conversation therapy. But when therapy didn't work, Rod had to come out again years later at 21. This...
Mar 15, 2022•58 min•Season 3Ep. 3
If you know you're different, but you don't want anyone else to notice, what do you do? When Kath Ebbs was growing up and coming to terms with their sexuality and gender, they used homophobia and transphobia as a defence to try and convince others they were straight. Kath grew up in a Catholic house and school. They didn't know what the LGBT acronym stood for but they did know when they made out with their female friends at parties, they liked it. They also knew it was wrong. In this episode, Ka...
Mar 08, 2022•55 min•Season 3Ep. 2
Is going back in the closet and hiding your full self always a bad thing? At various times in Khanh Ong's life, he's been forced to change his personality to fit in. As a teenager at a new school and even during his first season of Masterchef, Khanh acted as the type of gay man he thought he "should" be. Though it may sound sad, this self-awareness and ability to mould himself to different environments has given Khanh opportunities he might've missed out on, which assisted him in dominating on S...
Mar 01, 2022•57 min•Season 3Ep. 1
How do you put a label on a sexuality that doesn't have a name? Allira Potter is a manifestation and spiritual coach and author. Allira was married to a man in her early 20's but has dated both men and women since separating from her husband in her late 20's. To people who don't get it, Allira says she is bisexual, but to everyone else, she says she is attracted to peoples' energy. In this episode, Allira shares with Sean about exploring her sexuality in her late 20's when everyone expected her ...
Dec 28, 2021•48 min•Season 2Ep. 8
If you spend most of your time with other queer people, do you ever need to come out? Millie Poutama has dated women since she was a teenager but doesn't think she should have to come out. Millie believes queer people come out for the benefit of straight people, so by surrounding herself with an open and supportive queer community, she doesn't feel the need to label herself. But Millie also acknowledges that not needing to come out is a privilege that not everyone in the LGBQTIA+ community can g...
Dec 21, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Season 2Ep. 7
Who gets to decide if you're queer 'enough' to use the label? Abbie Chatfield came out publicly as bisexual in 2020 and came out as queer earlier this year. Despite publicly sharing stories of her sexual experiences with women, Abbie is regularly told she's not queer enough to use the label because she's never been in relationship with a woman. In this episode, Abbie sits down with Sean to discuss why it's easier for her to date men, the pressure of figuring out her sexuality with the whole coun...
Dec 14, 2021•57 min•Season 2Ep. 5
If you grow up in a religious family who believed being gay made you sick, where would you find the confidence to come out? Jeff van de Zandt is a Melbourne-based, Dutch-Filipino content creator and creative art director. These days Jeff is one of Australia's most popular TikTok creators, but when Jeff was growing up in Canberra in the 90's, there was one gay nightclub in the city and the only gay people he knew were his sister's housemates, who he would only see when his family travelled to Syd...
Dec 07, 2021•53 min•Season 2Ep. 6
What does it take to try and find love on national television, not just once, but three times? Brooke Blurton made TV history this year when she became the world's first openly bisexual Bachelorette. Not only was she representing the LGBTQIA+ community, but she also had the pressure of being the world's first Indigenous Bachelorette too. If that sounds like a lot of pressure...it is! In this episode, Brooke shares with Sean about carrying the expectations of the different communities she represe...
Nov 30, 2021•42 min•Season 2Ep. 4
When you come out as gay, how long do you have to wait until you can expect other people to be okay with it? Matt Hey is @alrighthey, TikTok superstar, drag queen and Australia's biggest glamazon. Matt has known he was gay since he was three years old but he didn’t come out until high school when he started to feel confident in his sexuality. Through coming out, Matt has learned to practice patience and compassion with people who take time to understand and accept his sexuality. In this episode,...
Nov 23, 2021•59 min•Season 2Ep. 3
If you're transgender and people don't know, do you need to tell them? After decades of the media portraying transgender people in a negative light, AJ Clementine is part of a new generation of young Australian transgender content creators changing that narrative. By sharing her transition journey and her life as a young model and advocate, AJ and her friends are showing the world just how beautiful their lived experience can be. In this episode, AJ sits down with Sean to talk about the moment s...
Nov 16, 2021•50 min•Season 2Ep. 2
If you're a drag queen...where does the performance end and real life start? Courtney Act is Australia's most well-known drag queen, a singer, author and TV presenter. Underneath the hair and makeup, Courtney is Shane Jenek. Performing as Courtney Act has given Shane permission to explore his gender and challenge what we think about masculinity. In this episode Shane shares with Sean about growing up in Brisbane in the 80s, what happened when he texted "I am gay" to his Mum, exploring his sexual...
Nov 09, 2021•55 min•Season 2Ep. 1
Does everyone need to give their sexuality a label? Josh Szeps is a journalist and broadcaster who has been coming out regularly from the early 2000s to, well, yesterday. Josh had been in relationships with men and women prior to meeting and marrying Sean. Although they're married, Josh doesn't call himself gay. In fact, he doesn't call himself anything. In this episode Josh and Sean discuss why Josh avoids labelling his sexuality, coming out to each other throughout the course of their relation...
Sep 22, 2021•52 min•Season 1Ep. 8
How do you have relationships if you're not interested in having sex with your partner? David Jay is an asexual advocate and founder of the Asexual Visibility & Education Network (AVEN) who last came out to a colleague. Growing up, David watched his friends develop crushes and get into relationships and he waited for the desire to do the same. When these feelings never materialised, David began to imagine what his life would look like if he lived openly as an asexual person. He founded the A...
Sep 07, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 7
What do you if your gender doesn't match the body you were born into? Grace Hyland is a content creator who last came out on TikTok when she posted a photo of herself as a kid before she'd started transitioning. Grace was 4 years old when she realised she was born into the wrong body. She discovered a world of trans content creators on YouTube who helped her come to terms with her identity before she came out and began transitioning in her early teens. Now Grace is creating a space online where ...
Aug 24, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 6
What do you do when you report the news and your rights are being debated in the news? Patricia Karvelas is one of Australia's most well known journalists who last came out to a sales assistant who incorrectly assumed she was shopping for her husband. When Patricia started coming out as a young person, people told her she'd be in for a "hard life". But as she's grown up, Patricia has seen Australian society change to become a place where her family is surrounded by a supportive and accepting com...
Aug 10, 2021•53 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Are all coming out stories... bad? Not this one. Jacob Stanley is the co-host of Australia's number one entertainment podcast Just The Gist. Growing up, everyone in Jacob's life told him he was gay, so it didn't surprise anyone when he began coming out during high school and in his early 20's. But despite coming out to overwhelming support from his family and friends, Jacob still spent his younger years wishing he wasn't the thing he knew himself to be. In this episode Jacob shares with Sean abo...
Jul 27, 2021•46 min•Season 1Ep. 4
How is it possible that a 14-year-old can understand and then publicly announce - to an entire school assembly - that they are pansexual? Actually, let's back up... what's pansexuality? Kirra Hampson is a content creator who last came out during an online film course. As a young person on the internet in the mid 2000's, Kirra spent a lot of time on Tumblr. It was here she discovered the word 'pansexual' and found a name for feelings she wasn't able to articulate. Six months later, she came out t...
Jul 13, 2021•51 min•Season 1Ep. 3
