How Other People's Words Almost Destroyed Me

How to Actually Change Someone's Mind About LGBTQ+ Issues

At some time in your life, you've probably tried to convince someone that LGBTQ+ people deserve respect and equality. You presented facts, you raised your voice, and you walked away more frustrated than when you started. It's so easy to assume the worst about people who disagree. What if there was a better way? If you've ever wanted to reach someone on the other side of the LGBTQ+ conversation but didn't know how, this one's for you. Stay informed with the Trandescendant Dispatch email [https://dispatch.trandescendant.com/]. Image by Leo Hidalgo (creative commons [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:3_friends.jpg]) Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2043944/fan_mail/new] Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2043944/support]

Joe & Rya TAKE FIVE: Watertown LGBTQ School Board Scandal

Students rehearsed Omar Thomas's "A Mother of a Revolution" for months. Then their school board banned it. Joe and Rya unpack the Watertown Wisconsin controversy that's now national news and ask the real question underneath it: can honoring LGBTQ history be considered indoctrination when the music has no words?  Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2043944/fan_mail/new] Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2043944/support]

The Bible's Famous Marriage Vow Is Quietly Queer

You probably know the words "Where you go, I will go." Maybe you've heard them at a wedding. What most people don't realize is that this famous wedding vow was spoken in the Bible between two women, and the book it comes from is queer in ways most readers miss. Joe and Rya walk through the story of Ruth and Naomi and find one of the most quietly affirming stories in scripture for anyone who has ever built family from love rather than blood. The Bible isn't yelling. But sometimes the most important things aren't said loudly.  Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2043944/fan_mail/new] Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2043944/support]

Avoid These 4 Toxic Patterns Before They Destroy Your Loving Family

You love your family. But love alone does not protect a relationship from the patterns that tear families apart. Research shows that four specific toxic patterns can predict whether a relationship will survive or fall apart, and most people never see them coming. The good news is that once you can name them you can stop them. Joe and Rya walk through each of these four patterns and share practical ways to interrupt the cycle before it does real damage. Whether the conflict in your family is about politics or religion or identity or just what to have for dinner, you will walk away from this episode knowing exactly what to watch for and what to do instead.   Photo by Albert Oliveira [https://unsplash.com/@jazzevedo?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText] on Unsplash [https://unsplash.com/photos/a-group-of-people-standing-next-to-each-other-QREHOu2Xxms?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText] Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2043944/fan_mail/new] Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2043944/support]

What We've Learned About Hard Family Conversations, 10,000 Downloads Later

What does it actually take to hold a family together across a divide most people would call too wide? After over three years of conversations with parents, children, pastors, priests, scientists, scholars, and LGBTQ+ people from across the spectrum, Joe and Rya keep coming back to the same simple thing that saved their own relationship in its hardest moment. Whether you're a parent whose child just came out, an LGBTQ+ person trying to stay connected to a conservative family, or someone who thinks they don't know anyone this applies to yet, there's one frame here you can use in your own family tonight.  Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2043944/fan_mail/new] Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2043944/support]