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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]

How Other People's Words Almost Destroyed Me

What if the voice telling you you're not good enough isn't even yours? Professional figure skater, Stef Vachon came out at 18 and thought the hard part was over. But years of bullying had already buried themselves so deep that freedom didn't feel like freedom. He walked away from his greatest passion and spent decades lost in anxiety, carrying shame that was never his to carry. Joe and Rya sit down with the host of the Together Moving Forward [https://togethermovingforwardpodcast.com/] podcast to hear how he finally traced that shame back to where it came from and reclaimed everything he thought was gone for good. And don't miss Joe and Rya telling their story to Stef this week on Together Moving Forward podcast. Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2043944/fan_mail/new] Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2043944/support]