Second Adolescence

On today’s episode, we have Brandan Robertson (he/him). Brandan is known on the internet as the “TikTok Pastor,” with lots of folks tuning into his inclusive theological digital content across social media. I was curious to have Brandan come on to add to the conversation we’ve been having about queerness - I’ve gotten to speak with lots of folks whom as part of their healing have created distance between themselves and religion and God, but I’ve also heard from folks who are seeking ways to integrate their queerness with a faith as an adult. Brandan is a great resource here because he author of the forthcoming book “Queer & Christian: Reclaiming the Bible, Our Faith, and Our Place at the Table." The book and todays conversation are really about how queer folks can do just that - reclaim their faith. Even if you’re not seeking this for yourself, I found this conversation to be interesting and informative.

Pre-order Queer & Christian HERE

About the guest:

Rev. Brandan Robertson is a noted author, activist, and public theologian, dedicated to exploring the intersections of spirituality, sexuality, and social justice. He serves as the Pastor of Sunnyside Reformed Church in New York City and is the founder and Executive Director of The Devout Foundation. Known as the "TikTok Pastor," Robertson's inclusive theological content reaches over 250,000 followers and has garnered 6 million views. He has authored 23 books, including the INDIES Book of the Year finalist True Inclusion. His work has been featured in TIME Magazine, CNN, and The Washington Post. Robertson is a sought-after speaker who regularly presents at prestigious platforms like The White House and Oxford University, continuing to inspire and challenge audiences around the world. Robertson acquired a Bachelor of Arts in Pastoral Ministry and Biblical Studies from Moody Bible Institute, an Master of Theological Study from Iliff School of Theology, and an Master of Arts in Political Science and Public Administration from Eastern Illinois University. He's presently pursuing a PhD in Biblical Studies at Drew University. He currently resides in New York City.

Connect with Brandan on TikTok & Instagram

For more, visit www.secondadolescencepod.com and @secondadolescencepod.

This week’s guest is queer, non-binary artist and writer, Nat Urban (they/them), who is currently working on a badass project on queerness and girlhood which you’ll hear them talk about towards then end of this episode. Nat brings such an interesting and important story to this show and I feel so grateful they wanted to let us all into it. You’ll hear them share about their own adolescence in which they stepped into the role as the primary out, loud, and proud queer person in their high school who other queer people started looking up to, but how this was connected to overcompensating for some painful rejection they were experiencing at home and lots of internal struggle. They go on to share about the evolution of their experience in their queerness, their mental health journey, and how stepping into their non-binary identity in the past couple of years has come with another layer of needing to travel through a Second Adolescence. This was such a powerful conversation.
(Just a heads up there is discussion of the topics of depression, suicide, and self-harm, so I invite you to do whatever you might need to take care of yourself as a listener.)
About the guest:
Nat (they/them) is an artist and academic exploring queer experience through a number of mediums. They're a recent graduate of Butler University and just stepping into their life outside of undergrad and discovering their joys and passions in this new space. They're currently working on a project on queerness and girlhood consisting of a multitude of mediums and areas of exploration as well as getting into costuming and custom clothing in Los Angeles.
For more visit www.secondadolescencepod.com or @secondadolescencepod.
Download episode transcript here.

This week we have two guests joining us, Meg O’Neill and returning guest to the pod, Gender Specialist therapist and educator Rebecca Minor (from episode 36!). They are the women behind bi+(in)visibility, a community and supportive space for folks who are discovering their biness and queerness later in life.
In this conversation, we chat about their group, Meg’s own personal story of understanding her bi identity in her late thirties, and about the wide variety of experiences folks can have when uncovering and integrating their biness into their lives, including:

• the experience of bi folks, pan folks, and queer folks who are in straight presenting relationships,
• how compulsory heterosexuality can become so deeply engrained for folks and lead to many bi and pan folks to acknowledge their own queerness,
• the ways our culture seems more permissive and inclusive of women and femmes to be bi but not men,
• the experience of feeling “not queer enough,”
• navigating the privilege of straight passability and the need to not have our identities erased,
• and so much more!

About the guests:
Meg O'Neill (she/her) seems like the "typical" suburban PTO mom. Married to her husband, Matt, of 13 years. Mom of three kids. Business owner, avid reader and passionate about all things equity. Enter lots of time at home during COVID and TikTok and she soon realized she needed to be more vocal about the other side of her life that he kept quiet for years. Deep on a healing journey of realizing she was neurodivergent, and bisexual, she started sharing more about these topics and soon realized other people desired community around being bisexual in a heter-presenting relationship. Meg and Rebecca started a monthly online group called bi+(in)visibility where people can come together to explore the topic of bisexuality. You can learn more about the group and sign up here.
Rebecca Minor, MSW, LICSW (she/her) is a neuroqueer femme, clinician, consultant, and educator specializing in the intersection of trauma, gender, and sexuality. As a Gender Specialist, Rebecca partners with trans and gender nonconforming youth through their journey of becoming, and is a guide to their parents in affirming it. Rebecca is part-time faculty at Boston University School of Social work and always works through a lens that is neurodiversity-affirming, trauma-informed, and resilience-oriented. In addition to her clinical work, Rebecca has provided cultural humility training and consultation to organizations, schools, and businesses for the past decade. You can follow her work on IG at @gender.specialist or visit www.genderspecialist.com.
For more, visit www.secondadolescencepod.com and @secondadolescencepod.
Download episode transcript here.

Host of the show, Adam James Cohen, shares a mini update about the podcast - we will be having a full new episode next week and then will be taking a summer break, returning with new episodes in September. Thank you SO much for being a part of this community and these conversations about Second Adolescence!

This week’s guest is Leah Goodman, OTD, OTR/L, MSW, CYT (she/they). Leah is a therapist and education manager at The Expansive Group, a collective of queer and trans affirming therapists, led by Casey Tanner (also known on instagram as @queersextherapy). At The Expansive Group, Leah runs a support group for LGBTQ+ folks who are coming into/discovering their identity in adulthood (essentially going through their Second Adolescence!). This is the reason why I wanted to talk with Leah!

In this episode, we talk all things support groups and group therapy, and how these can be tools to support LGBTQ+ healing and liberation. Leah lets us in to really what goes on in a group, discusses the various obstacles/fears/stigmas that might keep people from pursuing joining a support group, why its particularly a fun and powerful space for LGBTQ+ folks, and so much more. This was such a tender conversation, I’m so grateful to Leah for joining us!

About the guest:
Dr. Leah Goodman (she/they) is a queer-identified therapist and educator based in Chicago, IL. She strives to build inclusive spaces full of warmth, humor, and affirmation, and finds joy in supporting folks as they navigate identity, relationships, sexuality, self-worth, and life transitions. Leah is a doctoral-level licensed occupational therapist and trained social worker with substantial educator experience in the fields of mental health, well-being and sex education. She has worked as a university professor, curriculum developer, and consultant, and is currently a therapist and the education manager at The Expansive Group. She is also a certified yoga instructor. For more about Leah, visit their website here.
For more, visit www.secondadolescencepod.com or @secondadolescencepod.