You can grow up surrounded by farmland and still feel like you’re living on another planet.

Kris Saim joins us from Kansas City to talk about what it means to carry secrets for decades.

Kris shares a raw coming out story shaped by childhood sexual abuse, the fear-driven silence it creates, and the deep imprint of Pentecostal teaching that labels gay people as sinful.

Kris also grew up in the AIDS crisis era, when misinformation and panic made being a young gay person feel dangerous even before you could begin to explore your own identity. From marrying his best friend to becoming a dad, he explains how “doing the right thing” can sometimes be another way of hiding.

What changes the trajectory is a deliberate choice to live authentically. We talk about coming out first at work, the surprising power of being believed and embraced, and then the harder conversations that follow with a spouse, parents, and children. Chris also discusses building a respectful co-parenting setup that his kids carry into their own relationships, proof that family can evolve without losing love.

Chris is the host of powerful podcast, Dying Out Loud, created while he lives with stage four cancer. Built around letters he wrote to the people who shaped his life, it’s a legacy project and a challenge to all of us: stop postponing the words that matter.

Find out more about Chris and hear his podcast at: dyingoutloudpodcast.com

Presented by Emma Goswell

Produced by Sam Walker

We'd love to hear YOUR story. Please get in touch www.comingoutstoriespodcast.com or find us on twitter @ComeOutStories and on Instagram @ComingOutStoriesPod

We have a book! Coming Out Stories is available at all major shops now!

JKP.com | Queerlit | Waterstones | Amazon

Coming Out Stories is a What Goes On Media Production

We talk with Manchester-based poet Amy about growing up without queer role models, first love with a best friend, and learning to claim “lesbian” with joy. The chat ends with her live poem about a double coming out in Wetherspoons.

• childhood in Grimsby with little queer visibility
• legacy of Section 28 shaping silent classrooms
• first crushes, confusion, and a secret relationship
• telling mum and dad in small, human moments
• TV and history as lifelines for representation
• reclaiming lesbian and standing with trans siblings
• haircut, visibility, and letting beauty be ours
• poetry from slam urgency to crafted page work
• practical advice on safety, timing, and community
• live reading: Coming Out In Wetherspoons

Follow Amy on Instagram HERE

Presented by Emma Goswell

Produced by Sam Walker

We'd love to hear YOUR story. Please get in touch www.comingoutstoriespodcast.com or find us on twitter @ComeOutStories and on Instagram @ComingOutStoriesPod

We have a book! Coming Out Stories is available at all major shops now!

JKP.com | Queerlit | Waterstones | Amazon

Coming Out Stories is a What Goes On Media Production

A goodbye note found on a computer.

A father who says, “I don’t understand, but I love you.”

A marriage that proves joy can grow in places once ruled by fear.

From rural West Virginia to an online audience that shows up for humour, makeup, and honesty, we sit with Bobby Jean Spears as he traces a path from secrecy to self-belief.

If you’re weighing how and when to come out, you’ll find practical advice: start with a trusted friend, build a small circle, and save the family talk for when you feel safe.

If you’ve faced rejection, you’ll hear how life can still open up in surprising, ordinary, wonderful ways.

Subscribe, leave a review, and share this with someone who needs a reminder that better isn’t a slogan; it’s a direction we can walk together.

Follow Bobby Jean:

TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@bobbyjeanspears

IG https://www.instagram.com/itsbobbyjeanspears/

This episode also honours the legacy of Anne Algar, a lesbian trailblazer whose activism for lesbian mums shaped the ground we stand on for so many of us.

Presented by Emma Goswell

Produced by Sam Walker

We'd love to hear YOUR story. Please get in touch www.comingoutstoriespodcast.com or find us on twitter @ComeOutStories and on Instagram @ComingOutStoriesPod

We have a book! Coming Out Stories is available at all major shops now!

JKP.com | Queerlit | Waterstones | Amazon

Coming Out Stories is a What Goes On Media Production