Coming out the pod

Zach first came to my attention when I saw a video of him on twitter that had gone viral. It was of Zach opening his gender recognition certificate. For those of you who follow Zach on twitter, you’ll know already that he talks very openly about his trans journey. In this podcast he talks about his early diagnosis of autism and realising from a young age that he was trans. Although his delayed transition left him angry and isolated, Zach is now a proud trans man and he talks about how becoming a member of the Stonewall trans advisory group was the best experience of his life.

Rob and I met over a decade ago when he was playing for Yorkshire Terriers and I was playing for London Titans. The hospitality offered to visiting clubs was legendary and we had many drunken nights together. Rob’s coming out story has many similarities with other guests in the series; struggling growing up as gay in a world where there was no talk of same sex relationships in school, no LGBT representation in the media and as a consequence feeling isolated and wishing he was straight. Rob also talks about the difficulties he has had with alcohol and how his partner helped him address what had become a problem.

Rob Rinder qualified as a barrister after leaving university but after several years at the bar he took up the role of Judge Rinder on ITV’s afternoon show. In this episode he talks about his coming out to friends and family but also about his experience of growing up “asphyxiated by the cloak of shame” and without any LGBT representation in the media. He also talks about his appearance on the show ‘Who do you think you are’ where he explored his Jewish heritage, his appearance on Strictly Come Dancing and how same sex dance partners are a vehicle for good. He also talks about diverse matters such as his university dissertation on gay porn and the issue of diversity in the legal profession.

Sam is a teacher and head of cricket at Trinity School, a private school in South London with an impressive sporting alumnae. In this episode Sam talks about life as a teacher during the pandemic and also about how when rumours began circulating amongst the students about his sexuality, he "took ownership" by leading assemblies for the students in which he talked about being gay and LGBT issues which has no part played a significant role in his school having a LGBT society and openly gay students. Sam talks about how he first came out to a friend whilst watching cricket at the Oval and how his father suddenly died before he had begun telling his family about his sexuality. Sam is a keen sportsman. He plays football for London Titans FC and as well as playing cricket, Sam is involved in coaching the England physical disability team. 

Sophie has had an extraordinary life. She started her career as a jet engine technician in the RAF. After several years abroad, she returned to the UK and in 2000 began transitioning but stopped when her son was born with health problems. She began working as a photographer ending up as the official AFC Bournemouth photographer in the season where they reached the premiership. She transitioned during the summer and the club were a model of how to deal with a trans employee. Life has not been without its difficulties and she talks in her first book about her lifelong battles with mental health. Sophie recently stood as a Labour candidate in the general election. She is currently writing her second balk and is a motivational speaker @sophiecooktalks

Dan is an educational psychologist who  splits his time between working for the local authority and lecturing students at University of Bristol. In this episode his shares his experience of growing up in South East London and finally coming to terms with his sexuality in his first year of university. He talks about he came out to his parents after he experienced his first broken heart. He also provides his invaluable professional insight into what needs to be improved in order to make the world of education more welcoming to the LGBT student.

Having been educated in state schools in Bolton, Matthew then studied at Cambridge University. His started his career working in television at ITV on shows such as the The South Bank Show. In 2010 he became Channel 4's first culture editor before becoming Editor in Chief of Attitude Magazine. In addition to that Matthew has found time to write articles for national newspapers as well as 4 books. His most recent "The Madonna of Bolton" is a semi autobiographical work for which there are plans for it to be made into a film. Next May he will release "The Secret Life of Albert Entwhistle" with the powerful message that it's never too late to come out. This interview was recorded via Zoom so apologies for some minor sound glitches. 

George is a journalist with the Daily Telegraph. In this interview he not only tells how his coming out story is an example of how not to come out to your parents. He also talks about what its like to be a member of the LGBT community working in the heterosexual dominated world of sport’s journalism and the steps that employers can take to promote diversity. He talks about how he fell into the media’s familiar trap of trying to find and speak to professional gay football players when writing an article about homophobia and how he now regrets taking the approach he did. He also speaks very candidly about becoming addicted to online gambling, how telling his family about it was worse than his original coming out as gay and how he now campaigns to raise awareness about the problems of online gambling.

James Wharton is an author of 2 books. His first book “Out in the Army” tells the story of how he came out when he was in the Household Cavalry aged 19. This has been turned into a screenplay called “Posterboy” and it recently was previewed at the virtual Edinburgh Fringe. His second book is called“Something for the Weekend” in which James writes about his experience of the chemsex world. In this episode James talks about his experiences of growing up in Wales, coming out in the army and coming out to his family and friends. James has moved from London to the country where he lives with his partner Alan and their dog Lando. He divides his time between his work as a journalist and studying film studies at Warwick University. @jameswharton

In this episode I tell my coming out story with contributions from my family. My sister. the person who I came out to first, recounts what what she remembers of living with me during the time where I was struggling to come out. My parents talk of their memories of my coming out. I also speak to my brother (Rear Admiral Connell CBE) about how his being in the military made the process of coming out just that little bit more complicated.