In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Tanya Johnson (she/her), licensed mental health counselor, clinical supervisor, and counseling professor, for a deep dive into the psychology of religious trauma and high-control groups.

Dr. Johnson breaks down exactly how high-control religions use behavioral, emotional, thought, and information control to keep members compliant and disconnected from their own instincts.

In this episode we cover:

• Why religious trauma is so hard to recognize and why we minimize it
• The BITE model and how cults control every aspect of your inner world
• How high-control groups train you to interpret your emotions through their lens
• Why anger is repressed in religious spaces and what that costs you
• The connection between the fawn response and religious conditioning
• Why neurodivergent people can have a unique relationship with high-control groups
• How to talk to loved ones who are still inside a high-control religion
• Why leaving religion can feel like losing your identity and map for reality
• Reclaiming your inner authority and learning to trust yourself again
• The martyrdom complex and how it follows you out of the church
• Why doing it scared is the only way through conditioned guilt and fear

Dr. Johnson also shares resources for finding religious trauma informed therapists and her own courses for both clients and therapists in training.

Dr. Lulu (Coach Udaku) is a queer Nigerian immigrant pediatrician, certified life coach, bestselling author, and advocate whose life defies every box society tries to put her in.

In this conversation, she opens up about her own decades-long journey to understanding her identity and how navigating faith, culture, immigration, and medicine shaped every step of the way.

Dr. Lulu shares the raw, unfiltered experience of learning her eldest child is transgender and how that moment cracked her world open and ultimately became her life's calling. She breaks down the critical difference between accepting and affirming a queer child, why siblings are the forgotten members of a transitioning family, and what parents absolutely must do before their child ever comes out to them.

We also dive into the concept of "inviting in", a powerful reframe that puts the power back in queer people's hands, and her trademarked theory of reverse intersectionality, which transforms marginalized identities into tools for meaningful change.

Check Out: https://drluluspridecorner.com/

Biconic breaks down what it means to be an AFAB (assigned female at birth) drag queen in a space historically dominated by AMAB (assigned male at birth) performers, how she built her drag persona inspired by Ursula, and why she chose drag queen over drag king.

We talk about Texas's SB12 "drag ban", what it actually says, why it's deliberately vague, and how it's creating a climate of fear for performers and small businesses alike. Biconic shares what it's like to perform on the front lines of this legislation and why pre-complying with oppression is never the answer.

We also get personal, from growing up as a military brat across 13 countries and 44 states, to knowing she was bisexual since kindergarten, to being closeted through a private Christian school and finally coming out at 18. Plus her wildest drag moments including sneaking through the streets of Dublin in a purple wig and asking Trixie Mattel and George Takei the closing question at an LA Pride panel.

This episode is a love letter to queer joy, community organizing, and drag as political defiance.

Topics Covered:

• What it means to be a sapphic/AFAB drag queen
• Texas SB12 drag ban explained
• Bisexual erasure and coming out later in life
• Drag as political resistance and queer history
• Building community in hostile political climates
• How drag healing and queer joy are acts of defiance

Find Biconic:

Instagram: TheBiconic

Facebook: Biconic Bi Icon

In this episode of Proudly On Record, we talk with Haley (she/her), a witchy, neurodivergent, queer single parent from Dallas, Texas, about religious trauma, evangelical deconstruction, purity culture, therapy, and reclaiming personal power.

Haley shares what it was like growing up in charismatic church spaces, being shaped by perfectionism and rigid Christian expectations, and learning how church culture taught her not to trust her own voice. Together, we unpack how power, control, shame, and abuse operate inside religious systems and how those same patterns show up everywhere from family structures to broader cultural institutions.

Haley opens up about leaving the church from her therapist’s couch, losing community in the process, and slowly rebuilding a life rooted in autonomy, healing, and self-trust. The conversation dives into purity culture, I Kissed Dating Goodbye, soul ties, consent, Internal Family Systems (IFS), queerness after divorce, and the complicated process of realizing you were never allowed to ask yourself what you actually wanted.

Haley also shares how astrology, tarot, breathwork, and a more self-led spiritual practice have helped her reconnect with herself after years of religious conditioning. This is a powerful conversation about deconstruction, queer identity, nervous system healing, and learning to believe yourself again after systems of control taught you not to.

A. Elise Joy joins Proudly on Record to talk about growing up queer in Alabama, surviving Mormon purity culture, and finding a lesbian awakening through The L Word.

The conversation also dives into Mormon purity culture, religious trauma, and deconstruction. Elise opens up about converting to Mormonism as a teenager, the shame and depression that followed church discipline around premarital sex, and the long process of leaving harmful theology behind. From there, the episode explores queer identity, healing after spiritual abuse, rebuilding a relationship with a supportive but complicated parent, and learning to trust yourself after years of being taught not to.

In this episode of Proudly On Record, the mic turns inward as host Elise is interviewed by cohost Kari about their own story.

Elise discusses growing up in an Independent Fundamental Baptist church, being homeschooled, and living in an environment shaped by extreme religious control, isolation, and fear-based messaging.

They share what it was like to be raised in a world where women wore long skirts, music and movies were heavily restricted, questioning was discouraged, and church culture shaped nearly every part of daily life.

Elise talks about never truly connecting with Christianity even as a child, despite being deeply immersed in church culture. They reflect on the pressure of evangelism, the manipulation behind door-to-door witnessing, the effects of purity culture and silence around sex, and the emotional impact of being raised to believe that anything outside a narrow religious standard would lead to misery or destruction.

The conversation also explores Elise’s queer awakening including their time at Liberty University, trying to fit into heterosexual expectations, and the long process of realizing they were gay after years of repression and lack of language for what they were feeling.

Topics in this episode:
Independent Fundamental Baptist church, homeschooling, Liberty University, religious trauma, deconstruction, purity culture, queer awakening, coming out, compulsory heterosexuality, church control, family relationships, and queer identity.

In this episode of Proudly On Record, we sit down with Jess Grace Garcia, a queer Christian, polyamorous community builder, and co-host of Queer Consciousness, to talk about what its like being a trans-queer-poly pastor.

Jess shares their journey growing up in an evangelical, cult-like church environment and what it took to deconstruct those beliefs while still holding onto spirituality. We dive into what it means to be both queer and Christian, how polyamory can exist outside of harmful relationship hierarchies, and why building intentional queer community is so important for healing.

From navigating purity culture and religious trauma to creating spaces like Queer Fire, this conversation explores how we can redefine faith, relationships, and belonging.

We also talk about:

• What polyamory actually looks like in practice (and what people get wrong)
• The difference between hierarchical vs non-hierarchical relationships
• Deconstructing evangelicalism and purity culture
• Queer spirituality and redefining Christianity
• Religious trauma and healing through community
• Building safe, inclusive spaces for queer and questioning people

Follow Jess Grace Garcia:
Instagram, TikTok, and more: linktr.ee/jessgracegarcia
Queer Fire LA: @queerfirela
Queer Consciousness Podcast: @_queer.consciousness

In this episode, we sit down with Arden Coutts (they/them), a queer trans author based in rural Nebraska who writes emotionally driven fiction centered on grief, resilience, found family, and queer identity. Arden shares their journey growing up in a small town, discovering their identity over time, and navigating life as a trans man in a rural community where LGBTQ+ resources and community spaces can be difficult to access.

Arden discusses how storytelling became a powerful tool for healing after the death of their father and how their personal experiences with loneliness, mental health, and identity shape the characters and worlds they create. Their work spans multiple genres including romantic suspense, fantasy, horror, and post apocalyptic fiction, all grounded in complex emotions and morally gray characters.

Throughout the conversation, Arden opens up about their evolving relationship with gender identity, transitioning, top surgery, and the challenges of accessing gender affirming healthcare in remote areas. They reflect on the importance of language, representation in books and media, and how finding the right words to describe yourself can be a deeply validating experience for many LGBTQ+ people.

Arden shares how they are now building queer community online through LGBTQ+ writing retreats and creative spaces that bring writers together for connection and support.

This episode dives into topics like queer representation in literature, rural LGBTQ+ experiences, trans identity, mental health, and the healing power of storytelling.

Keywords: LGBTQ+ podcast, trans author interview, queer storytelling, trans identity, rural LGBTQ experience, queer books, found family fiction, LGBTQ writers, gender identity journey, mental health and storytelling, queer representation in literature, Proudly On Record podcast