I'm Coming Out

Jonny Harvey
I'm Coming Out

I'm Coming Out explores what it's like to grow up gay in a straight world. Every week a member of the LGBTQI+ community chats with Jonny Harvey about discovering and coming to terms with their sexuality, and the steps they took to move out of the shadows and lead a more authentic life.

  1. 02/11/2021

    #19 Dan on being gay & a fundamentalist Christian & Nick on being outed to his parents by his boyfriend

    Dan & Nick from the 802 podcast met a few years back at a house party and instantly became firm friends. Dan is from Norfolk but now lives in London & Nick grew up in the warmer climes of Trinidad but now lives in Manchester. Their 802 podcast was born out of their friendship and the fun they have together but now has grown to include guests. It’s so important that there is much more representation for people of colour in the gay media so I’m especially happy to have them both on my podcast. The interview was recorded remotely of course, I’m still working from my very small makeshift studio in my wardrobe at home. I chatted with Dan about; why race was more of an issue for him than his sexuality growing up in Norfolk, why homophobic abuse went over his head, how he became a fundamentalist Christian in his early teens (yep that is what I just said), why his church’s lack of acceptance ultimately forced him to leave and lots of other things. And I chatted with Nick about; what it was like growing up in Trinidad where homosexuality was illegal until recently, going to secret underground gay parties there when he was a teenager, what happened when his Dad discovered he had rented a gay movie from Blockbuster, the traumatic experience of his first boyfriend outing him to his parents as a teenager, his crush on Dua Lipa’s Dad and lots of other things. You can contact me by emailing me at jonny@imcomingoutpod.com and follow me on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook @imcomingoutpod. If you enjoyed this episode (which I really hope you did) please leave a rating and review as it really helps me. Thanks :) Twitter @the802podcast

    1h 2m
  2. 01/21/2021

    #16 Mohsin Zaidi on growing up gay & Muslim in East London

    It’s series 4 time!!!!! And I’m thrilled that my first guest is top criminal barrister and author Mohsin Zaidi. He released his memoirs ‘A Dutiful Boy’ last October and it was one of my favourite books of 2020 - I absolutely loved it!!!! Mohsin was born the eldest son of devout Shia Muslim parents in a deprived area of East London. Growing up in a religiously conservative household, Mohsin harboured a secret for much of his development years; he was gay. In a community where homosexuality was almost unimaginable, Mohsin  strugged with his sexuality alone for years. Despite all these challenges, Mohsin flourished academically and later professionally. He became the first person from his comprehensive school to attend Oxford University and is today one of Britain’s top criminal barristers. His memoirs A Dutiful Boy, was released at the end of last year and has been met with unanimous praise in the media. It was named by GQ, the Guardian and the New Statesman as one of the best books of 2020. This interview was recorded back in October, over Zoom of course and I chatted with Mohsin about……. why his entire year were stopped and searched on their last day of school how his home was petrol bombed in a racist attack after 9/11. the spiritual pilgrimages he took abroad in the hope of changing his sexuality why his father at first reacted by bringing a witch doctor to the family home to ‘change’ his son’s sexuality and Mohsin’s family’s journey to acceptance of his sexuality and how they are now even helping him plan his wedding to his fiancee. If you have any feedback for me I would love to hear from you at jonny@imcomingoutpod.com. I loved chatting to Mohsin and I hope you enjoyed this episode. If you did enjoyed it, please free to leave a review. :) Social Media I’m Coming Out Podcast @imcomingoutpod Mohsin Zaidi @mohsinzaidi_ldn

    49 min
  3. 08/20/2020

    #15 Chris McNaughten/Bear Strong on what it was like to come out in the hyper-masculine world of Strongman

    Chris McNaughten (also known by his moniker Bear Strong) is a two-time Junior Ireland Strongman champion. He also owns his own gym near Belfast. Whilst the sporting world unfortunately continues to be a deeply homophobic place for most athletes, Chris is somebody who is helping to change that, by becoming the first openly gay strongman in the UK and Ireland. Inspired by his own struggles with depression & his sexuality, he has become a mental health & LGBTQ campaigner. He was featured on the BBC series ‘This is Pride’ and on the MTV show 'True Love or True Lies'. Our interview was of course recorded remotely; the first ten minutes of audio has some clipping and popping.; apologies it was one of my first interviews I recorded remotely. We chatted about, why his nickname didn’t start out as a gay reference, why he went through a long questioning period with his sexuality, what ultimately helped him to clarify that he was gay, why he considered leaving his home town when he first came out, why being in an inter-racial gay relationship inspired him to partake in a MTV show,  how struggling with his sexuality contributed to his poor mental health over the years, why he has no time for femme-shaming and lots of other things also. You can contact me by emailing me at jonny@imcomingoutpod.com or tweet me at @imcomingoutpod. Hope you enjoy the episode; let me know what you think :) Follow me on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter @imcomingoutpod www.bearstrong.co.uk

    51 min

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
7 Ratings

About

I'm Coming Out explores what it's like to grow up gay in a straight world. Every week a member of the LGBTQI+ community chats with Jonny Harvey about discovering and coming to terms with their sexuality, and the steps they took to move out of the shadows and lead a more authentic life.

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