Coming Out with Lauren & Nicole Coming Out Pod

Hot on the heels of her newly-released debut comedy album "Off-White," we talked to Nicaraguan-American comedian and writer, Cat Alvarado! Growing up in a mostly Spanish-speaking household, Cat always felt more Latina...and yet more often than not, she was perceived by her own community as "a white girl." Needless to say, Cat's dawning realization that she was bisexual only enhanced her experience of straddling two different worlds. Cat describes the dismal Vegas wedding she went through with as a teenager because she was terrified of going to hell for having premarital sex, and shares the refreshingly *positive* experience she had being a unicorn (good couples ARE out there!!). We also have a candid conversation about those instances where we're not 100% "out and proud" with family members, and the guilt we place on ourselves as queer people for these deeply personal decisions. Plus: naked ladies!

Follow Cat on Twitter and Instagram at @thecatalvarado, and on TikTok at @catalvaradocomedy. And you can buy "Off-White" on iTunes and Bandcamp, or stream it on Spotify! But, you know - buy it!

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Actor/singer-songwriter Holly Cinnamon (Succession, Daredevil) recently released the single "Small Town Queer," and in a true case of impeccable timing, we just so happened to catch her while she's briefly back in her rural Canadian hometown! Holly (she/they) weaves a tale that has it all: a childhood obsession with Barbra Streisand! Coming to terms with your sexuality on a camping trip! Making your pregnant high school biology teacher a Feist mixtape! Holly also shares how they processed a traumatic event via Alexander Technique and somatic experiencing, and how they've recently embraced themself as a self-described "baby they." Plus, the song Holly wrote to honor the first American woman in space (who, spoiler alert, was also queer)!

(TW: sexual assault, but nothing descriptive. Content warning is verbally given beforehand at around the 42 minute mark.)

Follow Holly on Instagram at @holly.cinnamon, subscribe to her YouTube channel, and check out her teaching presence website at https://teachingpresence.com/. You can also listen to "Small Town Queer," "Ride Sally Ride," and more on Spotify at https://sptfy.com/hollycinnamon, or just search "Holly Cinnamon" on any streaming platform!

This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/5207650/advertisement

Lauren talks to her CHARMING AND HILARIOUS friend Shenuque Tissera, a New York-based actor and standup who identifies as a genderqueer pansexual! Shenuque (he/they) grew up in a Sri Lankan Catholic family on Staten Island, and remembers the concept of masculinity making him uncomfortable as far back as childhood. This didn't get any easier when he started attending an all-boys Catholic high school, and so Shenuque learned to just keep his head down, and try to blend in with the machismo around him. It wasn't until just after college that Shenuque finally stopped repressing his sexuality...and by then he was already in a very serious relationship with a woman. Shenuque talks about how he started using standup as a way to process his sexual identity, and shares how exploring gender is what's currently most interesting to him. He also describes the messages he gets from queer Sri Lankan kids, and tells a surprisingly tender story about a hunky gym rat with a heart of gold!

Follow Shenuque (and watch his standup clips!) on Instagram at @shenuque, and on TikTok at @fakeshenuque. And check out Lauren and Shenuque TOGETHER on past episodes of FMK Champions here and here!

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At long last, Episode 40 guest Martha Marion is back to talk about her all *new* set of identifiers, which include "solo-poly-my-way" and "Everybody from Ted Lasso can get it!" Martha discusses the excitement she experienced getting to be "a publicly queer person," and shares how she felt like, in coming out, she escaped a straitjacket, only to discover "there's twenty more straitjackets on under here?!" Martha also describes her quest to replace the relationship escalator with a playground, and we have an elaborate discussion about the infinite nuances that exist within relationship orientations. All this, plus Martha gushes about her girlfriend and "the wet joy of being a whole person that gets to meet another whole person!"

Catch Martha as the voice of Arcee in Transformers: Earthspark on Paramount+, and say hi to her if you see her on a bus!

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If you're a long-time listener of the pod, then you probably remember alllllll the way back in Episode 17 when Nicole's mom joined us to tell Nicole's coming out story from her own point of view as a parent. Well, it took us four-and-a-half years and 230 more episodes, but we've finally got a matching set of Pacents: today's guest is none other than Nicole's DAD! Paul Pacent discusses his Italian-American Catholic(ish) upbringing on Long Island, and how having (closeted) gay friends in the '60s helped normalize queerness for him. He speaks honestly about his family's less-than-stellar reaction when his younger sister (Nicole's Aunt Nina) came out, and how in many ways that prepared him for his experience with Nicole two decades later. Plus, we tackle the age-old question that spans all generations: what do you do when people are being ignorant asshats in the group chat??

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Burak Yilmaz grew up in a very small town in Turkey and was best friends with his beautiful, glamorous mother: she taught him fashion, makeup, and hair, and would dress him in outfits to match her. But when he was five years old, Burak's mother left, launching him into a real-life Cinderella story, complete with a literal wicked (read: abusive) stepmother. In addition to his stepmother, Burak also endured abuse at the religious boarding school he was shipped off to, later documenting his experiences in a best-selling Turkish memoir that he wrote under a pen name. But when his identity was discovered, Burak was captured and imprisoned. He shares his incredible story of perseverance, culminating in his recently released book, "If My Mother Never Left." Also, the debt that Miley Cyrus owes him for her new hit single!

(TW: child abuse)

Follow Burak on Instagram at @burakny212, and look for "If My Mother Never Left" (available soon in audio form) on Burak's website (https://burak212.com/), Amazon, or wherever else you buy books online!

This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/5207650/advertisement