Trigger Warning: This last month has been a traumatizing month for a lot of the LGBTQ+ community, our loved ones, and our allies. I am providing a listener warning on this episode. This episode we will talk about subjects that can be triggering to some. We will discuss suicide, bullying, hate, violent acts, and death. Please understand that sometimes we need to have these conversation. If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts or depression we ask you to reach out to your loved ones, or professionals. If you are an LGBTQ+ youth experiencing bullying, depression or need someone to reach out to, The Trevor Project is always there to support you and listen to you. The Trevor Project is an amazing organization and a designated charity of The Church of Fabulosity.

Minster La La discusses the tragedy of the bullying and death of Nex Benedict with Tina Valenin Aguirre and Kylie Minono. They speak of from their own perspectives of how this has affected them personally and what they have seen in the community. The conversation is emotional, raw, and honest. They touch of the transgender experience, trans joy, what brings them hope, and brings them fear. But even though we the community is facing a lot of hate from a lot of political rhetoric there is still ways to spread joy, happiness and fabulosity for themselves and their families - biological and chosen!

Kylie Minono, (he/him/she/her) based in San Francisco, was elected Grand Duchess 39 with the Grand Ducal Council of San Francisco and has helped to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for local charities. She is also a highly sought-after entertainer throughout California and was crowned Miss Star Search 2015. In her professional life she works in the nonprofit sector in fundraising and philanthropic services. She has served on the board of directors for Folsom Street Events and the GLBT Historical Society.

Tina Valentin Aguirre (they/them): Tina holds a BA in Communication from Stanford University, has worked in non-profit grant writing for more than three decades, served as Chair of the Board of Directors for the GLBT Historical Society for four years and has made documentaries, produced arts festivals, and is a published poet. Tina curated the Chosen Familias exhibition on LGBTQ Latine family photo albums (June-October 2019) at the GLBT Historical Society Museum. They have served as the Cultural District Director of the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District since 2020; the district uses racial, gender, and queer equity frameworks to center LGBTQ people, places, and culture in the Castro

Episode Websites and Resources

The Trevor Project
Suicide Prevention Hotline: Dial 988
Drag Out the Vote
Vote.gov

Resource links:

Church of Fabulosity Website: churchoffabulosity.org
Church of Fabulosity Merchandise: The Church of Fabulosity Zazzle Store
Church of Fabulosity Instagram: church_of_fabulosity
Church of Fabulosity Facebook: The Church of Fabulosity

Always stay fabulous! And check out our website and become ordained a minister of the Church of Fabulosity! And don’t forget to follow us and like our podcast!

Minister La La sits down to talk to Kentrell Charles about his journey being a black gay man. From Tennessee to Utah, Kentrell's journey has been one of joy, serving, fabulosity, and discrimination. All of this from his understanding of the differences of his being a black first, a man, and a gay man following. This is a conversation about friendship, serving others, being humble, and most importantly vulnerable truth!

Kentrell Charles is a Retired Flight Attendant from American Airlines. He servedat American as a flight attendant/ and instructor evaluator with over 20 years’. He was born and raised in Johnson City, Tennessee. In his youth years, he enjoyed playing a variety of sports,such as basketball, tennis, running and wiffleball. IN his teen years he focused on tennis and music. He still enjoys running as an adult and has picked up cycling.
He currently live in Salt Lake City, UT with his partner. He enjoys the great outdoors, but most of all skiing.
Kentrell is a philanthropist and gives back to many organizations in various ways. Such as National MS Society Idaho, Nevada, Utah where he is current sitting board member, Sundance Film Festival, and many others. He is also a certified phlebotomist who worked with transplant patience in a trauma unit. Working for the airlines he fell in love with experiencing the world through travel and food.

He is also an ordained minister of the church of fabulosity.

Resource links:

Church of Fabulosity Website: churchoffabulosity.org
Church of Fabulosity Merchandise: The Church of Fabulosity Zazzle Store
Church of Fabulosity Instagram: church_of_fabulosity
Church of Fabulosity Facebook: The Church of Fabulosity

Always stay fabulous! And check out our website and become ordained a minister of the Church of Fabulosity! And don’t forget to follow us and like our podcast!

Minister La La sits down with Terrence Williams and they discuss his spiritual journey as a black queer man.  They discuss the intersectionality of being queer, black, and man and how those identities individually and together shape his life, his spiritual experiences, and his fabulosity.   This is a deep and truthful conversation highlighting a Black voice during Black History Month.
 
February is Black History Month.  At The Church of Fabulosity part of our beliefs is that we strive for an equitable world because we believe that all humans are created equal: all sexes, all races, all genders, all sexual orientations, all ages, and all abilities!  All means all! 

So, during Black History Month we want to make sure, that as one of our guests so eloquently stated, bring Black History to the forefront of consciousness this month. With that we are lifting the voices of some of our Black community members to discuss their perspective, history, and their unique fabulosity and how as a Black human it shapes all of those aspects. 

These are some inspiring, thought provoking conversations that I hope increases your perspective and understanding of the Black human experience.  I hope these also inspire you to take some time this month to dig in and purposely learn something new.  Learn Black History from Black voices from their perspective of their history throughout February and even throughout the year.. 

Terrence Williams is a person who truly values spiritual wellness and often looks to meditation, tarot, and other practices to remain grounded and self reflective. His hobbies include gaming, making art, and traveling this beautiful planet we call home to experience as much culture and life as possible. Professionally, Terrence makes a living as a design manager and creative storyteller currently based in Chicago, IL. He loves to concept and produce compelling and authentic brand narratives that force audiences to reconsider how they show up and give back to the world.

Resource links:

Church of Fabulosity Website: churchoffabulosity.org
Church of Fabulosity Merchandise: The Church of Fabulosity Zazzle Store
Church of Fabulosity Instagram: church_of_fabulosity
Church of Fabulosity Facebook: The Church of Fabulosity

Always stay fabulous! And check out our website and become ordained a minister of the Church of Fabulosity! And don’t forget to follow us and like our podcast!

Minister La La welcomes a guest host Natalija Pavic (she/her) to interview him about The Church of Fabulosity.  They discuss the first 6 months.  Minister La La's learnings, challenges and how the church has been accepted.   Minister La La and Natalija really dig more into what is fabulosity, why is it so important and how can we experience it in our lives.

Natalija is an inventor, podcast host, and thought leader in technology. She grew up in Croatia living above an art gallery and immigrated to Canada at the age of 10. She speaks 5 languages though none fluently including English, Serbian, Italian, French and the present tense of Spanish. Natalija has founded and run several now defunct events companies in Toronto including Bad Habits Social for queer women which in 2018 hosted Toronto’s largest ever women’s pride party at the Fly. #IYKYK You can also find her poetry book at the Toronto public library which she self published at the age of 11, cause you know - what else is a kid learning english supposed to do but string together poorly formed sentences in a haiku? This made a lot more sense at the time~

Resource links:

Church of Fabulosity Website: churchoffabulosity.org
Church of Fabulosity Merchandise: The Church of Fabulosity Zazzle Store
Church of Fabulosity Instagram: church_of_fabulosity
Church of Fabulosity Facebook: The Church of Fabulosity

Always stay fabulous! And check out our website and become ordained a minister of the Church of Fabulosity! And don’t forget to follow us and like our podcast!

Minister La La sits down with local drag queen Anya Bacon (she/they) to discuss their journey from being a "fat gay kid" in conservative Logan, Utah to a fabulous plus-sized drag queen in Salt Lake City.  She shares their story of their name and the work she does with Mosaics Community Bookstore and Venue in Provo, Utah and the Besties Drag Show.  You will have all the feels during this discussion!

Anya Bacon is Salt Lake City’s favorite breakfast food! A fierce plus size drag queen who was born and raised in Logan, UT with a heart as big as her heels. Advocating for everyone who is “othered” and forgotten, she is on a mission of spreading empowerment and self-love. She is a Disney pin collector who grew up Mormon, but prefers moscato to judgment. Aspiring functional adult, lover of Broadway, and always ready for snacks! 

Anya's Instagram
Mosaics Community Bookstore and Venue

Resource links:

Church of Fabulosity Website: churchoffabulosity.org
Church of Fabulosity Merchandise: The Church of Fabulosity Zazzle Store
Church of Fabulosity Instagram: church_of_fabulosity
Church of Fabulosity Facebook: The Church of Fabulosity

Always stay fabulous! And check out our website and become ordained a minister of the Church of Fabulosity! And don’t forget to follow us and like our podcast!

Minister La La sits down and talks with Calvin Crosby, co-owner of King's English Bookshop in Salt Lake City, Utah.  They have a conversation of the power of books.  Not only for spreading knowledge, but driving equity and empathy.  The power a book has to change lives, change community, and change minds is both empowering and inspiring.  Come listen to hear the perspective of a man who has dedicated his life and career to putting books into everyone's hands.

Calvin Crosby, the majority shareholder and co-owner of Salt Lake City's The King's English Bookshop and Executive Director of Brain Food Books, a 501c3 putting new books into the hands of those without regular access, has been building community in bookselling for 30 years. He is a Book Industry Charitable Foundation Board Member, a 2022 Duende-Word BIPOC Leadership Award recipient, and a juror for the 2023 National Book Award Foundations Fiction Category. Calvin is the 2023 honoree of the University of Utah’s Native Excellence Community Partner and holds a Dominican University Business Leadership Certification. Calvin's commitment to building equity around books and reading in communities without libraries, bookstores, or consistent access has been a lifelong mission, in the 13 months leading Brain Food Books he has helped distribute 23,000 books into the underserved communities along the Wasatch Front. As a member of the Cherokee Nation, he believes in Land Back one Independent Bookstore at a time. Originally from Magna, Utah, he and his husband returned to Utah after many years in Northern California to shepherd The King's Engllsh Bookshop into a post-pandemic world.

Make sure to support your local independent bookstores and keep reading!

The King's English Bookshop
Brain Food Books

The books Calvin recommended:

• Calling for a Blanket by Oscar Hokeah
• Carmen and Grace by Melissa Coss Aquino

Resource links:

Church of Fabulosity Website: churchoffabulosity.org
Church of Fabulosity Merchandise: The Church of Fabulosity Zazzle Store
Church of Fabulosity Instagram: church_of_fabulosity
Church of Fabulosity Facebook: The Church of Fabulosity

Always stay fabulous! And check out our website and become ordained a minister of the Church of Fabulosity! And don’t forget to follow us and like our podcast!

The month of November is Men's Mental Health Month.  Minister La La is sitting down with people that identify as men to discuss men's mental health, expectations, healing, and self-care practices to help them learn to celebrate their fabulosity.

Minister La La has a divine conversation with David Monticalvo about Spiritual Masculinity.  During this conversation they touch on understanding what spiritual masculinity is and how it manifests in men and every gender.  What does it mean to be spiritual and gay men when so many times gay men and the LGBTQ+ community has experienced religious and spiritual trauma in life.  David dives into different masculine archetypes that show up in our the personalities of gay men and how they can use that to understand their divine purpose and behaviors.  This is a thought provoking discussion about how men's mental health, spirituality and fabulosity can be so closely connected and thrive off each other.   

David  began to celebrate his gayness in his mid-30s, after experiencing an unplanned period of transition. During this beautiful yet challenging time, he discovered the teachings of New Thought, which empowered him to view his journey as divine and perfect. He leads the Gay Men’s Spirituality Group based out of Unity San Francisco, where he’s the chief operating officer. As a speaker on gay men’s issues with a master's degree in public health and bachelor's of social work, he’s gotten to speak and write about a diversity of topics like men’s mental health, creativity, and rejection. His first book will be finished soon.

Want to learn more about David and his work visit his website!

Resource links:

Church of Fabulosity Website: churchoffabulosity.org
Church of Fabulosity Merchandise: The Church of Fabulosity Zazzle Store
Church of Fabulosity Instagram: church_of_fabulosity
Church of Fabulosity Facebook: The Church of Fabulosity

Always stay fabulous! And check out our website and become ordained a minister of the Church of Fabulosity! And don’t forget to follow us and like our podcast!

The month of November is Men's Mental Health Month.  Minister La La is sitting down with people that identify as men to discuss men's mental health, expectations, healing, and self-care practices to help them learn to celebrate their fabulosity. 

Minister La La talks with Andrew Jorgensen about his mental health journey.  Andrew grew up in a small seaside town in California.  Growing up gay and a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (aka Mormon), serving a religious mission, attending Brigham Young University and ultimately entering into a long term committed relationship before coming out sent Andrew on a journey of self-discovery.  This journey has a lot of ups and downs.  Andrew is very open, honest and vulnerable in this discussion about therapy, and self-discovery.  The struggles of being a 38 year old man without a knowledge of self-worth, self-confidence, and a struggle to discover who he was an individual.

Get a blanket, a cup of tea, snuggle up and enjoy this conversation.  It is a good one. 

If you are in need of someone to talk to or going through a mental health crisis, don't delay, call 988 or reach out to a friend or loved one.  As Andrew states, "just do it, start therapy."

Resource links:

Church of Fabulosity Website: churchoffabulosity.org
Church of Fabulosity Merchandise: The Church of Fabulosity Zazzle Store
Church of Fabulosity Instagram: church_of_fabulosity
Church of Fabulosity Facebook: The Church of Fabulosity

Always stay fabulous! And check out our website and become ordained a minister of the Church of Fabulosity! And don’t forget to follow us and like our podcast!