Chapter One: Why Another Podcast? I escaped hopelessness. And because I DID escape, I feel compelled to share my story (and the story of many others) with those who today may be trapped in such an environment and system. There is hope!

Chapter Two: Beginning the Next Chapter: My Move to Palm Springs and What Happened When I Arrived: 127 degrees outside and then discovering I had no A/C on arrival was one thing. But then my Seattle doc called the next day and I went into a total tailspin.

Chapter Three: Potlucks and Parties and People! Oh. My! The journey of my love of people.

As I remember my "former" life as a married man with kids, struggling to be someone I was not- I remember that even thinking that I could have the life I have now was a pure impossibility. There was no way out for me. I was a gay man, trapped in a religious system that forbade divorce. And the thought of actually beginning a journey of discovery to find my authentic self? Never! But I escaped. And because I DID escape, I feel compelled to share my story with others who today may be trapped in such an environment and system. There is hope. My desire is to share my story in the belief that it will encourage you to take the next steps to begin (or continue) your journey to your authentic self, whomever that may be!

Photo: Copyright Wilkinson/2020

Opening and closing music courtesy the very talented Zakhar Valaha via Pixabay.

To contact Wilkinson- email him at BecomingWilkinson@gmail.com

When I was living my life as a married "straight" man, I remember going out to a restaurant on Capital Hill in Seattle with my then wife. "The Hill" was the gay area. I remember sitting there - we typically would be arguing about something- and I'd look over to the gay men at the nearby tables- chatting comfortably with each other.

I had no concept of what it would be like to accept one's self as gay. The idea that two men could fall in love and become partners, or get married, never crossed my mind. After my divorce in 1999, I finally said the dreaded H word to myself. Yes, I was gay.

The conversation today is with two men in their mid twenties who have fallen in love and it's the most natural thing in the world to them. We talk about some of the differences a few decades have made in how we look at things.

Photo: Copyright Wilkinson/2022

Opening and closing music courtesy the very talented Zakhar Valaha via Pixabay.

To contact Wilkinson- email him at BecomingWilkinson@gmail.com

Jeff Coe spent his early years in Texas and Oklahoma. At one point he finally came out as gay and lived as a young gay man for many years. Then he moved to the NW, had a religious experience, rejected his authentic self as a gay man, and went back into the closet where he slammed the door shut. Over the next couple of decades, he continued life in the church as an "Ex-gay, straight man" and even moved to Southern California where he worked at a national ex-gay ministry where they attempted to "fix" people so they no longer identified as gay (conversion therapy with a religious/church twist).

A couple years after he moved, I came out in late 1999 after getting divorced six months earlier. While we had considered ourselves good friends prior to that, nevertheless, he cut off all communication with me when I came out. That lasted approximately eight years. Then one day out of the blue, he emailed me and told me that he wanted to "chat" when he came up to Seattle. Turns out he came out again! Things progressed, we went back and forth from the NW and SoCal and consequently, we got together and we were partners for about six years. We split in early 2013. Separately, we each moved to the Palm Springs area (Jeff moved in 2013 and I moved here in 2017). We're once again friends. We discuss his journey in this podcast.

Photo: Copyright Wilkinson/2010

Opening and closing music courtesy the very talented Zakhar Valaha via Pixabay.

To contact Wilkinson- email him at BecomingWilkinson@gmail.com