Proudly on Record

About Proudly on Record

Proudly On Record is a storytelling podcast documenting LGBTQ+ stories told in our own words and on our own terms. Hosted by Elise and Kari, we sit with LGBTQ+ folks (and the occasional ally who earned their spot) across generations to talk about identity, healing, joy, survival, faith, love, and the lives we’re building now. Our conversations explore the long-term effects of religious trauma, journeys of deconstruction, and finding yourself again. We also center celebrations of chosen family, finding acceptance, and the growth that comes from living life as your true authentic self. Proudly On Record is rooted in memory and resistance. It exists to place queer voices on record, where we cannot be dismissed or rewritten. We are here for those who believe our stories are the most powerful tool we have. May we never be erased. New episodes every Wednesday. Music Credit: VAAMP

Publisher

Proudly On Record

Category

society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

Yes

First episode

1 Oct 2025

Latest episode

20 Aug 2026

Latest episodes

40 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   20 Aug 2026

   The Church Called Her Preacher Father's Crime a "Pornography Addiction": Kate Johnson's Story

   Kate Johnson (she/her) is a writer, poet, and former pastor's daughter who joins us this week to talk about growing up in the PCA (Presbyterian Church in America) during the family values movement, and how a childhood built on obedience, arbitrary rules, and hierarchy shaped her relationship to safety, faith, and her own body. Kate opens up about her father's arrest for child sexual abuse material when she was nine years old, an event the church minimized as a "pornography addiction", and what it was like to live for fifteen years with her family's address on the sex offender registry. She talks candidly about the parentification, isolation, and financial instability that followed, and why she believes the conditions surrounding cases like this one deserve more attention than they get. We also dig into purity culture's failure to teach consent, Kate's experience of a non-consensual first kiss, and how discovering her bisexuality in college became one of the most confusing (and eventually healing) parts of her deconstruction. Kate shares how she found language for her queerness despite growing up homeschooled through a Doug Wilson-influenced curriculum called Classical Conversations, and how genuine friendships with queer people outside her sheltered upbringing shifted everything. From there, we talk grief, estrangement, and reconciliation which includes the personal ritual Kate created on a lakeshore to let go of who her father used to be, her work with Reiki and somatic therapy, and why she firmly believes "forgiveness isn't for the person who harmed you." This is a conversation about surviving a pressure-cooker environment built for abuse, reclaiming a body and identity that evangelicalism tried to own, and slowly learning that you were inherently good the whole time. In this episode: Growing up Presbyterian during the "family values" era Her father's arrest for CSAM and 15 years on the sex offender registry How the church reframed abuse as "addiction" Purity culture and her first non-consensual kiss Discovering bisexuality in college Homeschooling with Doug Wilson-adjacent curriculum (Classical Conversations) Estrangement, grief rituals, and choosing herself over reconciliation Advice for anyone deconstructing their faith and identity Find Kate on Substack (Quips and Confessionals) and across all platforms @KateJohnsonWrites. New episodes every Wednesday.

2. 

   5 Aug 2026

   Her Dad Worked with James Dobson: Emily Clede's Cult Survivor Story

   Emily Clede (she/her) is an Emmy-winning, VMA-nominated producer, but before any of that, she was a homeschooled kid on an isolated Kansas farm. Her father worked with James Dobson and Focus on the Family, making anti-gay documentary content that used Emily and her siblings as unwitting participants from the time she was three years old. In this episode, Emily opens up about growing up without the freedom to choose her own clothes, cut her own hair, or express herself creatively, and how she secretly kept drawing and storytelling alive under her bedsheets with a flashlight. She talks about being treated like royalty in church spaces because of her grandfather's status, while having no autonomy behind closed doors. She shares what it took to finally leave, the years of surveillance and stalking that followed her out, and how she rebuilt a life on her own terms. What We Cover: Her father's connection to James Dobson and Focus on the Family Life on an isolated Kansas farm turned "pastors' retreat center" Being used as a camera crew at Pride parades (in an anti-gay way) as a young child Meeting Fred Phelps (Westboro Baptist Church) and other prominent evangelical figures growing up The moment that changed everything: a trip to Old Navy at 16 Years of surveillance, stalking, and boundary-setting after leaving Being the family scapegoat and the cost of staying vs. leaving Building a chosen family Subscribe for new episodes every week Follow us on Instagram @proudlyonrecord for the latest news

3. 

   22 Jul 2026

   They Burned Her Shorts. She Burned Down the Whole Belief System | Hannah Orsag's Story

   Hannah Orsag (she/her) grew up as the eldest daughter of a Methodist preacher in North Georgia, fluent in scripture, leading worship, and doing everything right. But being perfect never actually felt like enough. In this episode, Hannah walks us through her slow-burn deconstruction, from purity culture and a Christian summer camp that literally burned her shorts in a bonfire for being "immodest," to discovering her bisexuality through an unexpected D&D campaign, to building a life and a literary journal (Heimat Review) centered on telling honest, complicated stories. We talk about growing up in a charismatic Methodist church, the difference between performative worship and real connection, purity culture's lasting impact on marriage and intimacy, deconstructing faith through the lens of literature, coming out to unsupportive parents, and finding a queer-affirming Episcopal church as an adult. Hannah also shares some genuinely wild stories from working at a Christian wilderness camp, including gendered camp roles, a Revelation reenactment complete with gallows, and yes, the infamous shorts bonfire. What we cover: Growing up as a preacher's kid in a charismatic Methodist church Purity culture, modesty rules, and writing letters to a future husband The wildest stories from working at a Christian wilderness camp Discovering bisexuality through a D&D character Deconstructing faith through literature and storytelling Coming out to unsupportive parents and dealing with bi-erasure Follow Hannah: Heimat Review: heimatreview.com (http://heimatreview.com) Instagram: @heimatreview (journal) / @scriptandstarlight (personal) New episodes every Monday on YouTube, all other platforms Wednesday. May we never be erased.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

9 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

21 ratings

Contact Proudly on Record

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.