The Trump Administration’s explicit animus toward transgender people is a well-documented and very public fact.

Starting in his first term and now in his second, President Trump and his Administration have carried out a systematic, years-long effort to roll back protections for LGBTQ+ people.

Beginning in January 2025, the Administration issued a series of executive orders specifically targeted at trans people. Trump’s directives include targeting transgender students, banning trans Americans from military service, and giving federal agencies the go ahead to overtly discriminate against their trans employees.

While the Administration’s discrimination against transgender people is taking many forms, and fostering fear in people who identify as trans, it’s also impacting the friends and families of those who identify as transgender.

Roger Smith is a novelist and retired history teacher who lives in Brewster, MA. He’s also the father of a transgender son, Alex, whom he loves dearly.

In this poignant interview with PFLAG Cape Cod’s Rick Koonce, Rog describes the fear -- and outrage -- he feels at how the U.S. government is singling out and discriminating against transgender people today.

But, discrimination against people who don’t fit neatly into certain social, ethnic, cultural, and sexual categories has a long, long history in America, says this former history teacher.

Sadly and historically, Smith says, the “othering” of people seen as being on society's margins is part of our nation’s DNA.

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For more information, visit the PFLAG Cape Cod website: https://www.pflagcapecod.org/podcasts.html

© 2020 - 2025 PFLAG Cape Cod

Susanne Bennett describes herself as a white, queer, cis-gender, able-bodied, and educated elder woman.

At 78, this former college professor and retired clinical social worker also describes herself as a questioner, a doubter, and someone who’s always sought to better understand herself as a sexual and spiritual person.

These are just a few of the topics Susanne explores in a new memoir, Evolving: Faith, Sexuality and Aging.

The book chronicles a life that’s been full of unexpected twists and turns, moments of doubt and uncertainty, followed by hard-won personal clarity --- about the interrelationship of sexuality, spirituality, and the aging process.

Growing up in the south, the daughter of a Southern Baptist minister, Susanne considered herself straight and religiously conservative for many years. She married a man, became a mother to two children, and settled down to married life.

But then her husband announced he was gay, and her daughter came out as a lesbian at 17.

All this rocked Susanne’s world. And prompted her to ask a lot of questions; to become curious about herself and her faith, and to embark on a path of learning and self-discovery that changed her life forever.

Today, Susanne’s happily married to her wife, Cay and lives in Brewster, MA. She’s also a grandmother with three grandkids who identify as trans or non-binary.

In this thoughtful interview with PFLAG Cape Cod’s Rick Koonce, Susanne opens up – about faith, family, her unique life journey, and her fluid sexuality.

She talks too about her life today on Cape Cod, as a member of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Barnstable, MA.

And, about how her religious faith has evolved, just as her understanding of her sexuality has evolved over more than seven decades of living.

Please click the button to subscribe so you don't miss any episodes and leave a review if your favorite podcast app has that ability.

For more information, visit the PFLAG Cape Cod website: https://www.pflagcapecod.org/podcasts.html

© 2020 - 2025 PFLAG Cape Cod

Lindsey Straus is a 73-year-old trans woman who’s also the biological father of three sons -- triplets -- now in their early 40s.

The story of Lindsey’s transition --- from husband, devoted dad, and little league coach to trans woman, social activist, and lay minister at her church in Brewster MA --- is truly inspiring and courageous.

But that transitional journey did not come easily or without pain.

After more than 20 years of heterosexual marriage, Lindsey decided to transition and become a woman at the age of 50 in 2001.

Years of separation and estrangement from her family then followed.

Lindsey moved out of the house, while remaining the family's sole breadwinner. But, she was excluded from major family events including vacations and graduations.

All that said, as she tells PFLAG Cape Cod’s Rick Koonce in this interview, eventually, reconciliation with her family DID take place. Even with Lindsey’s ex-wife, with whom she now talks almost every day.

As for her three sons?

Surprisingly, a common love of the Boston Red Sox by both Lindsey and her grown sons helped heal family wounds and bring her and her boys back into each others’ lives.

Lindsey even remembers the exact date: October 18, 2004.

It was the day after Game 4 of the American League Championship series, when the Red Sox scored a major comeback against the New York Yankees.

Please click the button to subscribe so you don't miss any episodes and leave a review if your favorite podcast app has that ability.

For more information, visit the PFLAG Cape Cod website: https://www.pflagcapecod.org/podcasts.html

© 2020 - 2025 PFLAG Cape Cod