Ari grew up in Milwaukee until age 10 when his family moved to Tucson, AZ. The new environment brought him out of his shell in spite of being raised in a religious family. Raised as a girl, Ari had the most difficulty with his mom when it came to his family’s acceptance of his identity first as a lesbian, then as a trans man. Ultimately, Ari had to prioritize his own mental health and happiness over his mom’s objections about his “lifestyle.” Eventually, he made his way to Portland, OR where he was able to find gender affirming healthcare and a larger dating pool where he suddenly had his choice of partners to explore different forms of intimacy including penetrative sex and kink play. Thanks to our new sponsor, the new SPACES app, powered by Hornet! Learn more about it here: https://spaces.hornet.com/invite/e824dc9f879c0d556ac4c3cd1ab6d4ff Fruitbowl is now accepting short, listener-submitted stories to feature on future episodes. Send a story about a sexy hook up or something you’ve learned about sex via SPACES or email a story to [email protected] via your phone’s voice memo app. Rebecca M. Davis is the season 4 voice of Fruitbowl. Dave Pezzner is the assistant editor and mixer for this episode. Story editing and sound design by Dave Quantic. Fruitbowl is produced independently without corporate media infrastructure or full time staff. Every interview is recorded in-person, on location in each interviewee’s home and production expenses including travel, accommodations, equipment rental are paid for out of pocket by Dave Quantic, FRUITBOWL’s creator. The only consistent financial support (currently $256/month) comes from Fruitbowl’s Patreon community. Thanks to our new patrons: Dave and Alonso, Jonathan P., Patrick G., Mike H, Hugo CM, Eric D., Paul, Chris H., Cyrus S., and Robert. A minimum $5 monthly donation allows patrons early access to episodes, behind the scenes updates and Salad Tosser tier patrons receive access to exclusive video content that is not available to the general public. Learn more about how to become a patron at: https://www.patreon.com/fruitbowlpodcast Larger donations and underwriting/advertising fees are 100% tax deductible through a partnership with Northwest Film Forum’s fiscal sponsorship program. FRUITBOWL RECEIVES NO DIRECT FUNDING FROM NWFF, only the use of their non-profit status to receive tax deductible donations. For more information check out: https://www.fruitbowlpodcast.com/donate Social media platforms often censor mentions or depictions of queer sexuality. Accounts are suspended, or banned outright without notice, or due process. As a result, promoting FRUITBOWL is an uphill battle, so we rely on you to help spread the word. Tell your friends about Fruitbowl, rate us on your podcast platform or write a review on Apple Podcast. Every little bit helps. And, of course you can also follow us, for now, on twitter at Fruitbowlpod and Instagram and Tik Tok at fruitbowlpodcast. Find out more about Rebecca M. Davis at https://www.instagram.com/stayuplateshow/ Fruitbowl’s fruit artwork was created by Patrick Stephenson of Bearpad! https://bearpad.storenvy.com/