Originally from a small town in Georgia, Puddin’s coming of age was divided in two. Outwardly, he was a devout Christian of the Pentecostal tradition and aspired to be a church leader and during sermons, homosexuality was always used as an example of the worst kind of sin. Privately, though, he struggled with his sexuality and was the target of abuse by a family member. After his family found out, he tried several different faith-based solutions for “curing” himself and, in the process, met...

You might assume you don’t have much in common with a 71 year old lesbian, but consider these three points: 1. Debra came of age at the dawn of the sexual revolution; 2. She’s a legend in the lesbian kink community and has some really fun kink play stories; 3. She is a total badass and a one of a kind human. Growing up in famously liberal Palo Alto, Debra was a precocious young woman, hungry for knowledge but a proposal from a “perfect” boyfriend in her 20s felt premature so she broke his...

In this Getting Fresh episode, Dave welcomes his in-studio guests: the creators of the Seattle-based Gayish podcast, Kyle and Mike and asks them about their podcast’s origin and its unique format: unpacking gay stereotypes one episode at a time. Then we listen to a listener-submitted story that describes the writer’s first time at an orgy and we discuss our own orgy adventures and our different experiences and expectations when it comes to group sex. Speaking of group sex, the orgy story was...

Kenny is the definition of a survivor. After experiencing abuse by a family member and getting kicked out of the house by his single mom while still in high school, Kenny lived in his car until he decided to move in with his first boyfriend. A move to Chicago for a job seemed like an opportunity to start fresh until he was laid off and had to turn to sex work in order to support himself. But despite all the challenges, he refuses to feel shame about his past and his sexuality. His advice:...

Lilian grew up in Sedalia Colorado, a small community outside of Denver. Growing up, Lilian was a good little straight boy who judged other kids for having pre-marital sex. It wasn’t until college in LA that Lilian began her journey into becoming a self-described non-binary, genderfluid transgender woman who is a solo-polyamorous, relationship-anarchist pansexual lesbian slut. An advocate for sexual liberation, Lilian describes the unique sexual relationships she has with various friends....

Growing up in a small California town in the late 90s, Drew didn’t have any exposure to queer people or culture except for the brief mentions on broadcast sitcoms. NBC’s “Must See TV” was a particularly rich source of information. A secret relationship with another guy in his high school confirmed Drew’s budding sexuality but it wasn’t until college at UC Santa Barbara that he had his first legit boyfriend. Years later, a shocking discovery made him question their relationship but it also...

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...

Introducing the premiere episode of the Getting Fresh series reboot. For season four, these episodes will feature informal conversations with interviewees whose main Fruitbowl interviews are more than a year old. In this episode Justin updates us about how his relationship with his husband has evolved during the pandemic and the accommodations that the couple has made for their “extra curricular” partners. We also touch on Fort Lauderdale’s Pig Week and Justin’s creative work as a comic...

Raised by feminists who had strong opinions about women’s rights, pro-choice advocacy and lesbian visibility, Justin knew early on his sexuality wasn’t pre-determined. But even in liberal college-town Providence, RI he was a target of less-evolved classmates. When presented with his first opportunity for sex experimentation, he chose the D and hasn’t looked back. But ambivalence about masculine tropes and romantic love kept him from finding community with other gay men. It wasn’t until he...

This episode features a voice that will be familiar with Fruitbowl fans: our very own host with the most, Saira B.! After just a few minutes of listening, you’ll soon learn why Saira (who, BTW, uses ALL the pronouns) is the perfect person to represent the amazing diversity of experiences of Fruitbowl interviewees. Raised in Wilmington, Delaware to academic parents who trusted their kid to explore cities like Philly and NYC all by herself, Saira was always informed about his body’s different...

Adam grew up in what he describes as a “Rated R household.” Prince was an early emissary of carnal pleasure who made a deep impact on Adam as a future professional musician. His parents split when he was 2 but his mom remarried and both his dad and his stepdad represented two different versions of masculinity. But homosexuality was still a taboo subject so Adam had to educate himself through early experimentation with friends and porn. After graduation, instead of coming out, he shut the...

As a first generation Vietnamese-American, Mike felt an obligation to make the most of his opportunities that his immigrant parents fought so hard to provide him. But even though his family was part of a robust Vietnamese community in Sugarland, TX (a suburb of Houston), Mike still felt like an outsider. Unlike most of his friends, he wasn’t fluent in Vietnamese and his emerging sexuality only made him feel more separated. Even after leaving for college and coming out to his family, Mike...

As a kid, Donovan loved to dance and even took lessons beginning at age 9, but growing up in San Diego, he soon realized that the many military bases in the area fueled a toxic culture of masculinity and homophobia and any behavior outside the norm put a target on his back. Once, after seeing a movie, he was called a f****t and assaulted. So even though he had some early experimentation with same sex intimacy, he didn't officially come out until college. Married now and living in Palm...

Andre can’t remember a time when people thought he was straight. Raised as a girl by an independent single mom who took a “tough love” approach to parenting, Andre grew up with a rich inner life but had few friends. “Lesbean” was the preferred insult in grade school, so Andre made up a fictional boyfriend in order to avoid talking about sex.  Even after entering college and coming out as trans, Andre identified as asexual until he met his first girlfriend when they were the only ones who...

Dan grew up just north of Seattle and his adolescence was uniquely queer-positive in that it featured supportive parents and plentiful queer friends even in high school. But Dan had his share of challenges including insecurities about sexual performance, penis size and a long journey to discovering his preference for polyamorous relationships. An early education in flirting came courtesy of a friendly dominatrix. And Dan describes some fun role playing as a "boy" with his Daddy and Big...

Karilla’s story, in so many ways, reflects the common stages of personal growth that so many queer people go through: in our early years, insecurity about our sexuality and adults who fail to help guide us; during high school, sitting on the sidelines and watching as our friends perform all the typical hetero coming of age rituals; in college, painful memories about first love and the lessons we learn from heartbreak; and choosing our family and finally accepting and loving ourselves. And did...

For those of us who are more, ahem, “mature”, being out and proud during our adolescence was just not an option - especially in Colorado where Ryan spent most of his coming of age years. In his interview, Ryan does a good job of articulating what it’s like when your body tells you you’re gay before you can even admit it to yourself. Sometimes surprising things can happen when a Tony Little VHS tape is near by. Ryan also describes being a part of Gainer culture and the different ways our...

Nathan's story is, at once, extremely unique and totally relatable in that he comes from an Egyptian-American family but was raised in an insular Christian community in New Jersey where being gay was a red line that was not to be crossed. The youngest of his family with two much-older sisters, Nathan didn’t always fit in as the leader of his high school bible club. Fortunately, his best friend, Michelle, was the leader of the school’s Straight/Gay Alliance. Years later, Stephen would ask...

You'd think living 2 hours from LA would provide plenty of opportunities for a queer kid to explore queer culture; but when you live in a trailer on an abandoned citrus orchard with limited introductions to other people and spotty internet, eighty miles can seem like a million. Nonetheless, Patrick eventually learned about sex and found other queer people, in spite of his mom's objections. A first experience with a mustached stranger from craigslist left a deep impression and, ever since,...

Elliott was raised in Caspar, Wyoming and has packed a lot of living in their 27 years including their own coming out, marriage, divorce, navigating their gender journey as well as figuring out their relationship to their faith, kink and the apps. Elliott also has a lot to say about the act of "squirting" and how to achieve it with a willing partner and also best practices for negotiating intimacy with cis men who might not be experienced with sex with trans people. We also decided that...

Alex grew up in Huntington, NY on Long Island for the first part of his adolescence and, at first, it almost seemed like a fairy gay-mother was watching out for him: a gay-friendly sex education class; a meaningful introduction to a trans woman; and a promising acknowledgement of gay life from his mom were all early examples of acceptance of gay life. But things with his family soon went south when they moved to Florida and in his early 20s he had to separate from them and make his own way....

Erik came out early to a supportive family and an older sister who was also gay, but it took him a while to find his queer crew: one that honored creativity and alternative options for a gay kid who didn’t necessarily fit into the typical identity of musicals and Madonna. Instead, Prince was an early influence on Erik’s queer life in addition to his musical tastes. An unrequited love in high school proved difficult to shake. Fortunately, Erik’s best friend, a lesbian, convinced him to snap...

It’s a brand, spanking new episode of GETTING FRESH, a more traditional podcast conversation featuring FRUITBOWL creator Dave Quantic with the current Master of Ceremonies for FRUITBOWL, Saira B.! Get to know the person behind Saira B’s very sexy voice. You'll discover, very quickly, that Dave could not have found a more appropriate person to represent the sexual diversity and rich complexity that FRUITBOWL stands for! Saira and Dave also dish about some behind the scenes developments for...

Shavit was raised on a jewish Moshav in Israel and knew from an early age that he preferred men. When he came of age, his dad took him on a week-long road trip in Europe in order to have “the talk.” The week ended in a Roman hotel room with access to porn. But even though sex wasn't stigmatized in his communal community, being gay was definitely not embraced as an option.  Fortunately, Shavit’s parents shipped him off to Jewish camp in the states every summer during his high school years....

Raised in Connecticut, Tai was often singled out by other kids because of his Chinese heritage. His parents split up when he was young and his mom came out as a lesbian which, predictably, made his own coming out pretty smooth with his mom and her partner but not so easy with his dad. Even though he knew he was gay pretty early on, Tai didn't have sex until college and, once he bottomed for his first boyfriend, he just kept on doing it until later in his 20s when he got the hang of topping....