Though Mars (they/them) comes from a legacy of performers, their genuine identity emerges after competing in a high school drag show. This is Episode 7 of Season 5 of The TMI Project Podcast: Black Trans Stories Matter featuring Mars Wolfe. Mars Wolfe is a genderqueer nomad. They orbit New York, Chicago, and LA, writing, performing, and project managing. Mars moonlights as the genderf*ck drag queen Ella Van o’Clock (11 o’Clock), and their one person show BILL, BILL, BILLZ premiered at Ars...

While chasing her goals, Sanaia (she/her) goes on her first date as a trans woman. The date does not go as planned. Content warning: This story contains graphic violence about a sexual assault. Listener discretion is advised. This is Episode 6 of Season 5 of The TMI Project Podcast: Black Trans Stories Matter featuring Sanaia Hood. Sanaia is currently busy balancing career, family, social life, and spiritual time with God. She’s made a commitment to be more gentle with herself and patient...

After coming out as Trans to his father, Jahir (he/him) decides to create his own definition of masculinity. This is Episode 5 of Season 5 of The TMI Project Podcast: Black Trans Stories Matter featuring Jahir Thomas. Jahir recently moved back to Georgia with the rest of his family where he has made huge strides in his relationships and confidence. Jahir hosts T-Talk W/ Jahir on YouTube. In addition to reaching an online audience, he’s thrilled to have met and formed strong bonds with many...

Exploring the spectrum of gender, sexuality, and identity through costuming and sports, KT (they/them) finds self-acceptance and makes a non-binary declaration. The fourth episode of Season 5 of The TMI Project Podcast: Black Trans Stories Matter features KT Kennedy. KT is a Black queer non-binary multidisciplinary digital media artist, educator, and youth program coordinator based in Brooklyn, NY committed to resource sharing, artistic expression, and youth leadership as tools for...

Recounting his childhood, Julian (he/him) explores his identity in the shadow of a strict Jehovah’s Witness upbringing. Content warning: This story contains a description of a sexual assault. Listener discretion is advised. The third episode of Season 5 of The TMI Project Podcast: Black Trans Stories Matter features Julian Harris. Julian is a Black trans man from the mid-Atlantic region, a social worker, and a lover of the written work, music, and travel. You can find out more about Julian...

Recounting his journey with mental health, Eddie (he/him) reflects on his time at an in-patient facility that he calls Feelings School. Content warning: This story contains descriptions of suicide and suicidal ideation. Listener discretion is advised. The second episode of Season 5 of The TMI Project Podcast: Black Trans Stories Matter features Eddie Maisonet. Eddie is a storyteller, teaching artist, and performer based in NYC, born and raised in Boston, MA. He is a queer, trans, disabled,...

By rejecting binary socialization, K.C (they/them), embraces their magic and discovers self-acceptance and joy. The first episode of Season 5 of The TMI Project Podcast: Black Trans Stories Matter features K.C. Nyabinyere Jallah. K.C. is originally from the Twin Cities area in Minnesota and currently resides in Los Angeles, California. They currently serve as a Resource Specialist Teacher and vehemently advocates for the total liberation and sovereignty of disenfranchised people at all...

Meet your hosts, Kiebpoli Calnek (they/them) and Erik Harris (he/him), along with the 10 storytellers who were chosen in a national call to perform in TMI Project’s first-ever Black Trans Stories Matter program, spearheaded by ballroom icon, actress, and activist Ms. Cece Suazo (she/her) whose own story is featured in the season finale.

Black Trans Stories Matter workshop leaders and Season 5 podcast hosts Kiebpoli Calnek and Erik Harris announce TMI Project’s international Call for Storytellers for Black Trans Stories Matter, a 10-session workshop culminating in a live performance on June 24, 2023. Submissions are due by February 15, 2023. You can find more information at https://www.tmiproject.org/black-trans-stories-matter-call/.

Kiebpoli & Erik, hosts of the upcoming Black Trans Stories Matter Season of The TMI Project Podcast, share their Pride Stories.

Outdated narratives frame “coming out” as a singular, pivotal moment in a queer person’s life where they reveal their sexuality to those around them. Windy tells a different story of coming out in layers and spirals. Among them, the first time Windy talks to their parents about having a girlfriend and the vastly different responses from their mother and father.

Pat and Ralph share parallel stories of coming into their identities in a time before rainbow flags and corporate Pride sponsorship. Pat came out as a lesbian in the 1970s after the Stonewall Rebellion gave her the courage to stage a revolution in her own life. Ralph was born in 1931. He knew he was different from an early age but didn’t know what that meant until a classmate in his early teens told him boys like them were called fairies.

Before coming out as a transgender woman, Bailey tried to present as the ultimate man. She was a bodybuilder, successful in business, and seemingly had it all. Yet hiding her true self took a toll, and depression threatened her life, until transitioning ultimately saved her.

After getting kicked out of his house, Liam moves to NYC and finds his calling: dance. He also finds something else: crystal meth. When both start battling for his full attention, Liam realizes he has to make a choice.

Zelda aka Judith Z. Miller takes us through her early crushes, from girls at camp to her English teacher. Shamed for her sexuality by her parents, high school psychiatrist, and college classmates, Zelda finally finds community at a progressive college where she and her girlfriend are treated with respect for the first time.

Like many kids, Ness struggles to find belonging at school and strives for perfection in an attempt to be liked; but what does it mean to seek perfection as a Black queer child when society’s model of "perfect" is a white man? As an adult, and with the help of their grandma’s advice, Ness finally finds someone strong and powerful staring back at him when he looks into the mirror.

TMI Project Executive Director Eva Tenuto passes the mic to the new hosts of Season 4: TMI Project's co-founder (and Eva’s wife) Julie Novak and TMI Project's Operations and Programs Manager Blake Pfeil. Together, they reflect on the importance of true storytelling for the LGBTQIA+ community to share their authentic truth, record their history, explore identity, and celebrate queerness!

TMI Project Executive Director Eva Tenuto speaks with Celeste Lecesne, co-founder of The Trevor Project (the first 24-hour suicide lifeline for LGBTQIA+ youth) about the necessity of sharing our stories of survival. Then, we hear from storyteller Ray, who was able to interrupt suicidal ideation thanks to a life-saving call to The Trevor Project.

Introducing Season 4 of The TMI Project Podcast: Pride Stories. Pride Stories presents a nuanced look into the joys, sorrows, triumphs, and transformations of 13 LGBTQIA+ storytellers. True stories from an intergenerational cast will explore the ways in which sexuality intersects with gender, race, body image, religion, addiction, and family dynamics.

When Eva unexpectedly becomes pregnant during a summer of excessive drinking, she decides abortion is the right choice. Despite being adamantly pro-choice, the experience leaves her grieving. On her 24th birthday (the day after the procedure), she’s gifted with a spiritual experience and temporary balm for the grief: a Prince concert.

It is 1960 when Deborah gets pregnant after an awkward sexual experience with an older boyfriend. She finds a doctor to perform an illegal abortion, but three months later, she finds out the procedure did not go as planned. Deborah makes an agonizing choice, amidst a chorus of other people’s opinions on what to do.

When Tamika is pregnant as a teenager, she stays silent about the hypocrisy of the church community members who judge her. Now, she tells her side of the story-- and how she built a thriving life for her and her family despite the condemnation she faced back then.

When a blundering, transphobic endocrinologist treats Raine like a research animal during a routine visit for a prescription hormone refill, he vows never to go back. Now, a medical emergency is forcing Raine to face his fear of doctors and advocate for the care he needs.

Mackenzie always wanted to have a baby, but at 21, knew the time wasn’t right. 13 years later, she has finally found a partner who she could envision parenting with. The only problem: a “dam in his vas deferens."

Stephanie has had her share of nightmare roommates, but nothing has prepared her for life in a house with two kids. Now, Stephanie comes to terms with all of the things she didn’t realize that she had agreed to when becoming a parent: screaming, sleepless babies, pet emergencies, self-care shortcuts, and parenting in the age of social media.