Sept. 13, 2022

David Beers takes the stage at a United Methodist Conference to speak his truth

David Beers returns for his second guest appearance.  This time, with an epilogue story of a major life transformation that he experienced, since we recorded the first episode.  After a lifetime of struggling to be his most authentic self, David, spontaneously, stepped into his power and spoke his truth on the stage at a United Methodist Conference.  He speaks of how this experience has already manifested obvious changes and opportunities in his life.  If you could use a little inspiration right now,  you'll benefit from David's story.

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Transcript

Coach Maddox  0:03  
Hello, David Beers and welcome to The Authentic Gay Man Podcast. I'm excited to have you on.

David Beers  0:10  
Hey, Maddox. I'm excited to be back.

Coach Maddox  0:12  
Yes, to be back. That's the key word. So I want the listeners to know that you are one of the few people that has come back for a second appearance. And that's because you have such an amazing story. So I can't wait to share this with the audience. I will say to you guys, that David's first episode, aired on June the 28th. And so if you go into iTunes, or wherever you go in, you can find that that date, that's the best way to locate if you want to listen to the full episode. Today, David has come back to us with an epilogue of like a follow up story to what he shared in the previous episode. And so those of you that may or may not go back and listen to the previous episode, I'm gonna let David do a little bit of a cliff notes story of that story to kind of the backstory. And then we'll launch in and with the with the epilogue, and let you guys because because this is amazing. So take it away, David.

David Beers  1:19  
Well, thanks, man. So I have just been going through so many incredible things in my life in the last few years. And the spiritual journey that I'm on is just totally amazing. And the more I open myself up to it, the more incredible it becomes. I'm a 62 year old queer person, and I've only been out of the closet for about six years. So I always tell people, I'm in gay kindergarten right now. I'm learning how to be gay. From my perspective, but, but my life has been interesting, colorful, I grew up in southeast first Florida and Tennessee. And I tell people that my family is basically the story of our family was written by Tennessee Williams. In fact, it's one of those tragic, dramatic Southern family stories that he always tells. I never had a good relationship with my father, my father was abusive, physically and emotionally and verbally, a he would rage out of control. And I never knew what to expect. I grew up in fear of him. And, and by extension, fear of men, which is really kind of weird. Because in fourth grade, I knew that I liked a boy and I liked a girl. And so I would struggle with those emotional feelings. And then about a year, year and a half later, I was in a Boy Scout troop sponsored by the local church that we attended. And we went on a trip to Memphis and the scout leader got me by myself, and he kind of got me in a situation where he touched me and did other things to me. And this happened, like, three other times. And of course, it's the don't tell anybody that this happened kind of thing. And I was terrified. I mean, and the thing weird thing was, is, is that enjoyed the feeling that that makes sense. I was I was feeling shame. But I enjoyed the sensation of that what we were doing. And that was kind of like, kind of mixed everything up. Because there was one thing my physical body and my, my budding sexuality was saying, Yeah, this is this is what I like, but then my brain and and the social conditioning that I experienced as a child said, No, this is a really bad thing, and you can't can't enjoy it. So so I'm here I'm in conflict, and I'm 1011 years old. So imagine starting from that point. So anyway, I go through my life, knowing that I'm attracted to men knowing that I want to have sex with men, but but never able to take that next step to, to admit to myself or to live that out. And so, in my 20s, I, what I did is I did like what, a lot of gay men in the closet, do I make real good friends with people that are attracted to but never actually approached them to have a relationship. I lived in Miami in the end of the 80s and was terrified of dying from AIDS. And I turned to the church kind of as a place to have relationships that were safe, that were platonic. And then I went to seminary, and I became a United Methodist minister. And of course, at that time, you know, they were not allowed to be out and be ordained. And so I was very deeply in the closet. I married a woman I met in seminary, we had a child together. We got divorced, and married another woman. I thought I helped me raise my son. And then finally we got to the point where it was just untenable. It was a toxic relationship. It was not healthy for either one of us and I just left. I moved in with my son, who was in his 20s at the time, and he basically told me to come out to him. He said, Dad, tell me, I said, tell you what Dad told me. I said, Oh, that I'm gay. He said, Yes, finally, thank you. So that was the first step in my in my coming out. And publicly, I kind of admitted to myself the year before that, that was where I was, and I couldn't live as a closeted gay man, it couldn't pretend to be straight anymore. And so from that point on, it was a lot easier. And then I started to have physical experiences with men. And then my journey turned some more when I joined a an online group of men talking about their personal experiences in their life. And I met all kinds of people, including Maddox, and this group, and it was just amazing to kind of find that, that sense of community that I always felt I was outside of that, I felt like I didn't belong and, and here were people telling me that I belonged. And people that were not that, you know, what I would watch on TV and see that, you know, the pretty boys are the folks in speedos, you know, the ones we all fantasize about. They were just normal people like me, and living their normal lives. So I got to the point where

I'm, like I said, I'm on a spiritual journey. And it just opened myself up. I've always been religious, I've always been spiritual. I've always been sensitive to the spirit, the universal energy, whatever you want to call it, the cosmic force, whatever you want to call it, and always sensitive to that, and always aware of things going on around me and in me. And so I've taken off some of the constraints that that I put on myself, you know, I broke down that wall of, of normalcy that I put around myself to make other people think that I was just like them. And when I did that, that other things began to, to come to the surface. And so I still go to a United Methodist Church in Nashville, Western United Methodist, and it's a very open and affirming and accepting church. And, and so I feel very comfortable. They're there. They have a booth that pride every year. And so, you know, I haven't stopped being a part of that religious community, even though there's a lot of issues I have with it. So recently, and I was a United Methodist minister in Florida for about 15 years. And so my leaving that denomination really was traumatic to me, it was over custody issues, not over my queerness. But anyway, so what happened recently at the there's a big split in the United Methodist Church over whether to ordain queer people or not whether to marry queer people, or anything like that. So recently, at the last annual conference in the Florida conference, which was my home conference, there were 16 candidates for commissioning for probationary membership to done their first step to becoming ordained. And there were two queer candidates, there was a man and a woman. And what they had decided beforehand is they were going to come up as a single unit, they weren't going to going to do separate. And so normally, when the board of ordained ministry recommends a group of people, it's just you know, it's just, you know, not really a matter of discussion. It's just Yes, we vote for them, you know, thank you for coming in this time, because of the issue about the two candidates. They had to have 75% approval normally, it's like 97%. It was 70% for and 30% against. And some of the conservative clergy that voted against them wanted to separate the candidates into separate units. And the bishop said, No, this is the way they're presented. This is why we always present them. And so and so they voted again, it was 72% To what 28% and 86 people and the clergy session and you six ordained ministers, not not not just retired, but this conservative element and the church voted not to let these people through and so what I read about that I was it was like a kick in my gut because I experienced rejection and and by the board administrator by the by the church in Florida, and so it was very traumatic for me to experience. The interesting thing is that the the board members were supportive of that of these candidates and put robes in the seats they would have been sitting in for ordination.

And I continue on, you know, I make my comments my thoughts known on Facebook, I went on and I'm a member of the the annual conference, I went as a delegate from my church. And we're sitting there and they're talking about ordination. And this year is the 30th anniversary of my ordination. And I'm sitting here going like, oh my gosh, it's, it's 30 years. And here, the hair I am seeing or watching other people getting ordained. And I'm not up there with the group during that process. And it just like, set me back on my heels. So here are these two things that come into my life. That reminds me of a place where I was before a place that was important to me, a part of my own identity that I used to compensate for my lack of being able to come out as my authentic self. I was authentic as I could be spiritually, but not any other way. I got my spiritual connection was good, but I was not being authentic. I was not living with integrity, because I was trying to compartmentalize that part of my life that I didn't believe that I was told was was not accepted, acceptable. The thing that the straw that broke the camel's back for me and why it all came to a head is that I talked about how I was abused by a Scoutmaster back when I was just a kid. Well, there's a big legal process going against the Boy Scouts and Boy Scouts from bankruptcy, and so they're figuring out how to pay out the damages. And the Roman Catholic Church and the LDS church are both major players in the scouting movement. But the United Methodist Church has partnered into, and but a smaller part. So they talked about the overall liability for the general church. And then they talked about how much for the conference. And then they said, we have to realize that that you know, people were victimized. And let's take a moment for a moment of silence for these people. And I'm, it's like somebody hit me. It was like, somebody hit me that, you know, I wasn't having a panic attack, but it felt like it. You know, the walls kind of closed in, I saw yellow, I was getting emotional. And so I got up and left. I talked to my, the senior pastor of the church. And so I let her know that I'd gone downstairs, and she came up and sat with me and I cried, and she cried. And so we went back up. And by the end of that session, I send a message to the bishop. And I said, Listen, I'm one of those people. And it isn't just about the money. It isn't just about you know, that it's a real thing. And I want to put a face to it. And so at the end of the session, he called me up, he said, Do you want to speak? Or do you want assist? I said, No, I this is something I felt I needed to do, though, because the longer I sat there, the more I said to myself, this is something I have to do, I can't just let it pass by without somebody acknowledging the humanity of the situation. And so I got up at the beginning of the next session, and two or three, four minutes, I spoke to how I was one of those people. And I want to put a face on it. And I wanted to remind people, it isn't just about the financial line item, it isn't just about the statistics. It's about real human beings, like the children that were hurt children whose lives were irreparably damaged. And that I was at one of these people. And I was a child of that I have to and this was my church too. And I just wanted to make sure that they were aware of what the church had been culpable for. And so anyway, everybody comes up and says, Oh, you're so brave, Bob, thank you so much for saying this, we really needed to hear this. And I'm, you know, I I'm really good at deflecting

affirmations, because I struggled so much with my own self, you know, that internalized homophobia that we we tend to have. And so I'm sitting there, and all these things are going around in my head, and I, you know, I want to be real blue here. I talked to my spirit guides, and I said, Listen, I've been saying, Listen, what I need you to do is help me to find the words and the actions that I need to have, so that I can move myself and other people forward and bring light into the world. And so one of the thoughts that came to me is and I shared this with somebody I was talking to, I said, You know what, I had to say this because I had to bring the dark into the light. I couldn't leave the darkness there for anybody to be afraid of to anybody nor but I had to bring it into the light so that light could shine on it. And so no longer was it dark. And so what happened as I process all these things coming together, three things came to me. The first was that this shared trauma of mine with the Florida conference and these people that were denied access to ministry just as part of the overall denial of the church to people who are called by God called by the Spirit and to ministry and to leadership into loving committed relationships and how they slammed the door in our face. And that shared feeling of rejection and and and the denial just resonated and brought it kind of a kind of good, there's a healing in my heart. And then I'm sitting in there listening to them go through the, the directions that the Wesley gave to the ordinance. And one of the things that he said is never stay any longer than necessary at any one place. And I'm going Holy crap. This is for me. This is this is my recognizing that I was doing what I was doing for the time I was supposed to do it. And I just could let go of it. Now it was, it's like, it's like my anniversaries with my ex wives. At some point, you stop celebrating those anniversaries. And so, at that point, I said, Yeah, I spent this amount of time doing what I was supposed to do. And then I am doing what I'm supposed to be doing now. And so I can just let go of that, that sense of loss and that sense of regret, because I did it for the time I was supposed to do it. And then finally, finally, this whole thing about speaking out and being a voice for justice, and the voice for the oppressed, and the voice for, you know, those of us who have been victimized by, by the, the patriarchy by the heteronormative system that demands that, you know, we can't be real men, because we want to receive love from another man is just, you know, bullshit. And it's called out not only by me and others like me, but it's called out by the forces of love in the universe. And it really just, I mean, it was like, it's like, I've been wearing a suit of armor for 2030 years, and all that fell away. And there was a lightness, and a freedom and experience of wholeness. And I said, you know, what, I remember talking to bad acts about all these things, and how I felt like an outlier that now that, that I'm gonna, you know, that process or process all this stuff. It's just like, that's my superpower. And I can look at it from the outside as one of the marginalize and bring a queer perspective to things. And it just, it was such a freedom. And so I said, Yeah, but it's, I have this epilogue to what we talked about. And it's really important that I share it. And I hope that we can have an opportunity to share it. And so that's where it all has come to.

Coach Maddox  17:21  
That's an incredible story, David, and I, I want to spend with your permission, a few minutes kind of unpacking that. I'd like to know, what was it that stirred inside of you? What was it that enabled you to stand up and speak to that assembly in in that? Because that wasn't something that was pre planned came in on the moment? And what was it that really stirred inside of you that took you there?

David Beers  17:50  
And people asked me that at the time. And they said, how are you able to do this, and I had been emotional all up to that point. And I got to the podium and I was just very calm, it's very clear. But when I speak, I go to another place. It's like, the universe speaks through me. And the energy comes through me and goes out of me. And oftentimes I'm not. I know what I'm saying at the time. But I it's like the words are given to me. And but there was a really strong sense of this is something that needs to be done. This is something I have to do. And I can't just let it pass me by. That's I felt very strongly about it. Passionate about it. I wasn't even angry about it. I just, I was determined. And I it's like, I was given an assignment. The Universe said, this is this is your assignment. Now go and do it. Wow.

Coach Maddox  18:40  
And what was it like being on that stage and having those words come out of your mouth,

David Beers  18:45  
it felt powerful. It's like I took my power back. It's like, you know, you're talking about how you cut cords to things that are draining in your life. You're talking about how you regain that part of your soul that you lost through trauma. And that part of my soul, came back to me. And I took my power back. And I didn't ask anybody permission for it. I didn't. I didn't, you know, beg or plead or anything like that. I just stood up and said, This is who I am. This is what happened. And this is a responsibility that you all have to what happened in my life. And I'm reclaiming myself as a child of God as a member of this denomination and as a whole person.

Coach Maddox  19:32  
Hmm, that's powerful, David, powerful and beautiful. So how long ago was this when you actually stood up and spoke?

Unknown Speaker  19:39  
But two weeks ago? Okay.

Coach Maddox  19:43  
So, what has been the effect of that? I mean, you walked away from that conference, came back and walked back into your everyday life. How has that experience of taking your power back, standing up in front of that group and speaking your truth, how's that affected your day to day life now that you're away from that?

David Beers  20:08  
I, you know, I'm able to one of the things that I've always struggled with in my life is reliving the past. You know, I think about why wasn't able to come out why did the things why are the people I did, and, and what has, it's given me the confidence to just let that go. It's given me the confidence not to project, my anxieties and my fears of what may or may not happen in the future to, you know, it could be a trailer or coming attractions, or it could just be something I've fantasizing, but it's, it's not my reality. And it's given me the confidence to live in the present moment Live in the now. You know, my my personal situation, I was not rehired at the last job I had. But in a matter of a weekend, I had a new job, and a new job with a substantial pay increase. And it just boom fell out of the sky. And so I know for sure that if I keep doing what I'm doing in the moment, that those things that I'm intending and attracting towards me are going to come to me in a way that's going to be on my expectation that I'm not even going to I don't even I can't even imagine how that's going to come into my life in a way that will exceed my hopes that that makes sense.

Coach Maddox  21:32  
It makes perfect sense. So share with me the difference in in the past how you the job came to an end, they did not renew your contract. And for those that don't know, David is a teacher. Professor teacher.

David Beers  21:50  
Yeah, that teacher, high school, middle school math teacher.

Coach Maddox  21:53  
Yeah. And so your contract didn't get renewed? And if that had happened at another time in your life, how would you have responded to that?

David Beers  22:01  
I would have been crushed, I would have been panicky, I would have thought, what am I going to do? I mean, that I've had that experience in the past before where when I transitioned out of ministry, and I started teaching, I was just, you know, I was just like, totally, in panic mode, anxious. And, you know, what am I going to do? How am I going to make this work? And all of this? And, and what I said, at the time, and I wasn't sure whether it was going to happen or not. But that's okay. Do you think what came to my mind was Thank you, you've obviously moved something that was in my way, and moved it out of the way so the universe can bring something better to me. And the second thing is, thank you, because I don't want to say anyplace where I'm not wanting it, because I don't need that energy from people who, who don't appreciate the gifts I grant not that I'm special or unique or anything like that, but but I have gifts, and I have abilities, and I have talents. And if people don't want to recognize that or not see that for what it is, then I don't need to be connected to them, I need to kind of just walk away from that thing that is a drain to my life. Because from the very moment that I sense that connection to the universe and, and my spiritual life, I've always felt that, that I'm to bring light and love into the world in a way that I experienced it. And it took me a long time to get to the point where I actually was aware of how I was experiencing it. And it wasn't just something adjacent to me. But it was something internal and not just given externally to internal it was something that was always present within me. And that is something that way that I connect to the energies of people around me and the energies of the universe, so that the light and love is present within me. And all I do is connect to other people's light and love that's present within them and share that energy so that we bring more light and more love into the universe. Yes.

Coach Maddox  24:05  
Yes. And what you're talking about here in layman's terms, is you're talking about a form of rejection. You know, not having the the contract renewed. And rejection is something that plays a role in every aspect of our lives. So how would you say your experience with the job not being renewed? And you had a completely different attitude this time than you would have had in the past? You know, you just said, Oh, the universe has moved an obstacle out of my way. So my good can come to me. How can you apply that and how are how will you apply that moving forward to other areas of your life when rejection comes up?

David Beers  24:56  
And I've thought about that I really have because I'm saying And obviously, this is a lesson that I've, I've, that I've learned, and I need to apply it to other parts of my life because one of the things as a teacher that I really struggled to communicate to my students is how to extrapolate knowledge, how to how to apply learned knowledge into other areas that use the same knowledge. But it isn't the exact, you know, it isn't the exact same problem, though. We're working again, is it problem like it, but it's different numbers. So how do I apply things in my life that are like the situation, but are not the same situation, I think about my relationships, I've never had a real relationship with a man in the sense of that I was married to women before I've dated women. I really only had one day, and that was recently. And I was telling the person that came to visit me and hang out. I said, you know, this is a first date I've been on since 2003. And that was it was it, it felt really nice. And there was no pressure. And there was no sense of oh, I've got to, you know, impress this person and make them feel like it was just, it was just two people spending time together, enjoying each other's presence. And it really freed me from that that sense of as we both have heard in the past, it wasn't a help a husband interview, if you know what I'm saying. And so it's helped me to focus on that, knowing that if I become the kind of person that I'm attracted to, I will attract the kind of person to me, which is really awesome. And freeing. It also has allowed me to look at other parts of my life, that as things come up, that I'm willing to trust that if I do what I need to do at the moment, then then I will then I will be able to deal with it. I wrote something in response to what happened on Friday, because it's very traumatic to all of us, because the the interpretation of the Constitution that gives a right to privacy and personal autonomy is being questioned down. And so a lot of things that were built on that principle, now are being called into question. And I said, you know, I can't get traumatized, I get angry I can, I can scream and yell and do bad things. I said, the thing that came to my mind is that I have to remind myself that instead of allowing myself to be paralyzed with those thoughts, and anxieties and fears, that I need to ask the forces and guide me to give me the strength and the ability just to take that next step. Just to do that one thing doesn't have to be big, doesn't have to be enormous, that one thing that I can do in the moment, that will start me on a journey that will bring me to the place where I ultimately want to end up. And that's, that's that really, that kind of wisdom, kind of understanding. If you're, if you're in crisis mode, if you're, if you're panicking about whatever happens, you can think those thoughts, the universe is sending you those thoughts all the time. But if you're in panic mode, and you're anxious, and you're scared, and you're afraid, you won't hear it, because the noise inside your head is gonna drown it out. But if but if you're able to say, to stop and take a breath, you're gonna hear that you don't have to fix everything. You're not supposed to fix everything. But you can do that one thing that you can do today. And if you do that one thing, then tomorrow, you can do the next thing, and to the next thing, and then ultimately, you'll end up and that's what I've had to apply to everything in my life, whether it's moving out of the southeast to the West Coast, whether it's finding a significant other, whether it's whether it's, you know, finding a way to bring abundance into my life and travel and do all the things that I dream about doing. If I do the one thing that takes care of what I have before me today, then I know that I'm on the road to all those things coming to pass in my life.

Coach Maddox  29:05  
That's truly a wisdom bomb, David. In fact, there were several wisdom bombs in there. And just so the listeners know, that last passage that he was talking about when he made reference to what happened on Friday, he was talking about the Supreme Court's overthrowing the Roe and Wade case. Am I saying it right? Roe v. Wade. And, yes, making making a abortion illegal. And that's what he's what he's referring to. So I love what you're sharing, David, I I think that I mean, my walk might take away from what you've shared in this story, this epilogue to the previous episode. Is this experience with with stepping out spontaneous? Knowing that you needed to step up and speak at the conference was perhaps, I mean, I'm really intuitively getting that it is like a milestone, or a, like a turning point in your life, because this was big.

David Beers  30:20  
The feeling I got is, at the time is nothing is ever going to be the same.

Coach Maddox  30:28  
Exactly, you know, you you stepped into, you know, we've all heard you who you are right now got you to where you are, who you've been, got you to where you are right now. But who you've been, can't get you to where you want to go, exactly in order to get where you want to go, you've got to be somebody different. And in the moment you stepped up in front of that assembly, you became somebody different. And I do fully believe that, that played a role in how quickly a new job just came to you with a substantial increase in pay. There are energies at work here in the universe. And when you decided to have a voice and use that voice, you you affected those universal energies in a way that then the ripple Ripple Effect after that is just phenomenal. You don't even can't even possibly know where all the opportunities that that one choice that you made, is going to provide you that one choice. Go ahead. I'm sorry, no, I

David Beers  31:51  
was gonna say I agree with you entirely.

Coach Maddox  31:55  
So what is the based on this experience that you've shared, and I so appreciate you, you know, reaching out to me and saying, Hey, I got a part two to the story. Because I think that, you know, transformation is the, what we're all seeking on some level, you know, and a transformation story is of interest to everybody. So in this transformation that you've experienced, what is your biggest takeaway that you want to share with the listener. And you may have already kind of touched on it here and there, but kind of sum it up. And and let's sum it up and put a nice, powerful, neat bow on it.

David Beers  32:46  
The thing that has been coming to me, especially in the last year, is that everything we need to accomplish, everything we have to do is already within us. And the power to do that is within us. And all we have to do is open ourselves up and and get rid of the static that's going on in our head, stop listening to the lives of other people in society, and believe that you are exactly the way that you are supposed to be the universe created you that way to do certain tasks that you are to do in your life to make the difference in the world because we're all here as light bringers not just me. But we're all here to be light. Bringers. And if we bring light and love into the universe, then that expands the power and the ability of other people who we are around to do the same thing.

Coach Maddox  33:38  
I fully agree. I could not agree more. We have every resource, everything we need within us. We have to believe and then we have to take action. Absolutely. Absolutely one step all it takes is one step. And then followed by one more step.

David Beers  34:00  
And it doesn't have to be huge. It doesn't have to be significant. It just has to be something just

Coach Maddox  34:06  
some some movement forward that that creates momentum. Exactly. Well, this is beautiful. Thank thank you so much, David for sharing so vulnerably your your stories and and your life experiences. It's been a pleasure to hear this today. Would you be open to some rapid fire questions before we wrap up? Absolutely. Awesome. So question number one, what matters to you most?

David Beers  34:40  
And why? I think I think the issue of allowing myself to be that conduit of light and love to those around me to the situations in my life. That seems to be the most significant thing at this point. Why,

Coach Maddox  35:02  
why is that significant?

David Beers  35:04  
Because that's the only thing that held me is allowing myself to be open to it. And those little pieces of that, that come to me from other people who stopped to take the time, to be positive, and to be open, and to be accepting in my life. And if if, you know, to honor them, and to honor the love that I've received from the universe, and we're different ways. It's not that I have an obligation, but it's something that I have to do. And it's something that I know if I don't do it, I'll regret it. So I'm going to do it. And I'm going to do it as much as I can, as passionately as I can. As long as I

Coach Maddox  35:42  
can. I love your enthusiasm. That's amazing. I mean, I get it. I feel that in my body when you say that. So what are you must afraid of?

David Beers  36:01  
getting ahead of myself overthinking things.

Coach Maddox  36:07  
Ah, there we go. Yeah. Okay. Well, what stands in the way of you having more and better relationships with other gay men

David Beers  36:27  
I still struggle with that level of relationships of I'm afraid of, in some way, I'm still afraid of men, and I'm afraid of the hostility and the negative energy and, and the anger that sometimes comes from men. I'm much more comfortable with women emotionally, which is why I married them. It didn't work, but I married them. And so I think that really, I don't know how it is silly, because it just started I've had male friends before and, and I really just has to start there. But I, I don't have much confidence in my ability to connect a man on that intimate kind of level.

Coach Maddox  37:15  
I get it. David, thank you, for your honesty, very much. Thank you for your honesty, I just I just want to acknowledge the the loving spirit that you are. And I really feel how much you want to have an impact, a positive impact in the world, and how connected you are to source. And I just want to acknowledge your ability and willingness to share so authentically, and so vulnerably. You know, at this point, you don't need anybody to tell you that you're an authentic gay man.

David Beers  37:48  
Thank you. Thank you. And I will tell you a story. And I may have said this before, I don't know. I in my family, I do not look like my father's side of the family. I look like my mother's side of the family. I've never looked like my father. I'm one of the few babies in the universe that doesn't look like their father. But fortunately, you know, I survived. My brother, on the other hand is like the clone of my dad. So anyway, when I was late teens, early 20s, I said to my dad, but I don't even look like a beers and dad ghosts. One of the wise things that he actually said to me, he said, You're what beers look like now. And so I applied that to me living my life with integrity as a queer person. And as a gay man. I'm what gay men look like, as much as anybody else. And nobody can tell me any difference. I don't have to be a Go Go dancer on, you know, some box in the Abbey. I don't have to be, you know, some gay actor that everybody wants to be with. I can just be David beers. And I can be myself and, and be an example of how anybody that wants to can live their life as a as a gay person, authentically, and with integrity.

Coach Maddox  39:09  
Wow, I'm gonna suggest that the listener, rewind that play back for about 30 seconds and listen to what David just said, because that was powerful. That was ever so powerful, and I agree completely. You are what a gay man looks like now. Absolutely. David, thank you so much. It's been such a pleasure to have you back second time as a guest on the authentic gay man podcast. Thank you for your time, your energy and all that you bring to the table.

David Beers  39:43  
Thank you for letting me share I really value this, this platform and I value your you as a person and your your desire to share the light you have and the light that comes to you with others. Thank you

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

B David BeersProfile Photo

B David Beers

Educator, Theologian, Historian, Mathmetician and Poet

I am a Florida native. I grew up in Middle Tennesee and then moved back to Florida in the 80s and spent most of my adult life there, the last 20 years in Miami. I moved back to Middle Tennessee to be close to my mom after my father died. I also spent most of my life, denying, repressing, and compartmentalizing my true self. After two failed marriages to women, I finally allowed myself to accept all of who I am. My life has been in constant motion, I have moved 17 different time. I’ve worked in IT, was an ordained United Methodist minister, and finally a high school math teacher. I am the very proud parent to a 27-year-old. Even though I am a person who is their 60s, I am still in the beginning stages of fully discovering my full authentic self and being able to live that with integrity. My passion has always been to share the love I have felt from the Cosmic Source with others and to leave this world a better place when I move on to whatever is next.