← LGBTQ Outdoors Podcast
Loading summary
Transcript71 lines
- [00:02]
A
It's been a minute since our last episode. Yeah, there's been a lot going on. Some lows, some highs, some in betweens, and this isn't going to be an update episode. Kind of let you know where we've been, where we're going, what's been going on.
- [00:20]
B
I love a good update episode.
- [00:26]
A
Every trail has a story, and when LGBTQ people gather in the outdoors, those stories become community, adventure and belonging. I'm Justin Yoder, and this is the LGBTQ Outdoors Podcast. Hey, everyone, Justin Yoder here with another episode of the LGBTQ Outdoors podcast for you. And I got my co host, Patrick Thompson with me today.
- [00:49]
B
Hey, everybody.
- [00:50]
A
And it's been a minute since our last episode. Yeah, there's been a lot going on. Some lows, some highs, some in betweens, and the podcast, unfortunately, just was on the back burner for just a little bit while we sorted some stuff out. This is going to be an update episode. Kind of let you know where we've been, where we're going, what's been going on.
- [01:18]
B
I love a good update episode.
- [01:20]
A
Well, that's good, because you're helping me do it, but we're excited. I don't think I've ever been more excited for the organization and where we're going, which is a drastic change from the end of 2026. So we're going to take you on a little journey if you haven't been keeping up to date with what's been going on.
- [01:45]
B
Sweet. So come on with it.
- [01:49]
A
So let's do kind of a 2025 recap and talk about some of our wins from 2026 because. Or not 2026 yet. 2025, because we had some great things that happened. Um, yeah, we had an awesome Pride month.
- [02:05]
B
Yes.
- [02:06]
A
Partnerships were down a little bit, but, man, we had some great pride events that we did around. I'm not going to be able to remember them all, but New York and Denver and Dallas and just kind of went all over trying to get the message out about who we are and what we're doing. And then that started to roll into summertime with our adventure trips, and we had some great adventure trips. We're going to talk about those a little bit deeper here in a little bit.
- [02:35]
B
Yeah, yeah. Like, hang on. Let's talk about pride for a sec. So when you say, like, Pride Month and we're doing these things, what does that mean?
- [02:45]
A
Mostly Pride booths, going to the pride events around the country and having a booth at there at the Pride of Its.
- [02:54]
B
And we were also actually in our very first Pride Parade here in Dallas. Or I guess it was Pride in Dallas, specifically in September. You want to talk about that?
- [03:08]
A
Yeah, we can do that. That was a lot of fun. We have great friends that run Pride in Dallas. That's our September Pride event. And so we were excited to support them. They were excited to support us. We had a Jeep that pulled our float. We had a kayak on top of the Jeep with one of our board members, Mallory hall, that was in it, who has given me all kinds of anxiety because she had just had major neck surgery. So she rode on top of that, and it was a big hit. We had a great time.
- [03:51]
B
Yeah, it was really cool. Unfortunately, I had to bow out because I got sick, and I was really bummed, but all the photos that I saw, people were going nuts. Mallory is just living her best life up in the kayak on top of Krista's Jeep. Thank you, Krista, by the way, for driving our inaugural float in the parade. But it's cool to get involved with stuff like that because you see so many different organizations kind of in the community, sort of like, out there, not only celebrating the pride and the unity behind it, but learning about all these other options and different groups that are out there just to make the community better. And so if you haven't done a Pride Parade, if you can, if you feel safe and there's one near you, by all means, be bold and step out and go check it out. I think your first Pride Parade, I remember my first Pride parade back in 19, sort of in Houston, and it was terrifying, I'll be honest, because, like, I went by myself. I was 16 years old. But, like, just seeing all the people and all, like, the genuine, like, love and compassion out there was really, really fantastic. So, yay, Pride.
- [05:22]
A
Yeah, Pride ribbons are always fun and great way just to get our community out there and show representation, you know, let people know that we are here and that we are going anywhere. So a lot of fun. We were talking about our adventure trips a little bit, and I do want to mention this because this is a great recap. Our adventure trips that we did last year, all sold out. We did end up having to cancel the Great Smoky Mountains trip, which was unfortunate, but there was a government shutdown going on at the time, and we lost our campsites, so we ended up having to cancel that one, but it was sold out as well. If you want to know more about kind of the adventure trips. And we're going to dive into the ones coming up for 20, 26, but episode 40, we actually recorded that in Alaska on one of our adventure trips last year. So that's a great way just to kind of hear from some people that went on one of the trips. LGBTQ Outdoor Fest was another amazing time. In 2025, we took it to New York, which I've never been to New York, so that was a lot of fun. We had it at Timberlake Campground. Who was phenomenal?
- [06:39]
B
Oh, they're incredible.
- [06:41]
A
Incredible staff, beautiful campus. What are some of your highlights? Maybe you were running around crazy the whole weekend.
- [06:50]
B
Yeah, but that's what I do is I kind of hide behind the curtain, helping to make things work. That was really cool. Like, we were up in the Catskills in New York, and this gorgeous campground, slash, I don't know, it has very much, like, summer camp vibes, and it worked for us. And the time of the year we were there, like, Aspen trees were starting to turn yellow, and it was just gorgeous. The weather was incredible. Really comfortable. Cool enough at night to sit around the campfire doing the s' mores thing that we always do, and just seeing significantly more people show up and significantly more people showing up to help. There's no way to, like, capture all of that quote unquote, Outdoor Fest magic that happens between, you know, how many people were there?
- [07:55]
A
I think we had around 80.
- [07:58]
B
Yeah. So there's 80 individual stories that are kind of going and getting together and bumping into one another and just sort of building this community. And, like, there's just so much cool stuff that's happening on, like, a personal level.
- [08:18]
A
No, but I mean, everybody that comes gets impacted in a different way.
- [08:23]
B
Yeah, absolutely.
- [08:24]
A
You get impacted as a group and as a result of the group, but you also get impacted because of the stories that come about. And, you know, some of them are very deep and personal that are really. I don't know the word that I even want to use. It's just really impactful to think about what some people's situations are that they're coming from and the queer joy that they get to experience at OutdoorFest.
- [08:56]
B
Yeah, I mean, there's definitely some heavier discussions that requires some vulnerability of the people talking, but I think the more vulnerable you allow yourself to be, the greater the impact on yourself and others.
- [09:22]
A
It's funny because we're talking about this deep aspect of LGBTQ Outdoor Fest, and it's like, on the website, we're promoting all this fun thing, kayaking, fly fishing, birding, archery.
- [09:36]
B
And, like, we're going to come back to more Outdoor Fest. But it is very much, you know, a weekend of trying out new things. Like you said. Archery, we had packrafting for the first time. Watercoloring, we had some great arts and crafts. So all this outdoor stuff that you get to do and experience it and try out, usually for the first time, but all the stuff that happens in between, that is, you know, again, you've heard me say it a thousand times. That's the Outdoor Fest. Magic.
- [10:08]
A
Yeah.
- [10:09]
B
And so it's wrapped in this beautiful setting with all this cool stuff to do. So, no, it's not just sitting around like, you know, chit chatting and like a sewing circle. Like, you know, people are out hiking and bird watching and, you know, going swimming. Just like all the things.
- [10:28]
A
Yeah, I mean, let's roll that into 2026 now, because we have already started promoting it and opened up registration. Early bird registration is already over, and we have had record numbers already signed up, which I'm ecstatic about. So I think that this year is the year that we are going to pass 100 people coming and could pass that significantly, really, the way things are lining up. But this year, it's going to be back in Colorado at the Colorado State University's Mountain campus, which is where it was two years ago. So if you came, then, it's going by back there because it's just absolutely stunning. It works amazing for us. It's kind of in the middle of the country, making it easier for people to come to. And it's going to be September 10th through the 13th.
- [11:20]
B
I'm excited to go back. The staff there were super awesome. The setting is stunning. There's Moose, just kind of like, you know, walking along the riverside. It's just really cool. But I'm excited to go back because it's one less unknown. Like, we went to New York. Having none of us had ever set foot on the campus, it was a big leap of faith. But getting to go back to a place that welcomed us, getting to go back home, so to speak, gets rid of a lot of the kind of unknowns. And we can go in just ready to welcome everybody and have a great time.
- [12:07]
A
Yeah, for sure. Who would you say in your mind is LGBTQ outdoorfest for?
- [12:12]
B
The cliche answer is everybody. And I know that that sounds cheeseball, but I genuinely believe that. And that's for, like, the avid outdoor people who go backpacking for weeks at a time. This is for somebody whose definition of outdoor experience is going and walking in, like, a city park. And so you have these vast spectrum of outdoor enthusiasts or outdoor interested folks,
- [12:49]
A
or even if you're not.
- [12:51]
B
Yeah, yeah, Totally fair. We try really hard to make it accessible for everybody, regardless of your experience, because we offer so many new things that people most likely haven't tried before. You know, if you've never shot a bow and arrow, like, you're gonna be probably in a class with other people or workshop who haven't shot a bow and arrow before, and you get to try that out and experiment together, and maybe you hate it.
- [13:22]
A
Cool.
- [13:23]
B
That's fine. You learn something. But maybe you're like, oh, this is badass. I can see myself, like, enjoying this.
- [13:31]
A
Yeah. I'd also say to go along with all of that is that it doesn't matter if you are extroverted or introverted, too. We hear, or I do, at least all the time, that people are afraid to come to this because they're introverted and afraid to step out of their comfort zone. I guess, which I totally understand. But we also set this up to be. To bring down walls and to be able to let people feel comfortable. So the biggest thing is just getting there. And if you can just get there, we will do our best to help you fit in, find a new friend, and feel comfortable.
- [14:14]
B
And I like how you said that about bringing down walls. I feel like that's one of the things I am most proud about with OutdoorFest, because I am very much an introvert. Like, I can get up in front of people and talk. I can get on a microphone and talk. Cool. But when that's over, like, it. It takes a lot out of me. And so we are mindful of that. We're also mindful that people come with all sorts of life experiences, or very little life experience, depending on how mature you are in your age, is what I'm getting at, like, a wide variety of folks, and it doesn't matter. It genuinely doesn't matter. It's so cool. So cool.
- [15:03]
A
Definitely is. So if. If you're someone that is interested in getting involved with that, we would love to have you attend. You know, and we have websites set up just for this event, so you can go to LGBTQ, outdoorfest.com and all the information and details are there also. Just throwing it out there. But if you happen to be a company or business or somebody that would like to be a sponsor of this event, we are actively looking for those. And a lot of those sponsorships, too, will go towards scholarships, as the goal is what we're helping with. We have some other things we have to cover first, but we really Wanted to make this accessible for people to be able to come. So again, if you are company, organization, business, or an individual even that just would really like to sponsor this, please reach out to us. We would love to talk more about that with you.
- [16:01]
B
And I do think we would be remiss if we didn't mention both Josh and Nicholas, who were like, Josh has been like the outdoor fest guru for the last few years. He stepped up and he has absolutely brought it and really, really helped shape it into this great experience. And Nicholas came along last year and partnered up with Josh and absolutely crushed it, knocked it out of the park. And they are back again, the mighty tag team duo to bring you another great outdoor fest. They are fantastic. I adore them. Not only just what they bring to the organization, but just as people. They're incredible, incredible guys.
- [16:52]
A
They definitely are super excited to have them be a part of this and grow this event into what it is becoming.
- [16:59]
B
And now we're going to talk about our 2026 adventure trips. Give me an idea kind of in a nutshell, what an adventure trip is.
- [17:11]
A
Yeah. So we started, we did a couple of these two years ago, right, as a test, see how they would go. And it went amazing. And then we ended up 2024, doing a few of them. And each year that just seems to grow and more and more interest in them. Last year, 2025, like I mentioned earlier, the trip sold out. We even had 18 go with us on, on our Alaska trip, which is bigger than what most of the trips are. They're usually more like 14, 12 to 15 people. But it is just this time where we can go celebrate together in the outdoors, who we are in a new place. And a lot of times it's a national park that we're getting to check out together. And you have the community, you have safety. It just lets people feel like it's something that they can do where maybe on their own they would feel like maybe they couldn't or wouldn't want to. They. They're people that like the community and like having things planned out for them. Yeah. So they don't have to worry about all that and all the details. We just tell you where to be and where to show up and we have a great time and we did
- [18:44]
B
some great ones last year. I had the opportunity to go and I know we talked about it earlier to our pack crafting slash hiking Alaska trip last year, like, really, really incredible. I had a blast. You know, rapid, like whitewater rivers in very, very cold Alaska can be intimidating. But we had some professional guides who were training us, watching over us, you know, keeping us safe and keeping us educated, picking up techniques, and all of that, again, was paired with community and eating around the campfire and s' mores and telling stories and all of that great stuff. So, just from personal experience, I highly, highly, highly recommend it.
- [19:43]
A
Yeah. And we could put this in the show notes, too. But I'd mentioned earlier about episode 40, that episode of the podcast being recorded on our Alaska trip. We also have a mini doc on our YouTube channel. Maybe we can put that in the show notes that people can go and watch and check out what. What it's like to be on one of these trips. But they are pretty cool and something that I'm really proud of that we're doing with LGBTQ outdoors.
- [20:11]
B
Okay, so we talked about a couple in the past. What is happening? What do we have lined up for 2026?
- [20:20]
A
So we have four trips that are lined up. They are. They're going to be amazing, exciting, very different. Um, so there's a little bit of something for everyone. We have two that are going to be in May. Um, the first one is going to be the Buffalo National River Adventure Trip. Um, this is going to be in Arkansas. And a lot of times people might be, like, not think about Arkansas as a place to really hit as an adventure trip, but Arkansas is the natural state. It is stunning. The Buffalo River. If you just Google Buffalo river, like, yeah, I can definitely spend some time there. So I would. I would definitely recommend it. It is going to be a camping trip. So if you like camping or it's something that you would like to try that you never have, this could be great for you. Then they're going to be floating the river. They're also going to be hitting Hot Springs National Park. So getting in still one of the national parks, and just a great time on the river and camping out together under the stars. So it's going to be a great time. Nice. Yep. And then also in May, we're doing a wildlife adventure trip. This is going to be to Grand Teton national park and Yellowstone National Park. So you kind of get two national parks for one trip. We are also going to be having a professional guide take us out. So we should have some really great wildlife encounters on this. This is for people that love wildlife and have the patience to hang around and watch wildlife. So a lot of viewing. If you like doing photography, that's great as well. But, yeah, and we're going to be staying in a lodge for this one. So it's not going to be camping. It will be early mornings and late evenings, as that's when wildlife is most active. But going to be an amazing, amazing trip as well. Jumping to June. I was going to say, you want to do a trip for Pride Month? Here you go. So then jump into June. We have Bryce Canyon national park, which is going to be another one where people can get two trips out, or two national parks out of one, because for one day, too, they're going to be jumping over to Zion National Park. This is going to be another one. It's not camping. So don't worry if you. If you aren't a big fan of tents and sleeping outside. So none of that. But it is primarily going to be hiking, so there's going to be a lot of hiking on this trip. Incredible landscapes. If you aren't familiar with Bryce Canyon again, Google it, check out some of those photos. You will feel like you are in another world for sure. And then wrapping up our national park, our adventure trips for 2026 is going to be Glacier national park in August, which is probably my favorite national park. We did this trip last year, and I think that this will be probably my, I don't know, fifth, sixth, seventh time to the Glacier National Park. But we also work with the Glacier Institute while we're there, which is a phenomenal organization, and they pick us up from the airport, they cook for us, we stay in their cabins, and then their guides take us out during the day. So this is a very educational trip as well, with experienced guides taking us on these hikes and really learning about the plant and wildlife of Glacier National Park. So all four of them are going to be amazing. I really do. I'm not just saying this to try to get people to sign up, but I really do think all of them are going to fill up, especially with the fact that it's only been open for, what, a week or two, and. And people are definitely jumping on them. So it's exciting.
- [24:04]
B
And one of the things that I like about these four trips is, like, it's very varied as far as kind of the adventure level. And there's lots of different things going on based on somebody's interests, but also kind of the degree of difficulty varies. And I feel like each one is ranked that you can check out. Like, this one is rated 2.3 or whatever the numbers are.
- [24:31]
A
Right.
- [24:31]
B
So we try really hard to have something that's accessible for anybody and everybody.
- [24:38]
A
Yeah, definitely.
- [24:39]
B
As long as there's tickets still available.
- [24:41]
A
Yeah, this is true. This is true. Let's talk a little bit about one of the big changes that we have done. And I know people probably in 2025, especially towards the end of the year, got tired of hearing me talk about this, which was just the fact that companies rolled back so much of their DEI and it really hurt us, funding wise. But that was the facts, you know. And at the end of the year, when December came around, I was just like, I am not sure if we are going to be able to continue. And like, really, really honestly didn't think that we were going to be able to. Had some great meetings with a few key people, especially Nicholas Morris. And we started working out a plan because people were just like, we, we can't let this go under. But we also needed funds. We also needed a plan. We also needed to figure out how to make it all work. And one of the ways that we decided we were going to make this work was changing the board from just an advisory board to a working board, which is basically means we put out this filler for people that wanted to get involved, that might have expertise in certain areas and wanted to dedicate time to helping us grow in those areas. So we took our board from a board of five to a board of 11 now and won't be going any larger or much larger than that ever. And we'll probably within the next two years start going back down. But a lot of the. Because a lot of the things that are on the board we can take down. Some of this might be boring to everybody and being like, I don't need to know all this, but at the same time, I feel like it's important because we. We are so much more than just a meetup group. We are a nonprofit that's national, that is doing big stuff. And so I think it's important to know. So I'm just going to run through and I want to share who our board of directors are for 2026. Yeah, yeah. Currently I am still on the board as the president. We're getting ready to make a little shift with that, where I'm going to go into a founder's advisor role. And Nicholas Morris is going to step up as the president of the board starting in the second quarter, which is going to be coming up here very shortly. We have Mandy Naper Smith, who is our secretary. We have Ignazio Visconte, who's our treasurer. Mallory hall is our member experience director. Sam Wood is our communications director. David Forrest is our fundraising and development director. Rebecca Chapin is our technology director. Josh McNabb is our LGBTQ Outdoor Fest director. Corey Schweitzer is our events director. Nicholas Morris is currently a member, but again, getting ready to step into president role, and Ashley Sneed is a member as well.
- [27:53]
B
That's incredible. And I just want to point out, up to this point, we need a working board this large, because up until now, it's really been a handful, five, maybe six people who've been trying to do all of this stuff, and honestly, most of it landing on the shoulders of two or three people to operate this nationwide nonprofit. And this isn't even talking about our ambassador, program directors, and facilitators, and that's an entirely other team of volunteers. And there's a ton of people now, including the ambassadors, our amazing LGBTQ outdoors ambassadors who are working behind the scenes to make. I'm gesturing broadly to everything this happen. I'm grateful to have not only, like, the additional hands, but also the additional passion, the additional interest and generosity and additional brain power that can not only, you know, bring us into a healthy, happy, productive 2026, but also to continue growing and expanding and getting the word out so we can get as many queer people in the outdoors as possible. So I just want to thank everybody who is, you know, behind the curtain working their butts off to make this happen. Like, no joke, we would not exist in our current form without you, if at all. Yeah. So, genuinely, thank you.
- [29:40]
A
Yeah, definitely. These. These people are incredible. And a lot of them even have committees that are underneath them that have a whole team of volunteers that are working with them on these specific areas. So it was just getting to the point where it's like, either we had to have money to be able to pay staff to be able to do this, which we did not have, especially coming out of 2025, or we had to have volunteers that were going to step up and say, I'm going to step in and make this happen. And these people are crazy smart, and it's just been amazing. And also, just to speak on financial side of it, things have started to turn around. You know, we had a great grant come in from the HELP center for LGBTQ Health here in North Texas, and that was the beginning of it. Everybody that participated in the GoFundMe that we had going, thank you. That was huge. And helped out. We have two partners that are renewing their partnership with us. Montauky, Cold snacks and brew. Dr. Kombucha. And then we also have a new partner that's coming on. I'm not announcing yet because we haven't signed the agreement yet, but we have some great things that we're moving in the right direction. And so I'm really, really excited and hopeful for 2026. Yeah. And so, like, I don't want this episode to go too long. Just a bunch of updates and stuff. So I just want to kind of re. Re Highlight a few things, like find an event that's in your area that you can get involved with. If that's an ambassador event or if you want to become an ambassador, you know, head to our website, check it out, be sure to sign up for our LGBTQ outdoor fest. I would love to sell out of that this year.
- [31:34]
B
And could you imagine? Holy cow.
- [31:38]
A
I couldn't. And I could at the same time, but no matter what, we're going to have a record number. I just. I know that just by how things are going already. So that's going to be amazing. We are really, like, I just mentioned that we have some great new partners that are coming on, but we are really going to be leaning into and relying on our members to keep our organization going and to become a member. You join the Trailblazer Society, and there's some cool, cool perks in there, and you really help our organization keep going. So check that out on the website as well. Our next episode of the podcast is going to be back with a guest and on par with past podcasts that episodes that we have done, we have some great and exciting guests lined up that are going to be amazing. And lastly, on my end, be sure to sign up for our newsletter. That's the best way to stay up to date with things that are going on with our community, upcoming events, things like that. And you can do that on our homepage on our website as well. What do you got?
- [32:42]
B
I'm just excited for 2026. I know, like, this episode might not have been, like, the most exciting.
- [32:48]
A
Yay.
- [32:49]
B
But it is exciting because, like, we're sharing our joy that not only are we still alive, but we're going into 2026 kicking ass because of this new massive team behind us.
- [33:03]
A
Yeah.
- [33:04]
B
And it takes a lot of work, and it is infinitely more complicated than, you know, showing up on a weekend hike and.
- [33:11]
A
Yay.
- [33:12]
B
But, like, there is more than anything, there is a place for you here.
- [33:17]
A
Yeah.
- [33:19]
B
Wherever your closest event is, wherever your community is, like, just go, do it. Be bold and see what it's all about in person.
- [33:28]
A
Definitely.
- [33:30]
B
Yeah.
- [33:31]
A
I could have said it better. All right, everyone, thank you so much for tuning in to this episode. We are so grateful for you and for the community that you're helping us build. And wherever you are, across our country, across the world, wherever you are, get out there. Thanks for listening to the LGBTQ Outdoors Podcast. Catch past episodes on your favorite stream streaming platforms and connect with us on Instagram or Facebook by searching LGBTQ Outdoors. Support our mission by joining the Trailblazer society@lgbtqoutdoors.com Trailblazers to learn more about our local chapters, LGBTQ Outdoor Fest, Adventure Trips, or to sign up for our newsletter, visit lgbtqoutdoors.com if you're enjoying the show, be sure to follow, rate and review. It helps keep our mission going.