RISK! Podcast – “Queer” (September 18, 2025)

Overview

This special episode of RISK!, hosted by Kevin Allison, is a deep dive into personal true stories from the LGBTQ+ community. Originally aired as a Pride tribute in July 2013, this episode (“Queer”) features three uncensored, candid stories exploring queer identity, family, sex, and self-acceptance. Each storyteller offers raw insights into the multi-layered reality of queerness, traversing painful pasts, raucous sexual awakening, and emotional reckonings, all wrapped in the signature RISK! blend of humor and vulnerability.

Episode Structure

1. Opening/Theme Setting ([03:24])
2. Story 1: “All the Rage” by Kevin Allison ([05:17] – [18:44])
3. Story 2: Fire Island and Genderqueerness by Chris Grey ([18:47] – [35:36])
4. Story 3: “Come Together” by Cameron Esposito ([39:29] – [57:42])
5. Musical Interludes, Reflections, and Closing Moments ([36:15], [39:29], [58:24] to end)

Opening & Main Theme ([03:24])

• Kevin Allison introduces the “Queer” episode as the first to feature only LGBTQ+ stories.
• Emphasizes that sexuality is “such an infinitely vast effector of so many different kinds of experiences in our lives.”
• Sets the tone for a tapestry of queer experiences post-Pride Month.

“I think that the three stories that we have for this episode really show the spectrum… sexuality is just such an infinitely vast effector of so many different kinds of experiences in our lives.”
— Kevin Allison ([03:35])

Story 1: “All the Rage” – Kevin Allison ([05:17] – [18:44])

Key Discussion Points & Insights

• Raw Vulnerability: Kevin tells a raw and emotional story from that very afternoon—his most recent, real-time experience with homophobic harassment escalating to violence.
• Chronic Harassment: Recounts a series of verbal attacks from a stranger in his Bushwick neighborhood, culminating in being physically assaulted.
• Impact of Trauma: Shares how the harassment triggered childhood shame and fear—from understanding slurs directed at him as a five-year-old to the lasting imprints of feeling hated and unsafe.
• Systemic and Community Support: The police were initially unable to help, but persistence and community connections led to hate crime detectives finally intervening and a restraining order being issued.
• Finding Meaning in Storytelling: Kevin models storytelling as a path to self-understanding, healing, and communal solidarity.

Notable Quotes

“My story is going to be especially raw tonight. And when I say raw, I don’t mean my usual kind of raw, like kinky raw. I mean raw as in brand new. Because it happened at 2:30…”
— Kevin Allison ([05:17])

“When I was five years old… I now know what the words fag and gay mean… I know those words mean me… inside, I am disgusting. I am deformed. I am something that people passionately hate.”
— Kevin Allison ([08:11])

“That is Frank Rodriguez… and I now have a restraining order against him… this little trajectory I’ve been living through… came to about the best place it possibly could get at about 2:30 this afternoon.”
— Kevin Allison ([16:30])

Memorable Moment

The tension-filled moment where, after months of fear, Kevin and the detectives finally spot the harasser and confront him, bringing a sense of closure and safety.

Story 2: Fire Island and Genderqueerness – Chris Grey ([18:47] – [35:36])

Key Discussion Points & Insights

• Immersion into Gay Spaces: Chris, a genderqueer artist, receives an art residency on Fire Island—a famed gay male enclave—and is filled with anticipatory anxiety about fitting in as a trans person.
• Family Layers of Coming Out: Chris shares the layered experiences of coming out: first as a lesbian woman, then as transgender, genderqueer, polyamorous, and kinky. Each new identity challenges family members and provokes reflection.
• Gay Male Culture & Gendered Exclusions: Working in gay bars, Chris internalizes that so much of gay male culture is phallocentric (“dick, dick, dick, dick…”) and learns firsthand how femininity or difference is policed or rejected.
• Intersection of Desire, Body, and Identity: Chris candidly discusses being “cruised” and rejected when their voice betrayed a feminine origin, and the anxiety surrounding body difference (“navigating Fire Island as a cunted creature”).
• Challenging Gender Binaries: Critiques simplistic male/female binaries, advocating for a recognition of body and gender diversity.
• Sexual Encounters & Surprises: Shares powerful, humorous stories, including:
  • The “Whip It Out Wednesdays” penis-discount bar event where Chris, in lieu of a penis, pulls out a prosthetic “packer” and eventually their actual genitals, which are received with laughter and acceptance.
  • Attending an underwear party, experiencing sexual attention as a transmasculine person, and the thrill of being directly desired.
• Personal Growth: Chris ends by embracing surprise, noting how experience on Fire Island helped dissolve old assumptions about both gay men and their own desires.

Notable Quotes

“Gay guys, dick, dick, dick, dick, dick. Like, everything is about dick. It's about the dick that they saw. It's about their dick. It's about where they're gonna put their dick…”
— Chris Grey ([22:17])

“Good luck getting laid there, because you’re all holes and no poles.”
— Chris Grey’s friend ([25:34])

“It’s sort of like the difference between being turned on in spite of and being turned on because of.”
— Chris Grey ([33:10])

Memorable Moment

Chris’s first night at an underwear party, when all their fears of rejection are upended by a handsome stranger whose response to Chris’s trans identity is, “That’s awesome… I like boys like you. Boner.” They respond:

“What could be better than hearing that? Like, I like boys like you. I was like, I would like to suck your cock.”
— Chris Grey ([33:30])

Reflections from Kevin Allison ([36:15])

• Kevin reflects on listener stories dealing with sexual and relational “idiosyncrasies,” reinforcing the value of storytelling in breaking down expectations and narrating the full spectrum of queer experience.

“When you ask to hear people's stories, you'll see that, you know, no one is entirely this label or entirely that label. Everyone has odd idiosyncrasies in their sexual practices and preferences and bodies, and everyone has insecurities about it. But when we open up and share, we do discover new ways to deal with it all together.”
— Kevin Allison ([37:12])

Story 3: “Come Together” – Cameron Esposito ([39:29] – [57:42])

Key Discussion Points & Insights

• DOMA & Emotional Aftershocks: Cameron begins by sharing the deeply emotional impact of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) being struck down, describing the day with her girlfriend and their instinct to drive to West Hollywood to celebrate.
• Family Acceptance and Rejection: Cameron reads a personal essay about her family, especially her father, and their journey toward acceptance.
• Coming Out & Gender Nonconformity: Reveals being a “little gay kid who had no idea what gay meant” in a Catholic Chicago family and the confusion of gender expectations. Reminisces about joy at expressing masculinity (as Charlie Chaplin for Halloween, and at a school dance wearing her boyfriend’s football uniform).
• Struggles with Family: Details her father’s long struggle to accept her sexuality—he cried for five years after she came out—and his initial belief that “if you’re gay, I could never support you adopting a child.”
• Building Chosen & Biological Family: Parallels her own “coming out” with her father’s journey to meet his biological brothers after being adopted, emphasizing finding belonging through chosen and biological family alike.
• Resolution & Hope: The essay culminates in familial healing—a wedding to her girlfriend within sight, her father supporting her rights, and the importance of familial love.

Notable Quotes

“I was a little gay kid who had no idea what gay meant. Growing up in a very Catholic family in the suburbs of Chicago, I had no reference point. No one I knew was gay. No one.”
— Cameron Esposito ([40:43])

“I came out to my dad passively… He was upset. He was worried… about my ruining my life by being gay. ‘You’ll never have kids,’ he said. ‘I could adopt,’ I said.”
— Cameron Esposito ([44:19])

“We came out together, my dad and I, we found new family, and that strengthened our existing family… My lawful, affirming, honest wedding, where my dad will sing. It’s very fucking awesome.”
— Cameron Esposito ([53:30])

Memorable Moments

• The school dance where Cameron gets to be her boyfriend for one night:

  “He wore nylons and a wig, and I wore his football uniform. It was my favorite dance… because for the night I got to be my boyfriend.”

• Her dad emailing “50 guys he went to high school with” to celebrate the DOMA decision, paralleling her own coming out:

  “He came out also. Yeah, it’s great news.” ([55:30])

Musical Interludes and Noteworthy Songs

Several musical breaks between stories (not full content sections), including Nicole Reynolds’s “Earthworms” ([36:15]) and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’s “Same Love” ([58:24] onwards), reinforcing the themes of queer love, acceptance, and progress.

Overall Tone, Language & Final Reflection

• The episode maintains the signature RISK! tone: unfiltered, alternately hilarious and heart-wrenching, accessible, and deeply personal.
• The storytellers bring their authentic voices, blending humor (often self-deprecating, always sharp) and vulnerability.

Final Words from Kevin Allison ([59:45])

“…once you start sharing about those sorts of things with your friends and lovers, you begin to see… sex doesn’t have to be about achieving an orgasm or even maintaining an erection or meeting any other expectation… everyone has odd idiosyncrasies… and everyone has insecurities about it. But when we open up and share, we do discover new ways to deal with it all together.”

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Opening/Host Intro: [03:24]
• Kevin Allison, “All the Rage”: [05:17] – [18:44]
• Chris Grey, Fire Island/Journey: [18:47] – [35:36]
• Musical/Host Reflection: [36:15] – [39:29]
• Cameron Esposito, “Come Together”: [39:29] – [57:42]
• Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, “Same Love”: [58:24] – [64:00]
• Closing Thoughts and Comedy Outro: [64:04]+

For New Listeners

This episode is a dynamic snapshot of LGBTQ+ experience, illustrating both painful struggles and hard-won joys. The stories are frank, funny, moving, and above all, insistent on the value of unapologetically inhabiting one's own narrative. Whether you're in the LGBTQ+ community or an ally, this is a must-listen for anyone who values honest stories about family, desire, and surviving—and thriving—in a world that doesn’t always understand you.