EP 34 – Taran Scarcella – AWOL
What does it mean to finally find a community where you don’t have to explain why you belong?
This week on the GayPHX Podcast, Bily sits down at the Rainbow Tinted Microphone with Taran Scarcella for a candid conversation about identity, belonging, advocacy, leather, kink, drag, and the importance of finding your people.
Taran shares their journey through different communities and different parts of the country, navigating times when being fully out didn’t always feel possible, and eventually finding connection here in Phoenix — including a home within Arizona Women of Leather (AWOL).
The conversation gets real about being bisexual and non-binary, finding acceptance within the leather community, educating others about identities they may not understand, and the difference between being welcomed into a space and simply being tolerated in one.
Taran and Bily also dig into kink and polyamorous spaces, fetishization versus genuine acceptance, the pressure that can come with constantly being the person expected to educate everyone else, and why finding people with shared lived experiences matters.
And there’s another side of Taran ready to step back into the spotlight: Dante Inferno. After an eight-year hiatus from performing as a drag king, Taran talks about returning to drag and why drag kings still deserve a much bigger place on our stages.
Plus, the Amory Pack is behind the microphones to open and close the show, Brian — our Desert Den Daddy — has this week’s Hot 3, and we’ve got something for anyone looking for a new way to connect with the community.
Desert Valley Squares begins its next round of new dancer classes September 13th. And if “square dancing” brings a certain picture to mind, you might want to think again. This is LGBTQ+ square dancing: welcoming, social, beginner-friendly, and another chance to get out there, try something new, and maybe find some new people along the way.
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And whether you found us this week or you’ve been listening all along, thank you for being here. Our guests can tell their stories, we can turn on the microphones, and the pups can bark all they want — but without you listening, we’re just barking in the wind.
This is the GayPHX Podcast.