What does it mean to hide? How does hiding effect us and the people around us? This week’s podcast could be considered an expert on hiding. Author Karen Solt, a lesbian, made her career in the United States navy which spanned over the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” years (1993-2011). A middle child with alcoholic parents, Karen’s youth was a wild one, where she hid, started drinking at age 9-10, and generally underachieved to stay below the radar. After high school, Karen was tricked into joining the navy by an unscrupulous recruitment officer. Karen found structure in the navy, became sober, made chief after 11 years, and spent the entirety of her career hiding her sexuality. When she retired, Karen found that she couldn’t hide behind the uniform any longer, and thus began her journey of learning, healing, and being seen.
Listen to this episode on
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/coming-out-beyond-lgbtqia-stories/id1569859569
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/27kocr4llm6syHKaeX1x9e
https://cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?src=https%3A%2F%2Fopen.spotify.com%2Fembed%2Fshow%2F27kocr4llm6syHKaeX1x9e%3Futm_source%3Doembed&display_name=Spotify&url=https%3A%2F%2Fopen.spotify.com%2Fshow%2F27kocr4llm6syHKaeX1x9e&image=https%3A%2F%2Fimage-cdn-ak.spotifycdn.com%2Fimage%2Fab67656300005f1f9f9082a2e0ca404e58ecd150&type=text%2Fhtml&schema=spotify
YouTube: https://youtu.be/cFuQcDN-CAkhttps://www.youtube.com/embed/cFuQcDN-CAk\
You can learn more about Karen Solt and her book, “Hiding For My Life: Being Gay in the Navy” on her website: https://hideology.com/
Karen’s coming out song was “I Am What I Am” by Gloria Gaynor https://youtu.be/QHcDnqIz0jg?si=F7z4wQowVMecWh8Rhttps://www.youtube.com/embed/QHcDnqIz0jg
A book that has impacted Karen is “Educated” by Tara Westover https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35133922-educated
