This conversation with Brian is so amazing and covers so many facets of relating to other humans, regardless of your relationship dynamic. Brian is a cis, queer, polyamorous, sex and relationship educator who grew up evangelical Christian and came out as queer in 2004. He's been with his partner for over 14 years and they slowly opened their relationship about a year into it. And today, he is also one of the co-founders of queertheology.com!
One of the things we love about talking with Brian is how he weaves incredible learning moments into all of his experiences in life. We have great conversations on hierarchy, communication, rules and constraints, labels, the power of fluidity in relationships, and the intersection of spirituality and non-monogamy... All packed into one podcast!
A bit more about Brian that we borrowed from his website:
Brian G. Murphy is an activist, educator, and certified relationship coach. He studied film production and religion at the University of Southern California as a Presidential Scholar and was inducted into Theta Alpha Kappa, the national honor society for religious studies and theology.
Before turning to activism, Brian worked in Hollywood on a number of film and television projects and produced a pilot for a national broadcast network. He received nonviolence training through Soulforce, media training from GLAAD, and participated in the 2007 Equality Ride, engaging in direct action activism at anti-LGBTQ colleges in the USA.
Today he is the co-founder of QueerTheology.com, a resource hub, podcast, and online community, which explores how queerness and spirituality enrich one another; and Relationshift, a relationship coaching practice helping LGBTQ+ and polyamorous people build thriving relationships on their own terms.
He is co-author of Queers The Word and a sought-after speaker at colleges, churches, and conferences across the country. Brian has worked with GLSEN, Athlete Ally, Born This Way Foundation, and the Human Rights Campaign, as well as a number of local, grassroots organizations. His work has been featured in Vice, BuzzFeed, The Huffington Post, The Advocate, Upworthy, and NBC News.