On this week's episode we chat with David Lopez!David shares what it was like for him growing up as LatinX in rural Texas as a devout member of the Catholic church – and we’re talking some significant involvement at a very young age.He tells us about the internal conflict that was brewing inside of him as a high schooler where he basically felt like he had to choose between being true to himself or being a good Catholic because those two, as he was taught, could not coexist. Luckily, thanks to the example set by some extremely bad ass women in his family, he chose himself .  One of the more fascinating and heartbreaking parts of his story has to do with essentially what were ultimatums that David’s mom and then David himself were given by his church once he finally did come out.I do want to give a trigger warning for folks that part of David’s ultimatum from the church included the option of going to church-funded conversion therapy, this part of the conversation happens roughly around the 46:00 minute mark.David also has a book blog which you can find on Instagram where he reviews more books than I’ve read in my entire life. Bonus -- he gives us his reccos for some of his favorite queer lit.I'm so honored to share David's story with you -- it's a powerful one. Enjoy!Links:David's Instagram: @hisreadingnookFollow along with Reaching Out!Podcast's Instagram: @reachingoutpodPodcast's Twitter: @reachingoutpodMichael's Instagram: @michaelwingsitShare your story!