Episode 255: Rain Valdez

Coming Out Pod

Health & Fitness, Sexuality, Comedy, Mental Health

4.9 • 584 Ratings

🗓️ 28 June 2023

⏱️ 74 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

We're closing out Pride Month in a big way with Emmy-nominated actress, writer, and producer, Rain Valdez (Razor Tongue; Transparent)! Rain, who describes herself as a heterosexual transgender woman, was born in the Philippines, and initially raised by her incredibly affirming grandparents. Things only changed when she moved with her mother and stepfather to Guam, and discovered that the people there were considerably less accepting than those in her home country. At the age of nineteen, Rain moved on her own to Los Angeles to pursue the arts, and was advised not to disclose to anyone that she was transgender. Believing this was her only path forward, Rain did exactly that for many years. But in June of 2016, bolstered by the beautiful community she'd met working on Transparent, Rain came out publicly in a VICE article. We have a candid conversation about what it's like trying to forge a career in the entertainment industry once it has decided that your particular marginalization is no longer trendy. Also, we discuss the many and varied ways that we as queer people can often feel "in between worlds," and what it means to try to align with your purpose within a system that was not built for you in the first place.

Follow Rain on Instagram at @rainvaldez, and check out her website at rainvaldez.com and her company at rainbowrated.com! Also, you can watch Rain's Emmy-nominated turn in Razor Tongue at https://rainbowrated.com/razortongue, and you can see her short film Ryans at https://www.rainvaldez.com/videos!

Transcript

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0:00.0	Oh, hey, everyone.
0:02.3	So this is not the official start of the episode we have on Rain Valdez today.
0:10.1	We're extremely excited about it.
0:12.4	But this is a special announcement is what this is.
0:17.4	And one that felt fitting for the end of, not just the end of Pride Month,
0:23.7	but the end of our fifth Pride Month as a pod, which is pretty remarkable.
0:32.5	Longer than any of my relationships by more than double.
0:37.3	So make of that what you will. It's longer than all of mine besides my marriage. any of my relationships by more than double.
0:39.2	So make of that what you will. It's longer than all of mine besides my marriage.
0:41.9	So there you go.
0:42.6	And you are my workwife.
0:43.9	So this makes complete sense.
0:45.7	You know, it all works.
0:47.5	So I'll try to keep this short and sweet.
0:50.4	And by that, we know me and Lauren.
0:51.8	It's going to be about 10 minutes.
0:52.8	So hang on to your pants, everyone.
0:55.1	I have made the very difficult, but very necessary and I think, like, clear-headed decision to bow out as a co-host of the pod.
1:11.6	I am, to say this is bittersweet is like the understatement of the century.
1:19.6	I am so fucking grateful for this podcast, for all of you out there, for all of the interaction I've had with you over the past five years, for all of our guests, for the way in which every conversation that we've had on this pod has introduced me to everything from another human being to another full way of thinking about people or the world and queerness.
1:50.0	And it's it's really mind-blowing to think about it as a whole.
1:54.6	And so it is certainly not for lack of love for you all for the podcast
	...

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