You're listening to Unfiltered with James O'Brien, brought to you by Joe.

Hello and welcome to Unfiltered with me James O'Brien.

My guest this week is Vicky Beaching, who has latterly become something of a crusader and a campaigner for equality.

She came out as gay at the age of 35 and is keen to ensure that other people don't

have to go through what she went through before that age.

Because before that age, she was not just a member of the evangelical Christian community, but one of its brightest

musical stars. She has an incredible story to tell, but more importantly, she is a woman on a mission.

But before we meet Vicky, I'm delighted to tell you that

unfiltered alumnus Russell Kane has joined the Joe roster and here he is to tell you a

bit about his new show.

Hi Russell Kane here and I'm hosting a brand new podcast for Joe. Boys don't cry where I get a bunch of men together

and force them to talk about the things we never talk about. Body hair, body shape,

wider girls only fancy bastards, all the things we worry about but never discuss.

Oh, and I also have a girl helping me each week just to make sure we're not talking rubbish.

So go to wherever you get your podcast, iTunes, wherever, and download, Boys Don't Cry now.

Cheers Russell, and time now to meet Vicky Beaching. I guess I'm most keen to find out precisely why The Guardian recently called her arguably the most influential Christian of her generation.

Her book Undivided, Coming Out, Becoming Whole and Living Free from Shame is, well it's actually quite beautiful.

What does the word evangelical mean in the context of congregations?

Yeah, so it's a form of Christianity that exists all around the world and it's sort of

quite modern in its expression. So you'd walk into a church, you might have heard them referred to as happy,

clappy. So you're likely to get, instead of an organ, you're likely to find drums, guitars, keyboards,

that kind of thing, upbeat music that sounds maybe a bit like stuff you'd hear on the radio,

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