S1E11 - CrossPods -The Forbidden Apple - Melissa & Pelayo
Hello everyone and welcome to The CrossPods Podcast. I’m Lydia Shompole, and this week we will be playing you an episode of The forbidden apple podcast.
The Forbidden Apple is a unique platform where we explore the connexion between queer people and religion. It is hosted by Melissa W. (a former orthodox jew) and Pelayo A. (a Spanish raised catholic) and they explore: what gives the queer community purpose and meaning? LGBTQ people have been told they cannot be religious and queer. Not only that but in our society, religion is often used as a way to push LGBTQ people to the margins. These two hosts want to give a voice to those individuals and discuss how they find meaning in life, what faith means to them and if they keep any religious values or practices in their lives?
You can follow them on Instagram @theforbiddenapple and sink your teeth into the forbidden apple podcast every Sunday!
Lets jump right in!
Name(s) of Host(s): Pelayo A. and Melissa W.
Podcast Name: The Forbidden Apple
Pelayo Alvarez and Melissa Weisz are the hosts of The Forbidden Apple Podcast, where they explore the complex relationship between queer people and religion.
What gives the queer community purpose and meaning? How can queer people combine traditional and religious values, if they choose to do so, while celebrating pride and being queer?
LGBTQ people have been told they cannot be religious and queer. Not only that but religion is often used as an excuse to push LGBTQ people to the margins. We want to give voice to those individuals and discuss how they find meaning in life, what faith means to them and if they keep any religious values or practices in their lives.
Melissa W.
Melissa Weisz is an actor, producer and writer who grew up in NY in a Hasidic family. Melissa is passionate about fighting for human rights and equality and looks for projects that give a voice to marginalized people and communities. Melissa cofounded Malky Squared Productions with her partner Malky Goldman. Malky squared production has a strong focus on telling female stories and giving voice to the issues of gender and sexuality. Melissa was honored by The Jewish Week magazine in their “36 under 36” “millennials pushing change through compassion” and was
featured in Vogue’s “American women
in transformation”. Melissa was the subject of NBC’s viral video about coming out after leaving her Hasidic world, as well Them’s video “Can you be religious and queer?” Her hope is to use the Forbidden Apple as a platform to give people a voice, create a community, and celebrate queerness.
Pelayo A.
Pelayo is originally from Spain and was raised catholic. He has spent the last 4 years training least developing countries in the field of international relations and global affairs. He is passionate about discovering diverse individuals and religions around the world and appreciate what makes each story powerful. For him being able to see the takeaways from different life perspectives is the best way to learn and use these lessons for personal development and growth. With this project, he wants to prove that although people celebrate religion and spirituality in so many ways, at the same time, share so much in common. Everybody has felt the urge to get a grip of what really has meaning in life. He claims it is possible to pick and choose the what fits for you from different life approaches to create your own life philosophy. The Forbidden Apple is a powerful tool that summarizes his values and will be used to make the future count.
Join these conversations and sink your teeth into….
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