The Lift+Love podcast is rooted in faith, family, and the conviction that all are alike unto God and that loving LGBTQ+ people is a calling to be embraced—not feared. Produced by the Lift+Love team, this podcast features topics relevant to Latter-day Saint LGBTQ+ individuals and their parents, relatives, friends, and others who are navigating this space with faith.
Across episodes, hosts from the Lift+Love team and their guests will address a variety of current topics, offer practical support, and share experiences related to LGBTQ+ issues in faith communities. Each conversation is grounded in compassion, honesty, and a commitment to keeping families connected to each other and Jesus Christ.
Learn more and access free support and resources at www.liftandlove.org
Episodes
5 days ago
5 days ago
Father's Day Special Episode: "I Don't See the Path - One Dad's Journey From Fix It to Feel It" with Josh Rollins - "Dad Lag", "Translating" Church Messages, and Finding Support for Latter-day Saint Dads of LGBTQ+ Kids - Episode 74 of the Lift+Love Podcast
In this Father's Day episode, episode hosts Allison Dayton and Darice Auston sit down with Josh Rollins — a former Bishop and father of 5 who leads Lift+Love's monthly dads support group. This is one of the most tender conversations the podcast has hosted.
Josh and his wife Jen have been married 28 years and have five kids: Jace, who is trans; Chelsea, who is bisexual; Aiden, who is gay; and two younger kids still at home. What makes Josh's story particularly layered is that he was serving as bishop when his kids began coming out — convinced his family was on track for the celestial kingdom, only to find himself suddenly without a map.
Josh talks through what it meant to watch Aiden — deacons quorum president, Eagle Scout — hit a wall that no amount of translating could get past. You can translate "find your special someone." You can't translate "get married in the temple." That's where the pain began.
He shares Jace's mission experience: leaving as a sister missionary, writing home to say "I have same-sex attraction happening," staying 15 months before Jen felt prompted to bring him home — and only then learning how dark things had really gotten.
The conversation moves into the concept of "dad lag" — why moms tend to adjust sooner — and Darice offers a reframe worth sitting with: women are already practiced at translating a male-centered church into their own experience, so the step toward empathizing with a queer kid's translation struggle is a shorter one. For dads wired to fix things, the journey from "fix it" to "feel it" takes longer.
Josh also shares the moment that finally allowed him to surrender: the quiet answer he received while wrestling with where his family fit in the plan. "They were my kids way before they were yours — and I've got 'em."
He closes with an open-door invitation to the dads group — a confidential, global space he didn't even know existed before Allison asked him to lead it. A place where dads show up running on empty and leave having said the things they can't say to their queer kids, so their kids don't carry the weight of their fathers' struggles.
The dads support group meets the third Tuesday of every month at 7:00 PM mtn. It's free, confidential, and they meet live on Zoom (so you can join from wherever you live). Sign up at liftandlove.org/support and click on the "dads support group" button to receive the link and email reminders.
Learn more about all the free resources that Lift+Love offers at www.liftandlove.org
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