Transcript provided via Descript. Mostly un-edited.

[00:00:21] Angela: Hello, my friends. Welcome to the Gay podcast for everyone. My name is Angela Bris, and to be honest with you guys, I did not realize how long it has been since I published an episode, and I wanna thank you for. Hanging in there with me

because I think now more than ever, we really need to have these conversations. And I did not mean to not show up, I guess, you know? But I also think that's a little bit of a reflection of what's happening right now is I think we're all dealing with things in different ways.

You know, some of us are. In our cocoon just trying to feel safe, you know? And then others are really resisting with lots of joy, which is something that I'm really trying to do, to be honest. But sometimes it's hard.

It is. And then other folks are protesting and really being visible in their pushback and

whatever it is that you need to do for yourself right now,

 Self-care is really important, you know, because we've gotta take care of ourselves so we can take care of the people around us and. Honestly, that's gonna be a theme in an episode coming up that I recorded earlier this week with a wonderful guest, . And I can't wait to share that with you guys. But right now I wanted to share a story that was kind of personal to me, to be honest. Something that was a really fun experience and I didn't expect it to be so fun, to be honest. But it was also, one of those things where the meaning of it was bigger than I realized. I think right now, while things are so questionable. This is probably the perfect time to share it. 

[00:01:55] Angela: so you're probably wondering what Disney has to do with anything, right? You're probably wondering, why is this episode called the Disney Bubble?

[00:02:03] Angela: Well folks who go to Disney talk about entering the bubble. Like That moment when you're in Disney, nothing else matters.

and , I recently learned about the Disney bubble. When I went on vacation with my family to Disney World, and it was at a time that was a little interesting, to be honest, because it was right after the election last year, 2024, and at a time when I wasn't really feeling very joyous, to be honest.

You know what I mean?

So I was like, how am I gonna go on this vacation and pretend like the world's not gonna fall apart in the next few months. that was really my mindset. But as it got closer, I was like, okay, you know what? I kind of need this vacation. Like I need to get outta my space and go to a place where I can just play and be a kid and I'm just gonna fully immerse myself in the Disney bubble, Before I start though, I have to tell you a quick story about when I was coming out to myself because it totally ties into this episode. So back in the day, I don't remember how old I was, you know, maybe late teens, early twenties,

maybe. I was starting to understand that I was gay. And I remember seeing, you know, from in the distance I would see the Advocate magazine or Curve Magazine, you know, lesbian or gay Lifestyle magazine

and I remember wanting to like pick it up and. Read an article and see what it said and I don't know, just get to know. I don't know, it felt like a way of connecting to something that I was just starting to understand.

But the thing is, back in the day when I was a young person in Austin, . Austin was a different space back then. Everyone knew everyone. I mean, I remember being a kid, like a little kid, and we'd go to a store and my mom would always know somebody. Everyone knew everyone in that city and you couldn't go somewhere without running into somebody.

So here I am at Barnes and Noble.

Literally like walking around the magazine area because I'm too scared to actually pick up the advocate or curve because if I stand in front of this section, somebody might see me. . You know, my kid point of view was that my mom knew everybody.

Right? So. That stuck with me and I just remember circling around the magazine rack, not able to actually stop and certainly not able to actually pick up the magazine.

 So truth be told y'all, it was probably. Months before I could actually stop in front of the magazine and even more months past that that I could stop and pick up the magazine.

So I just wanna share that with you because that was my mindset back then. What if somebody finds out that I'm gay, that's what what I was thinking, and that's what I was feeling, and it was really, really scary. So, fast forward many, many years.

And my sister, who has been on this podcast a few times, loves Disney she and her husband love Disney. . They go as often as they can because Disney, Disney World specifically, that's their happy place. And it has been her dream to have a family trip there. And it took a minute to actually get schedules to work out and stuff, but when we finally were able to make it possible.

You know, schedules, aligning, weather, all that good stuff, right?

It was at that weird time, right after the election, right? When I'm like, the last place in the world I wanna go is to Florida where I can't say gay.

And especially right after the election.

But as the trip got closer, I was just like, you know what? I just wanna go and play and be a kid, you know, and like just experience all this stuff. My sister kept saying that like, once you're in the Disney bubble, nothing else is gonna matter. and I was like, I guess, you know, like maybe. Well you guys, it turned out she's right

' cause there was some sort of magic that happened at Disney that first night we were there. We were waiting to get into this restaurant and as we're waiting there's this store like attached to the restaurant and my mom is over in the corner and we're waiting for the reservation, right?

so as we're waiting, we're walking around doing a little shopping, and I see these Disney ears and my mom is sitting right next to the Disney ears. So I'm walking towards her and I see in like this sea of Disney ears, like, there's a ton, like anything, all Disney ears you can imagine, right?

And like right next to her are these awesome pride ears like they've got the word love all over them in multiple languages and in all kind of rainbow colors. It was just perfect. and I pick up the ears and I'm like so excited about 'em. And my mom jumps up and she looks at 'em too. And you guys, she was just as excited about these ears , than I was.

 And that moment is never lost on me. Because again, I'm the person who was afraid to stop in front of a magazine rack in case somebody knew my mom or my dad, and would tell them. And here I was standing in front of the pride ears with my mom just admiring how beautiful these ears were.

And anytime I have a moment like that, it's like time suspends. And I simultaneously experience these two things. I experience the freedom of where I am right now, like the comfort of who I am in my skin, cozy with who I am as Beyonce says. And if you know, you know, and if you didn't, then that meant nothing.

But I remember what it was like.

Wondering if this moment, my present moment would ever be my reality. I think about the younger me, the one who was worried to stop and pick up that magazine, the one that was worried about the future, worried about my relationship with the person standing next to me right now looking at those pride ears.

 She had no idea that it was gonna be okay. 

So I'm standing there with those ears and my mom's like, oh my gosh, those are so pretty. I'm gonna buy them for you. And y'all, I'm 50 years old. I can buy my own merch, you know? And I tell my mom that. I'm like, no. Like I can buy these. And she says, no, I bought something for Lori and my sister, she's like, I bought something for Lori.

I wanna buy something for you too. And just like that, you guys.

 I wasn't 50, I was five.

 I was five years old. Again,

 A kid whose mom was buying something for them for no other reason , than I was her child, you know? So she buys those pride ears and I wear the hell out of them.

I wore them to the parks, I wore them to dinner. I wore them to breakfast. 'cause this is Disney and after all nobody looks at you. Weird in Disney for wearing Mickey Mouse ears. And even though I said I wasn't gonna wear those silly ears here, I was wearing. These pride ears because I am so freaking proud to wear these ears, and I loved that everyone who saw me

knew I was gay or maybe they thought I was an ally for all I know. But hey, you know what? Either way, I was proud.

I was proud that I could be gay in Disney and inside of this little bubble where you can't say gay in Florida. And I was also proud that I had made it to this place in my life where I wasn't afraid to stop in front of the thing 

That was a reflection of who I was. Even though I've been out for many, many years, , I never take it for granted that I'm finally at a space in my life where I don't even think twice anymore about stopping in front of things like that. And I certainly don't think twice about stopping when my parents are around or my sister because now they know who I am and they support who I am, and that makes a huge difference in life.

 There was a time when I had so much fear of what it was gonna be like when the people in my life, who have been a part of my entire life. my mom, my dad, my sister, 

They were the ones I was worried about. And here we were at dinner in freaking Disney World altogether,

 and I think about that Disney, bubble all the time, you guys, I think about how important family is. I think about how important it is to feel safe with your family and in your home.

And with everything happening right now in day to day,

it just feels like our community is being pelted left and right by certain things, especially our trans community.

I think about that Disney bubble. I think about the fact that like I tried for so many months of this year not watching the news so that I wouldn't have to be affected by certain things. 'cause I was trying to just protect myself, right? Because that's how we wanna feel. We wanna feel protected. We wanna feel safe.

And I just started to realize that

being in your home or with your family or wherever it is that makes you feel like that, like that's your Disney bubble.

And there's so much that we can't control right now, and there's a lot that we can push back on and that we need to, and we will.

But day to day, we really have to create our own space. Where we feel safe, and we are surrounded by the people who make us feel safe,

Where we know that space is all love, all acceptance, unconditional.

[00:11:21] Angela: that space that's like, you know, in here, in this space, we get to breathe. We get to laugh in this space. You are loved. So whatever the bubble is for you, whether that's your house, whether it's, you know, your workspace, a friend's house, wherever that is for you,

I think it's so important that we focus on that,

 and if you're a parent, it is so important that you do that for your child.

It doesn't matter whether your child is four or 40. It's so important that you be a part of their bubble.

 I wanna thank you for listening to this story, and I hope it sparked something good. I'd love to hear about it.

If it did . All right you guys, until next time.