Interview with Lindsey Straus | Ep #41

Interview with Lindsey Straus | Ep #41

Author: Rick Koonce May 23, 2025 Duration: 26:28

Lindsey Straus is a 73-year-old trans woman who's also the biological father of three sons -- triplets -- now in their early 40s.


The story of Lindsey's transition --- from husband, devoted dad, and little league coach to trans woman, social activist, and lay minister at her church in Brewster MA --- is truly inspiring and courageous.


But that transitional journey did not come easily or without pain.


After more than 20 years of heterosexual marriage, Lindsey decided to transition and become a woman at the age of 50 in 2001.


Years of separation and estrangement from her family then followed.


Lindsey moved out of the house, while remaining the family's sole breadwinner. But, she was excluded from major family events including vacations and graduations.


All that said, as she tells PFLAG Cape Cod's Rick Koonce in this interview, eventually, reconciliation with her family DID take place. Even with Lindsey's ex-wife, with whom she now talks almost every day.


As for her three sons?


Surprisingly, a common love of the Boston Red Sox by both Lindsey and her grown sons helped heal family wounds and bring her and her boys back into each others' lives.


Lindsey even remembers the exact date: October 18, 2004.


It was the day after Game 4 of the American League Championship series, when the Red Sox scored a major comeback against the New York Yankees.


Please click the button to subscribe so you don't miss any episodes and leave a review if your favorite podcast app has that ability.


For more information, visit the PFLAG Cape Cod website: https://www.pflagcapecod.org/podcasts.html


© 2020 - 2025 PFLAG Cape Cod


Hosted by Rick Koonce, Profiles in LGBTQ+ Courage: Real Stories of Identity & Acceptance is built around intimate, unscripted conversations that go beyond headlines. This podcast lives in the personal moments-the difficult family dinner, the quiet realization, the supportive friend’s first question. You’ll hear directly from LGBTQ+ individuals, their parents, siblings, and allies, sharing narratives that are less about grand declarations and more about the daily, nuanced journey toward living authentically. The stories encompass coming out, gender transition, and the complex, ongoing search for belonging, offering a raw and moving look at what courage actually sounds like in real time. Produced by Huntington Northstar Productions in partnership with PFLAG Cape Cod, each episode functions as a personal audio journal, focusing on a single portrait where vulnerability and strength are inseparable. Listening feels like being invited into a deeply meaningful, private conversation that highlights our shared humanity. The collective result is a powerful and necessary tapestry of voices that celebrates resilience while honestly examining the challenges within families and communities. Tune in for a series that connects through specificity, where every story adds a vital thread to the broader fabric of human experience.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

Profiles in LGBTQ+ Courage: Real Stories of Identity & Acceptance
Podcast Episodes
Teen Activist Bradley Forcier on Courage, Politics & Pride [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 32:25
In this episode of Profiles in LGBTQ+ Courage, host Rick Koonce sits down with 16-year-old activist and student Bradley Forcier, whose story is both inspiring and timely. Bradley, a rising junior at Falmouth Academy, sha…
From Cape Cod Roots to State Senate: Julian Cyr's Story [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:20
In this episode of Profiles in LGBTQ+ Courage, I sit down with Massachusetts State Senator Julian Cyr, who represents Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket. Julian shares his powerful journey of growing up as a youn…
Interview with Finn Allen (Wanda Mae) | Ep #45 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:51
Finn Allen (formerly Wanda Mae). Wanda Mae was a little girl raised in a household with an alcoholic mother, an abusive father, and two sisters. She never felt "at home" in her female body, even though at an early age sh…
Interview with Joan and Rick Francolini | Ep #44 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 32:24
Joan and Rick Francolini are the parents of a bisexual daughter, Renee, who's about to marry a transgender man. They're also committed social justice advocates who recently organized the first-ever Lower Cape Pride celeb…
Interview with Roger Smith | Ep #43 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 25:58
The Trump Administration's explicit animus toward transgender people is a well-documented and very public fact. Starting in his first term and now in his second, President Trump and his Administration have carried out a…
Interview with Susanne Bennett | Ep #42 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:49
Susanne Bennett describes herself as a white, queer, cis-gender, able-bodied, and educated elder woman. At 78, this former college professor and retired clinical social worker also describes herself as a questioner, a do…
Interview with Linda & Gloria Bailey-Davies | Ep #40 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:45
In the prolonged, often contentious battle for marriage equality in the United States, it can truly be said that Linda and Gloria Bailey-Davies are pioneers. Together now for over 50 years, the happily married Cape Cod c…
Interview with Avery & Sarah | Ep #39 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:31
Sarah Messeck and Avery Condon are a young couple very much in love. The two met at a Cape Cod Pride event in June 2022 and soon afterwards began dating. Eventually they plan to marry. Sarah, an animal welfare advocate a…