LGBTQ+, Faith, and the LDS Church: The Conversation We Need to Have with Richard Ostler

In this episode, Olivia sits down with Richard Ostler, host of the Listen, Learn & Love podcast, to have an honest conversation about LGBTQ+, faith, and the LDS Church. Richard is the author of Listen, Learn & Love: Embracing LGBTQ Latter-day Saints and has spent years listening to and sharing the stories of queer Latter-day Saints through his podcast, which now has more than 900 episodes and 8 million downloads.

Richard shares how serving as a YSA bishop changed the way he understood and supported queer Latter-day Saints, and why listening to people’s lived experiences became such an important part of his own faith journey. Together, Olivia and Richard talk about shame, belonging, personal revelation, same-sex marriage, church participation, suicide prevention, allyship, and what it really looks like to become a safe person for the people around you.

They also get into the questions that don’t always have easy answers: What do you do when someone you love feels like their identity and their religion are asking them to choose between two parts of themselves? How do we support people without trying to decide their path for them? What can we do to make our homes, churches, and communities safer places for queer people? And with rates of anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation so high, what does meaningful support actually look like?

This conversation isn’t about having every answer, but it is about listening better, loving people more deeply, and making room for honest questions, complicated experiences, and real faith.

Connect with Richard:

Instagram: @papa_ostler

Podcast: Listen, Learn & Love

Connect with Olivia:

Instagram: @twentysomething_podcast

TikTok: @twentysomething_podcast

YouTube: @TwentySomething-OliviaBurnett