Welcome to the first episode of Season 3! Today, Jonathan shares his personal journey of building his family outside of his blood relatives. He discusses the pivotal moment when he decided to let go of his 18 blood relatives, marking the beginning of his freedom journey.

Joining Jonathan is his lifelong friend Dannie Festa. Dannie has been a constant source of support for Jonathan through his darkest times.

Jonathan opens up about the challenges he faces in maintaining relationships with his niece and nephew, despite their efforts to reach out. He also reflects on the complexity of familial bonds and the difficulty of reconciling past hurts.

Dannie asks Jonathan if he sees any possibility of reconciling with his father. Jonathan expresses uncertainty, recognizing the weight of his father's decisions.

The conversation shifts to Jonathan's lifelong desire to become a parent, viewing it as the ultimate teaching role. They discuss the significance and challenges of Jonathan contemplating single parenthood.

Join us next time as we continue to explore Jonathan's journey of self-discovery and the evolution of his journey.

On this week's episode of Redefining Family, Jonathan has the pleasure of speaking with his old friend Jonathan Goldstein and his daughter Madi Goldstein. At seventeen, Madi came out to Jonathan and his wife as transgender. Since then, they have not only supported her, but have become advocates for her and the trans and queer communities.

Jonathan discusses the realization him and his wife had that Madi was struggling with her gender identity. Madi explains that she felt a disconnect with her mind and body, which made her feel so very isolated. With the support of her family, Madi is thriving and finally feels like she belongs. Madi also talks about finding community and support online, and Jonathan discusses advice he has for parents of trans and queer children.

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More About The Goldsteins

Jonathan and his wife have been married for over 20 years and are the proud parents of two amazing kids. Madi who is 18 and Micah who is 16. In addition to parenting two amazing teenagers, Jonathan has been a youth group advisor to temple youth groups affiliated with the North American Federation of Temple Youth (NFTY) off and on since 1998. When he is not attending youth group events, Jonathan can be found at his synagogue where he is a Cantorial Soloist. But, more often you can find him managing the Energy & Utility Practice at CG Infinity.

This week on "Redefining Family," Jonathan interviews internationally recognized and award-winning musician and composer Blake Allen. Blake was raised Mormon and came out to his blood related family at 18 years old, which at the time, did not go over very well. However Blake explains that since then, him and his parents have learned to love each other in the way that they know how, even after he stepped away from the Mormon church.

Blake also opens up about how in college, the suicide of a friend took him through a really dark time in his life, and how he then decided to live his truth and not be afraid of telling his family, and the world, who he really was.

Blake is now married to political drag champion Marti Gould Cummings, and his father even walked him down the aisle! While Blake and his family are examples of how blood relatives can eventually come around, it is always your choice if you choose to let them back in and to also have boundaries and decide the kind of relationship you want to have with them.

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About Blake Allen

Blake Allen, PhD(c) is an internationally recognized, award-winning composer, musician, orchestrator, and educator. Allen has performed on and off Broadway and at many major music halls around the country including Carnegie Hall, Dr. Phillips Center, Strathmore Music Center, Kennedy Center, as well as on and off Broadway.

Allen has 4 chart-topping albums, with his autobiographical musical-opera the shards of an honor code junkie (#1 Classical Charts and the #1 new cast album on Billboard) garnering 4 million streams. He currently is traveling around the globe with RuPaul’s Drag Race star, Tina Burner, as their music director and collaborator, with their latest show Mix Queen: A Relationship Mixtape topping the comedy charts. Allen also frequently can be heard performing viola with the New York City Ballet and on the Seven Seas on VACAYA with their spouse, Marti Gould Cummings.