With the approach of fall, Coach Sappho has turned over HER new leaf and is launching a brand new podcast!

I’ve been considering a fresh approach for Coach Sappho’s ‘radio presense’ for several months now and decided to invite Reverend Donna Tara Lee, a colleague and friend I met after moving here to Florida, to create a new internet radio show.

Donna accepted my invitation and, I am happy to report we are ready to bring our new podcast to you, starting this coming Tuesday night, August 25, 2009 at 6:30pm ET.

Our new show is called

GLBT TALK WITH BARB AND DONNA

Donna and I are excited to bring to you a show that will ‘inform, enlighten and entertain’ listeners on all things GLBT!

The show will last 30 minutes at 6:30pm ET on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of every month and you can listen in LIVE via the internet FOR FREE by signing up now:

During this Tuesday night’s show we’ll be introducing listeners to who we are and what we envision for the show.  The show is recorded and is live, so if you want to call in and ask a question or send us your well wishes we’d love it!  Also – the show’s page on has a chat room which you can participate in as well, during the show!

Why should you listen? Because more in our community need to tune into the ‘older’, ‘wiser’ GLBT experience.  More than ever, in today’s media and the internet in general, there is more fluff and less substance.  And, there is also the usual over focus on youth and the younger experience.  In today’s world it’s easy putting up a blog or show, but what is the quality of that blog or show?

This means that, more than ever before, YOU need to become a more discerning listener. Why do I think this important? When you get what you believe from sources who are just passing on the rumors, irrational fears and unchecked facts of others, we get further away from moving forward on important issues, like marriage equality and health care reform.

Instead of us moving towards solutions (with or without consensus, because, sometimes, as history shows, moving forward without consensus is important too), people just become more confused and feelings become inflamed or escalated.

I believe the seasoned, rich wisdom experts 40 and over offer our community is being drowned out and is mostly untapped.  I define ‘expert’ as those who have spent a significant part of their lifetimes – at least 10 years or more – being active in their field or industry and/or in their GLBT cause  – versus those ‘Johnny and Joany’s come lately’ who are young and green!

As you know I’m a relationship and dating expert with over 20 years experience as a coach and as a licensed psychotherapist.  And, you know what a passionate advocate I am for the success of single lesbians, lesbian relationships, marriage equality and GLBT rights in general.  I began my volunteerism in the late 1970′s at a gay switchboard and haven’t slowed down since.  If you want to learn more about my decades of service to the GLBT community, click here.

Reverend Lee attended Woodstock (Yes, she was there in 1969!) and was a part of the Stonewall movement!  And, Donna continues to be deeply involved in political, social and spiritual causes.  In addition to being an active member of the Democratic Caucus here in Floriday, she’s gone through sexual reassignment surgery and she has an amazing story to tell of how her life has been transformed as she ‘created the body she feels normal and natural in’.

We look forward to meeting you on GLBT Talk with Barb and Donna:

Barb Elgin, MSW, LCSW, Certified Singles Coach, is Coach Sappho: America’s Favorite Lesbian Love Coach.  Be sure to stop by www.coachsappho.com, pick up your FREE gifts as well as to learn about our exciting new singles club for lesbians and our community for lesbian couples.

© Copyright 2009, Barb Elgin.  All Rights Reserved.  Feel free to forward this article as long as attribution remains intact.

Disclaimer: The suggestions and feedback offered in this column are but one perspective of multiple approaches to dealing with problems or challenges. Information provided in articles and advice columns should not be used as a substitute for coaching or therapy when these services are needed. None of this information should be your only source when making important life decisions. This information should not be used for diagnosing or treating a particular problem, nor should it take the place of a consultation with a trained professional. It is your responsibility to consult a professional prior to making any life decisions.

Tags: gay dating, gay relationship advice, lesbian dating, lesbian dating advice, lesbian relationship advice, life coach for lesbians, online dating tips for lesbians

“All spiritual growth is really about letting go of something. It’s not about gaining anything.“  – Rev. Michael Beckwith

I happened to see an Oprah ‘summer rerun’ this afternoon.  The topic: finding one’s spiritual path.  Ahh, I treated myself – it was a pleasure actually sitting down and watching a show without distractions.  The guests included a panel of ‘spiritual’ thought leaders including Rev. Michael Beckwith, Rev. Ed Bacon of a ‘progressive’ Episcopolian church in California and Elizabeth Lesser of the Omega Institute (gosh did I used to love looking at their catalogs!).

Below, and interspersed throughout this post, I’m going to quote what was said during the show, which Oprah has put up on her site summarizing the people’s stories shared, because one day she may take those words down and they are so powerful I want to always be able to look at them again.

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If you undervalue what you do, the world undervalues who you are.  And when you undervalue who you are, the world undervalues what you do.

- Suze Orman, Women and Money

Amazingly wise words don’t you think?  And, they come from one smart, adorable lesbian who has truly ‘made it’ financially!  I am sitting here at the computer, writing to you on a rainy day, and treating myself to Orman on PBS as she presents her “Women and Money” Show.

Yes, the show isn’t new.  But, truthfully, each time the show comes on,  I half listen, with the TV in the background, continuing on with my busy day instead of stopping what I am doing and listening more closely.  Today, I listened (more…)

I know it’s been a tough week for equality, fairness and for gay Californians especially.  The rest of the country is looking on, and doing all it can to be supportive.  That includes me, here in Florida.

I posted to a lesbian relationship blog I read quite often earlier today.  The blog’s creator lamented her frustration with the California decision and suggested perhaps we should stop wanting marriage and accept civil unions.

That’s a ‘mental space’ I’ve fallen into as well, at times.  That’s just what those who thrive on denying people civil rights want us to do.  That’s where I was back last year when I invited Evan Wolfson, from Freedom to Marry, to Coach Sappho’s podcast.  I was feeling defeated about gay marriage and, it’s chances of ever becoming the law of the entire U.S.

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As I talk with lesbian women from all over the world, we find it so much fun identifying together who they are and what they want.  The coaching exercises we do together to find out these juicy tidbits are often very liberating, especially for lesbians, because so many of us have held back so much of who we are from ‘the light of day’ for so long.

Some of my current and former clients only recently ‘came out of the closet’.  Some have even been married to a man for some length of time and are choosing to live a more authentic, ‘this is who I really am’ lesbian life for the first time.  And many others have identified, even rather openly, as lesbian for years but they…

• haven’t experience a deeply satisfying and lasting relationship with another woman
• they haven’t felt comfortable asking for what they want
• or they haven’t been aware of what they want romantically, for various reasons, most likely due to the socialization (or lack thereof) women and lesbian women receive when it comes to love, dating and relationships.

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