Weston Brown's Story: A Family and School Tragedy (Ep. 8)
Episode Notes
Weston Brown was homeschooled in Dallas, Texas and had limited access to the internet, books, television, and the outside world. At age 24, he mustered the courage to tell his parents that he was gay. Their reaction was not unexpected, he said. “They thought that I was mentally ill or demonically possessed.”
Brown had no intentions of battling his parents over their anti-LGBTQ views — until, that is, he viewed a viral video of his mother demanding that a local school board in Texas remove library books that she considered pornographic or that promoted LGBTQ themes. She also urged the Board to have a local pastor decide which books should remain in the schools’ libraries.
In this episode, Brown describes the painful estrangement from his parents and siblings and why he decided to speak out against his mother’s efforts to ban books in public school libraries.
Weston Brown said he was outraged when he discovered that his mother was leading a campaign to ban books with sex and LGBTQ themes from public school libraries. Image by Alan Nakkash for NBC News
ABOUT WESTON BROWN
Weston Brown is originally from Dallas, Texas, works in marketing in the life sciences industry, and is an advocate for education and representation for historically underrepresented groups.
Weston’s childhood and teen years were immersed in fundamental Christian beliefs. From a young age, he was taught to give a voice to the people who were disregarded, elevate the marginalized, and love thy neighbor. However, he was also taught that the government, health professionals, and educators, could not be trusted. He was homeschooled and raised to reject ideologies that go against their faith to include homosexuality.
As Weston entered his late teens and early twenties, he began to question and deconstruct the religious ideas and structures that were instilled in him as a child, most specifically around queerness, gender, and sex. He came out to his parents when he was 23 which become a very public story when his mom’s campaign to ban library books divided their hometown and their family.
“It was one thing when my parents’ beliefs were causing this rift between us and it was just a family matter,” Brown told NBC News. “But seeing now that she’s applying those same views to public activism, at a time when so many basic rights are being challenged, I couldn’t stay quiet about that.”
Today he strives to be the person he needed when he was young. Someone who would stand up and speak out and protect the kids that feel alone. He now lives with his partner in San Diego, and advocates for the representation of historically marginalized groups with a specific interest in queer and BIPOC youth, as well as engagement with local political movements supporting human rights.
Weston’s New Book Release: BANNED
Since the airing of this episode, Weston has taken that story a step further and written a memoir!
We’re thrilled to share that Wes’s book, "BANNED" is now available and free to read.
BANNED is a raw and deeply personal memoir that takes readers on a journey of self-discovery, resilience, and reclaiming identity. Raised in a devout fundamentalist evangelical family steeped in the controversial teachings of the Institute in Basic Life Principles, the author’s upbringing was a labyrinth of unyielding rules, ever-changing theology, and a mission to build a “Christian Army.”
Friendships with the Duggar family and encounters with other IBLP devotees further reinforced a culture of patriarchal control and spiritual perfectionism. Even after escaping one cult-like group, the author found himself ensnared by the promises of a sprawling megachurch, only to discover a world rife with scandal, hypocrisy, and broken trust.
Against this backdrop of conformity, the author grappled with the weight of faith, shame, and suffocating expectations in a world where access to diverse perspectives was restricted and censorship was a tool for maintaining control.
The stakes became even higher when he came out, triggering a devastating rejection by his parents and a painful disconnection from his younger siblings. Through the ache of separation and the bittersweet revelations of love, loss, and healing, BANNED explores the tension between loyalty to family and the pursuit of personal freedom. It is a bold statement on the courage it takes to not only claim your identity but also to stand against efforts to erase or silence stories that challenge the status quo.
The narrative is a tapestry of quiet courage, heartbreak, and hard-won resilience, painting a portrait of what it means to leave behind the only life you’ve ever known to embrace the one you were meant to live. With honesty and flashes of humor, the author shares his journey of deconstructing faith, defying expectations, and rediscovering belonging.
For readers of Educated by Tara Westover, Untamed by Glennon Doyle, and All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson, BANNED offers a compelling and evocative story of hope, identity, and the courage it takes to reclaim your narrative - and to fight for the stories that deserve to be told.
You can access the book at BANNEDthebook.com.