Andrew Gurza, an award-winning Disability Awareness Consultant and the Co-founder of Handi, a sex toy company that puts pleasure within reach for disabled people, joins us to tell three moving stories from his life. The first takes us to his early childhood to the moment that he really felt the emotional weight of his disability. This difficult story is interwoven with the wonderful humor Andrew is famous for. In the second story, he recounts the first time he had sex as a queer and disabled young man in college with such transparency and vulnerability that we feel everything right there with him; the excitement, the struggle, and the pain. And in his third story, he exuberantly rolls down the red carpet as his purpose and importance as a queer, disabled activist becomes crystal clear. In this interview, and as always, Andrew is brimming over with full tilt loveability, humor, and naughtiness in the best possible way. We hope you join us for this amazing episode of Open Deeply that allows us all to have a better idea of what it’s like to be queer, disabled and a living testimony to the viral hashtag of his making, #DisabledPeopleAreHot.
About guest, Andrew Gurza:
Andrew Gurza is an award winning Disability Awareness Consultant and the Chief Disability Officer and Co-founder of Handi, a sex toy company that puts pleasure within reach for disabled people. Andrew uses they/he pronouns and identifies proudly as disabled. Andrew is brimming over with full tilt loveability, humor, and naughtiness in the best possible way. So of course, he’s been featured or interviewed worldwide in popular media, such as the BBC, Huffington Post, and Out.com, several anthologies and many podcasts, such as Dan Savage’s “Savage Lovecast” discussing what is means to be, (quote), a queer cripple (unquote). He was the subject of an award winning National Film Board in the Canadadian Documentary “Picture This”. He is also the host of Disability After Dark: The Podcast Shining a Bright Light on Disability Stories which was nominated for a Canadian Podcast Award, a Queerty Award and was chosen as an Honoree at the 2020 Webby Awards. Andrew is also the creator of the viral hashtag #DisabledPeopleAreHot.
How to find Andrew Gurza:
http://www.andrewgurza.com/
and on social media @andrewgurza_
About the Hosts:
Sunny Megatron is an award-winning sexuality educator and media personality. She’s the host and executive producer of the Showtime original television series, SEX with Sunny Megatron, plus co-hosts American Sex Podcast and Open Deeply Podcast.
Voted XBIZ 2021 Sexpert of the Year, Kinkly’s Sex Blogging Superhero of 2017, and named one of the 6 most savvy sexologists in North America, Sunny has been featured in Cosmo, Playboy, Buzzfeed, CNN, and more. She is also a contributing editor of XBIZ Premiere Magazine and a regular columnist for Sexual Health Magazine.
In her sell-out sex and kink workshops, Sunny’s unique brand of “edutainment” seamlessly combines her humorous lecturing style, interactive exercises, and the latest sexuality research. Sunny’s passion is helping people become their authentic, sexual selves by learning to overcome shame and shed inhibitions. As a lifestyle BDSM enthusiast, much of her work centers around normalizing alternative sexual practices and ending sexual stigma.
Website: http://sunnymegatron.com
Facebook: http://facebook.com/sunnymegatron
Twitter: http://twitter.com/sunnymegatron
Instagram: https://instagram.com/sunnymegatron
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sunnymegatron
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/sunnymegatron
American Sex Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/2HroMhWJnyZbMSsOBKwBnk
TV Show, Sex with Sunny Megatron: https://www.sho.com/sex-with-sunny-megatron/season/1
Kate Loree, LMFT is a sex-positive licensed marriage and family therapist with a specialty in kink, sex worker, LGBTQ and non-monogamous communities. In addition to her Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy, she is also an art therapist, and has a second Masters in Business Administration (MBA). She has been practicing psychotherapy since 2003 and has additional training in EMDR and the Trauma Resiliency Model (TRM) for the treatment of trauma, such as sexual, physical, and emotional abuse. Her first book on compassionate, conscious non-monogamy will be published in April of 2022. She has been featured in Buzzfeed videos, has been a guest on Playboy Radio, and many podcasts such as American Sex, Sex Nerd Sandra, and Sluts and Scholars. She has spoken at universities, such as UCLA, and written for Good Vibrations and Hollywood Magazine. Privately, she has been connected to poly, swing and kink communities since 2003 and understands the hurdles, massive emotional growth, and amazing joy these worlds can provide. Her private practice resides in Encino, CA. For more information, please visit her on the web at KateLoree.com.
Website: http://kateloree.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KateLoreeLMFT/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/kateloreelmft
Instagram: https://instagram.com/opendeeplywithkateloree
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSTFAqGYKW3sIUa0tKivbqQ
Open Deeply podcast is not a replacement for therapy or therapy. Please know this episode has themes of sexual and emotional abuse and neglect. If you catch yourself becoming emotionally overwhelmed by this episode’s content, please get support. Call a friend, therapist, or an emotional support hotline, such as, 800-273-talk (8255).