From Evangelical Roots to LGBTQ+ Champion with Heather Hester

Today’s Featured Uplifter: Heather Hester

Standing in the darkness of a hotel room across the country from her children, Heather Hester received the call that would transform her life. Her missing teenage son was alive – and he had something to tell her. In that moment of raw relief, as her son's voice crackled through the phone line with his truth, Heather felt her world shift. "I'm gay," he said. Her immediate response? "Thank God, because I thought you were dead."

The journey that followed would crack open everything Heather thought she knew about faith, family, and love. As an evangelical Christian raised in a deeply conservative home, she had inherited a set of beliefs that seemed to leave no room for her son's identity. Yet in that crucial moment, maternal love swept away decades of dogma. (The heart, it turns out, has its own wisdom.)

What emerged from this chrysalis moment was not just a transformed mother, but a fierce advocate who would go on to touch countless lives through her podcast, coaching, and newly published book. Like the butterfly emerging from its cocoon, Heather's metamorphosis required breaking down old structures to build something new – something more beautiful and free than she could have imagined.

Her Courage Practice:

Heather's signature practice is what she calls "intentional vulnerability" – deliberately placing herself in spaces where she might face pushback or criticism about LGBTQ+ advocacy. Rather than avoiding difficult conversations, she leans into them, using her own journey from fear to acceptance as a bridge for others. This practice isn't about winning arguments, but about bearing witness to the daily reality many LGBTQ+ individuals face, while creating space for others to examine their own beliefs.

What makes this practice particularly powerful is how it transforms defensive reactions into opportunities for connection. By sharing her own story of evolution – including the fears, doubts, and revelations along the way – Heather creates a template for others to explore their own journey without shame. It's a practice that ripples outward, touching not just parents of LGBTQ+ children, but anyone grappling with the gap between inherited beliefs and lived experience.

"This is not a judgment saying that you need to unlearn bias. You're a human being. We all have them. So we're taking a look at what those biases might be and pulling them apart and working through them and healing from them."

5 Ways She Shows Us How to Build Our Courage Capital:

1. Transform Fear into Fierce Love

Lead with your heart when your head is still catching up. (Sometimes the wisest part of us already knows what to do.) Heather's immediate acceptance of her son came from a place deeper than conscious thought.

2. Choose Growth Over Comfort

Allow yourself to question inherited beliefs when they conflict with love. Break free from the need to please others (even family) when it means compromising your truth or someone else's wellbeing.

3. Create Brave Spaces for Others

Use your own vulnerability as a bridge to understanding. (Your messy, beautiful journey might be exactly what someone else needs to see.) Share your evolution openly to give others permission to change.

4. Practice Intentional Discomfort

Put yourself in challenging spaces not to argue, but to understand. Let the discomfort remind you of others' daily experiences and fuel your commitment to create change.

5. Love Radically and Simply

When overwhelmed by complexity, return to the simplest truth: love them. See them. Hold space for them. (Sometimes the most powerful actions are the most straightforward.)

The Uplifters’ Web

Today’s opening is by Rachel Lipson.

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