This week on It’s Ben A Week, Ben sits down with Weston Brown, a Texas native whose shocking and emotional story has captured national attention.
Weston grew up in a hyper-religious, politically extreme household just outside Dallas — homeschooled, isolated, and forbidden from music, movies, doctors, or anything that didn’t fit a narrow version of “God’s plan.” When he came out as gay, he was fired from his church job, cut off from his family, and told he could never come home.
Years later, Weston discovered that his mother — now living in Granbury — had become a political activist trying to ban books with LGBTQ+ characters. So he returned to Texas, took the podium at a school-board meeting, and made headlines across the country with his brave, heartfelt testimony. That moment inspired a documentary and his upcoming memoir.
Ben and Weston dive into:
- Growing up under fundamentalist evangelical control
- How fear, isolation, and “purity culture” damage kids
- The shocking “poop brownie” story that went viral in Granbury
- Weston’s mother’s campaign to ban books — and her public defeat
- The reality of homeschooling laws in Texas and children’s rights
- Healing through therapy, marriage, and self-acceptance
- How religion is weaponized against LGBTQ+ people
- Finding purpose in advocacy and the power of representation
It’s an episode filled with courage, catharsis, and hope — proof that even in the most closed-minded places, truth and love will always find a way through.
Follow Weston Brown
Instagram: @wstn.brwn
Film: https://thelibrariansfilm.com/
Book: https://bannedthebook.com/
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