Watch: Q&A with Brenden O’Donnell on Dating a Gay Catholic Celibate Man, Relationships, and Spirituality

Thank you to everyone who tuned into our live video chat yesterday between Open Secrets Magazine Editor-in-Chief

Rachel Kramer Bussel

and writer

Brenden O'Donnell

about his recent essay, “An Extremely Close Encounter with a Gay Catholic Celibate.” We discussed how that relationship was a pivotal one for him, how it impacted his friendships, his “zero-tolerance policy” for the Catholic Church, and his approach to relationships and spirituality since this encounter.

You can watch the full Q&A above. We don’t currently have a transcript available, but if we can get one we will add it here.

Follow us in the Substack app for future live video. We’ll be announcing more Substack Live Q&As with contributors as we schedule them, and we have our first 2 Open Secrets Magazine Book Clubs coming up, featuring chat discussions about the book as well as live author Q&As. We’ll announce the dates for the chats soon and the Q&As will take place on September 30 at 8:30 pm ET for The Loneliness Files by

Athena Dixon

and November 17 at 8:30 pm for Alligator Tears by

Edgar Gomez

. Start reading or listening to those now so you can participate! Everyone is welcome to watch our Q&As and participate in our book clubs.

And a reminder: Our call for submissions for personal essays is open through September 30, 2025.