Episode Description:
Suzanne Ford knew who she was at five or six years old. She spent the next four decades living what she calls a brilliant disguise — athlete, husband, father, regional sales manager in the packaging industry. She thought coming out as transgender would cost her everything. Her wife. Her son. Her career. Her community.
She was wrong about most of it. Her wife and son stayed. Her career evolved. But the church that got her sober — the one that felt like family — asked her not to come back because it wouldn't be fair to the children.
Suzanne came out at forty-six. Today she's the executive director of San Francisco Pride, the first transgender woman to hold that position. She lives on Castro Street, the neighborhood she dreamed about as a kid in Owensboro, Kentucky. In 2025, with corporate sponsors fleeing and the Trump administration hostile to LGBTQ causes, she raised 2.3 million dollars and put on what she calls the most unifying pride in years.
This is a conversation about coming out at midlife, leading through crisis, and why the life you postponed for forty years might be the one you were always built for.
What We Talk About:
Coming out at forty-six after four decades of living a brilliant disguise — what dysphoria finally forced her to say out loud, and how her wife and son responded in completely different ways
Getting sober through a church that later asked her to leave when she transitioned — and why she feels more grief for those people than anger toward them
Stepping in as interim executive director of SF Pride two weeks after the previous director resigned, mid-pandemic recovery, and landing in the middle of a police participation controversy on day one
How she raised 2.3 million dollars in 2025 despite massive corporate pullbacks — and why calling in instead of calling out made all the difference
What she wants young trans women to carry forward: that the generation that faced this moment didn't lose their joy, and that's exactly where the power lives
About Suzanne Ford:
Suzanne Ford is the executive director of San Francisco Pride and the first transgender woman to hold that position. She came out at forty-six after a career in sales management and has spent the years since building visibility for the trans community at the local, national, and media level. She has been honored with the Trans Day of Visibility Legacy Award, the Horizons Foundation Leadership Award, and was named to Out magazine's Out 100 list in 2025. She lives on Castro Street in San Francisco with her wife.
Connect with Suzanne: Website: sfpride.org
Resources Mentioned:
San Francisco Pride (sfpride.org)
Trans Day of Visibility
Horizons Foundation
Out Magazine Out 100 (2025)
Transcend Retreat
Transgender Law Center
March of Dimes
Melanie Nathan (former SF Pride vice president)
Theresa Sparks (mentor)
Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, San Francisco
Beyond the Rainbow (documentary)
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