PRESS & ARTICLES
Discover articles and press coverage featuring my journey and the podcast!
Reach out for stories, interviews, and insights into the mission behind our work, and join us in spreading a message of positivity, empathy, and unity.
may 21, 2026
fugues magazine
Stéphane Vachon retrouve la glace et l’esprit des Gay Games à Valence
Entrevue avec : Andrea Robert Lezak
Cette semaine nous sommes parti à la rencontre de Stef Vachon pour nous parler de sa carrière de patineur artistique, et de sa présence aux Gay Games de Valence en 2026 !
Écouter l’entrevue complète sur YouTube
may 21, 2026
fugues magazine
Stéphane Vachon retrouve la glace et l’esprit des Gay Games à Valence
Entrevue avec : Andrea Robert Lezak
Stéphane Vachon est un ancien compétiteur en patinage artistique qui a retrouvé la glace après plus de 15 ans d’absence. Dans cette entrevue accordée à Fugues, il partage son parcours marqué par l’homophobie vécue durant sa jeunesse, son coming out et l’impact profondément transformateur des Gay Games dans sa vie.
Aujourd’hui entraîneur, podcasteur et conférencier engagé auprès de la communauté LGBTQ+, Stéphane retourne à la compétition avec une nouvelle perspective, accompagné de son mari et de leur fils adoptif. Après avoir remporté plusieurs médailles lors de précédentes participations aux Gay Games, il se prépare maintenant pour les Gay Games de Valence 2026, qui auront lieu en Espagne du 27 juin au 4 juillet 2026.
À travers cette entrevue, Stéphane souhaite transmettre un message d’authenticité, de résilience et d’espoir aux jeunes LGBTQ+, tout en démontrant qu’il n’est jamais trop tard pour reconnecter avec ses passions et vivre pleinement sa vérité.
Lire l’entrevue complète sur Fugues
may 13, 2026
Kindness is Everything
Kindness Is Moving Forward Together—Helping others embrace their LGBTQ+ identity with pride and self love
Podcast host Anitha Rao-Robinson
Stef Vachon joins Anitha to talk about his life growing up in Montreal, Canada in the 1970’s as a young boy who loved to figure skate and the trauma that followed.
Stef shares how the bullying and hate he endured as a child forced him to stop doing what he loved—skating, but he also shares how, with the help of his son, he has returned to the ice and reclaimed his joy.
Stef talks about creating his podcast TOGETHER MOVING FORWARD in hopes that others would not have to go through all the struggles he faced.
An episode about healing, self love and giving back to your community.
Listen to this episode
april 28, 2026
34 o – The Intimacy Podcast
Stef: Permission to exist
Podcast host Henrik
What does it cost a person to spend decades not being allowed to exist as themselves?
In this episode of 34o – The Intimacy Podcast, Henrik sits down with Stef, host of Together Moving Forward, to explore what it means to live in constant vigilance — and what it takes to come back from it.
From an early age, Stef learned to adapt.
To monitor his posture, his voice, his presence.
Not as a choice. But as survival.
Growing up outside what was considered “normal”, he faced daily bullying, isolation, and years of hiding. Over time, that vigilance moved from the mind into the body — shaping his health, his identity and his relationship to himself.
This is a conversation about:
• The cost of growing up feeling different
• How shame and chronic stress live in the body
• Self-harm, EMDR and the long road back to safety
• The difference between confidence and permission
• What happens to intimacy when we stop editing ourselves
Today, Stef is back on the ice in his late fifties — not to perform, but to inhabit himself.
His story is queer in context.
But what he describes is deeply human.
Because at the core of it all lies a simple shift:
From performing who you are…
to allowing yourself to exist.
Redefining love, trust & how we connect
Listen to this episode
april 27, 2026
Trandescendant Podcast
How Other People’s Words Almost Destroyed Me
Podcast hosts Joe and Rya
What if the voice telling you you’re not good enough isn’t even yours?
Professional figure skater, Stef Vachon came out at 18 and thought the hard part was over. But years of bullying had already buried themselves so deep that freedom didn’t feel like freedom. He walked away from his greatest passion and spent decades lost in anxiety, carrying shame that was never his to carry.
Joe and Rya sit down with the host of the Together Moving Forward podcast to hear how he finally traced that shame back to where it came from and reclaimed everything he thought was gone for good.
Listen to this episode
april 20, 2026
The Guilt Girl
Queer Shame With Stef Vachon A Bona Fide Queer Figure Skater
Podcast host Grace Bithell
In this heartfelt interview, Stef Vachon shares his inspiring journey from childhood bullying and self-hatred to embracing his identity, healing through therapy, and reigniting his passion for figure skating in his 50s.
Discover how resilience, community, and self-love can transform lives and inspire others.
Listen to this episode
April 7, 2026
the Bay Area Reporter
LGBTQ Agenda: Figure skater uses podcast to help queer people accept themselves
by John Ferrannini, Assistant Editor
Canadian figure skater and podcast host Stef Vachon is featured in the Bay Area Reporter for the growing impact of the Together Moving Forward Podcast.
The article highlights the podcast’s first anniversary, its focus on LGBTQ mental health, self love, identity, and how the show is helping queer individuals embrace who they are and move forward with pride.
The piece also features Laura Moore and discusses the podcast’s expanding global reach and mission to create a safe space for LGBTQ voices.
Read the full article
march 11, 2026
Everything & Anything… and a bit gay Podcast
From Bullying to Self-Love: Stef Vachon’s Journey of Healing, Skating, and Giving Back
Podcast host Zach Randles-Friedman
In this episode, Zach talks with Stef Vachon about his remarkable life story and the healing journey that transformed everything.
They discuss:
Stef’s childhood in a small French-speaking town near Quebec City.
How figure skating became both his passion and the reason he was bullied.
The trauma of being called slurs and feeling forced to hide who he was.
Spending much of high school isolated and afraid.
How years of shame and self-hatred followed him into adulthood.
His experience touring with Ice Capades and trying to outrun his pain.
Coming out and still struggling to feel fully accepted.
Reaching a breaking point and finding a therapist who changed his life.
Learning to process trauma, rebuild self-worth, and choose life.
Returning to skating as part of his healing journey.
Meeting his husband and building a loving family together.
Becoming a father through adoption and how that deepened his healing.
Why he launched the Together Moving Forward podcast.
His mission to help LGBTQ+ people learn self-love, self-respect, and resilience.
This is a deeply moving conversation about survival, self-acceptance, and the power of turning pain into purpose.
Listen to this episode
march 5, 2026
about that jack
Stef Vachon On Pride And Self-Permission
About That Jack
In this feature interview with About That Jack, Stef Vachon shares his powerful journey from survival to self-acceptance. After years of anxiety, shame, and living behind a mask, he began a healing process that led him to rediscover his identity, embrace authenticity, and give himself permission to truly live.
From returning to figure skating at 55 to becoming a father, Stef’s story is one of resilience, pride, and personal transformation.
Read the full article
february 25, 2026
Parenting Teens: Advice Redefined for Today’s Complex World
Creating a Safe Home for LGBTQ+ Teens: Shame, Language, and Healing” with Stef Vachon
Podcast host Cheryl Pankhurst
In this powerful conversation, Cheryl Pankhurst—special education specialist, teen advocate, and creator of Parenting Teens Advice Redefined Podcast—sits down with Stef Vachon, host of Together Moving Forward, to talk about what LGBTQ+ teens really need from parents.
We talk about the words that create safety, how shame shows up in teenagers, signs your teen may be struggling with identity, and how parents can respond with calm, clarity, and connection—even if you don’t get it perfect.
Stef shares his story of growing up in an unsafe environment, surviving bullying and homophobia, and learning how healing, therapy, and community helped him reclaim his life. Together we unpack what parents and educators can do right now to create a home where teens feel safe, seen, and valued.
Listen to this episode
february 19, 2026
Talking T-ea
Rebuilding confidence and pride after years of hiding
Podcast host Juelz
Reinvention isn’t always loud. Sometimes it’s the quiet decision to finally choose yourself.
In this episode of Talking T-ea, Juelz sits down with Stef Vachon — a queer former competitive and professional figure skater who walked away from the ice in shame and later returned with pride, authenticity, and self-acceptance at the center.
Together, they unpack what hiding looks like, how performance culture impacts identity, and why confidence doesn’t expire with age. Stef shares powerful reflections on grief, discipline, queer visibility, and rebuilding self-respect in midlife — plus a gentle framework that helped move from shame to self-love.
If you’ve ever thought, “It’s too late for me,” this conversation is your reminder: healing has no timeline.
Listen to this episode
november 06, 2025
becoming babyREADY with Sam Leeson – All About Queer Family Planning & Creation
Stef Vachon of “Together Moving Forward” chats with becoming babyREADY
Podcast host Sam Leeson
A Divine Future — Stef Vachon’s Journey to Fatherhood
Sometimes, you hold onto the dream of becoming a parent… until the years pass and you gently let that dream go. That was true for Stef Vachon and his husband — until one unexpected moment changed everything.
After years focused on their careers and relationship, one movie night set a new path in motion. Within 24 hours, they made the life-changing decision to begin their foster-to-adopt journey.
More than two years later, they met the child who would become their son — and Stef says he knew instantly that this was meant to be.
In this episode of becoming babyREADY, Stef shares the emotional, inspiring story of how he and his husband created their family, the moment he first laid eyes on his son, and what it means to trust the timing of your life.
Listen to this episode
Reach out for stories, interviews, and media opportunities to learn more about the Together Moving Forward Podcast, focused on LGBTQ, Pride, and Identity!
Help spread a message of positivity, empathy, authenticity, and unity.
