Bookless Tour — Blue Babies Pink

February, 2017

Hey guys, Brett here.

I was blown away by the response to Blue Babies Pink. Nearly 100,000 people have checked out my story of faith & sexuality since I started writing about it in late 2016.

And lots of you wrote me, sharing both your thoughts on BBP and your personal stories. I wasn't able to respond as fully as I wanted so I thought,

"Brett, these people are amazing...you should just go meet them."

I then envisioned a tour...around the country...in my Prius. In my mind it was like a book tour except...there was no book. I then thought about how Seth Godin (one of my longtime digital mentors) talks about the concept of "picking yourself." So I decided to pick myself to go on a tour without a book. 😜 And I decided to call it The Bookless Tour.

Then I had to decide where to go. I thought...

"I should make it a fundraiser—not for me—but for a cause I really, really believe in. Each dollar given will be like a vote for their city. And I'll go to the top cities that raise the most money."

I wasn't sure if this would work, but doing things that can flop is both fun and terrifying. So I launched the project to the BBP-Mail subscriber list with this email. I told them our goal was to raise $10,000, and we only had three days to do it.

After three days, we'd done it. And we surpassed our goal!

And the top five tour cities were chosen—Washington, D.C., Chicago, Florence, Birmingham, and Atlanta.

(Click here for the final fundraising update.)

My friend Ashley here in Atlanta volunteered to go with me.

Yep...we had car magnets for the Prius...

So in late January, we left Cabbagetown for a 2,200 mile adventure over 11 days...

Pulling out of Cabbagetown to begin the Bookless Tour...

First night's accommodations courtesy of a good friend in DC.

First speaking event was at the Potter's House, a fantastic coffee shop in DC.

Speaking at the the Potter's House in DC.

Loved having lunch with Julie Rodgers in DC. Have followed her work for a long time.

After DC, we began our 12 hour drive to Chicago. Snowy Alleghanies in southern Pennsylvania.

Spoke to some BBP readers in Chicago at an old furniture factory-turned-loft.

After Chicago, we trekked down I-65 to my hometown of Florence, Alabama. First speaking gig was at the Florence Library.

Finally getting to meet BBP readers I've only known online!

Campus paper at the University of North Alabama ran a feature on Blue Babies Pink.

Spoke to a group of undergrads as well as a few folks from the public, courtesy of Counseling Services at the University of North Alabama in Florence.

Not sure what I'm doing here, lol. (Photo by Phil Abroms)

Largest event in Florence was at a great venue called 116. E. Mobile. Nearly 100 folks came as I shared "7 Ways to Keep the Conversation Going in the Shoals."

Honored to have one of my favorite families in the world, the Mangums, come hear me speak in Florence.

After Florence, we drove 2 hours south to Birmingham, Alabama, for an event at TrimTab Brewery. Speaking amongst the kegs!

One of my best friends, Chris (featured in Episode 27), introduced me at the TrimTab event.

Speaking at TrimTab in Birmingham.

This group of ladies drove down from Huntsville for the Bookless Tour.

Spent a little time in downtown Birmingham near the historic Alabama Theater.

Speaking in Atlanta...largest crowd yet!

Wrapped up the Bookless Tour in my now-hometown of Atlanta, Georgia. Final event of the tour was hosted by the incredible Ponce City Market.

Speaking in Atlanta...

Speaking in Atlanta

Atlanta

Speaking in Atlanta

(Click here for a full album of photos over on my Facebook page.)

Meeting with Julie Rodgers in Washington D.C. and hearing about her former work with Exodus International and her current work advocating for LGBT Christians.
Driving through the snowy Allegheny Mountains in Pennsylvania.
Meeting with Rich Havard and learning about his discipleship work through The Inclusive Collective.
Having tacos and margs with about 20 LGBT Christians after the Chicago event. Was so inspired by their sense of community.
"We told them that if they put up a rainbow flag outside the church, we'd pull it down!" This is what one of those Chicago friends told me at the dinner mentioned above. He was a gay Christian man who serves in his local church. He jokingly told his pastor this to let him know that he went to that church because they were Jesus-focused, not because of a big public stance on LGBT stuff.
Seeing Hamilton in Chicago!
The bbq pork baked potato at Bucky Bee's BBQ in Cave City, Kentucky 😋.
Meeting some students from Florence High School's Gay/Straight Alliance.
Meeting a hairdresser in Florence who told me that during Blue Babies Pink, all the women wanted to talk about in his chair was BBP 😂.
Speaking to some English majors at my alma mater of the University of North Alabama and getting to talk about story-telling, online content creation, etc.
Meeting leaders of several small LGBT non-profits in Florence and hearing about the local support network they are building.
Speaking in the brew room at TrimTab Brewery in Birmingham.
Meeting 4 "Catholic mamas" (that's what they called themselves) who drove over an hour to be at the Birmingham event. They began reading Blue Babies Pink and discussing amongst the other moms at the Catholic school their kids all attended.
Breakfast with an old friend in Birmingham who attends a conservative church and is genuinely trying to understand how the church should respond to the LGBT conversation.
Having lunch with a BBP reader / Christian college student in Birmingham, trying to carefully navigate his way out of the closet.
At the Atlanta event, meeting an American family living in Haiti who'd read BBP at the recommendation of a missionary there. They were visiting America for a few weeks and were able to attend the event.

In all, we covered over 2,200 miles in the car and met with over 500 BBP readers at eight different events around the country. Together, we raised over $13,000 to help move women out of the sex industry in Atlanta. For a fake book tour, it couldn't have turned out any better, in my opinion 😂.

Thanks to everyone who came out and encouraged me with a hug or a story. It was so good learning from each of you. My only regret was that I wasn't able to meet more of you!

Shine on you crazy, diamonds. 👊

-Brett