249: Tate Barkley – Moving Beyond The Chaos Of Your Past As A Gay Man

Imagine growing up in poverty and the only thing you really had in
common with your Dad was that you were drinking buddies! Now
imagine you stepped beyond that chaotic past, the repression of it
all, and found a group of people - the queer community - who gave
you the power to accept yourself. That's where you released the
resentment, discovered gratitude and humility. Tate Barkley, shares
his story and his new book Sunday Dinners, Moonshine, and Men.
About Tate Tate Barkley is a speaker, author, educator, a 30-year
practicing attorney and a founding partner of Bain & Barkley
law firm in Houston, Texas. He is a graduate of the University of
Texas and South Texas College of Law. In addition to his active law
practice, he spent 20 years as an adjunct professor at the
University of Houston, teaching Communications Law and Ethics,
where he was awarded the School of Communications 2019 Valenti
Award for Outstanding Teaching by a Lecturer. Tate’s 24 year
recovery journey has compelled him to write and speak about
personal integrity, ethics, shame, self-acceptance, mental
wellness, and resilience. His story demonstrates how shame and
addiction can disrupt lives, businesses and institutions. He then
shares the tools that have enabled him to embrace self-honesty and
service to others as a means to long-term personal growth and
resiliency. Tate’s energy, self-deprecation and sincerity provide a
thoughtful and uplifting experience for his audiences. His
forthcoming memoir, Sunday Dinners, Moonshine, and Men, to be
published in September 2023, recounts Tate’s troubled relationship
with his father and his journey to overcome his shame and the
scarcity mindset that fueled his addictions and blocked his ability
to find peace in his life. Tate offers readers a deeply personal
account of his dysfunctional childhood, from the backwoods of North
Carolina, to his family’s struggles with poverty in Central
Florida, and their ultimate move to the boomtown of 1970s Houston,
Texas. He details his attempts to control his escalating drinking
and repress his sexuality as he became a successful attorney, only
to hit rock bottom and lose it all. Tate’s story will resonate with
readers as they follow his quest to accept himself and find peace.
Tate presently serves as President of the Board of Directors for
Avenue Community Development Corp. in Houston, which is dedicated
to providing affordable housing for veterans, seniors, and the
working poor. He also serves on the board of the church council for
Covenant Church, an ecumenical liberal Baptist congregation in
Houston’s museum district. Tate is a past board member of the Texas
Council for Advising and Planning for the Prevention and Treatment
of Mental and Substance Abuse Disorders, and he formerly served on
the Fort Bend Regional Council on Substance Abuse board, whose
mission is to provide families and individuals the substance abuse
prevention, education, and treatment services needed for positive
change for themselves and the community. He resides in Houston,
Texas with his husband of six years, Anson, and their dog, Emerson.
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