Azariah Southworth is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 writer and former television presenter

Presenter

A presenter, or host , is a person or organization responsible for running an event. A museum or university, for example, may be the presenter or host of an exhibit. Likewise, a master of ceremonies is a person that hosts or presents a show...

 who was the creator, host, and producer of The Remix, a syndicated reality

Reality television

Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...

 show on the NRB

NRB Network

The NRB Network is an evangelical Christian cable channel run by the National Religious Broadcasters, a national organization representing televangelists and Christian-themed media outlets. While the NRB organization is located in Manassas, Virginia, the channel's corporate headquarters is located...

, TBN

Trinity Broadcasting Network

The Trinity Broadcasting Network is a major American Christian television network. TBN is based in Costa Mesa, California, with auxiliary studio facilities in Irving, Texas; Hendersonville, Tennessee; Gadsden, Alabama; Decatur, Georgia; Miami, Florida; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Orlando, Florida; and New...

, JCTV

JCTV

JCTV is a young adult television network devoted to music videos, owned by the Trinity Broadcasting Network. It is similar to MTV, but with a Christian focus....

, and VTN networks. The Remix was watched by over 200,000 viewers each week on one of several Christian

Christianity in the United States

Christianity is the largest and most popular religion in the United States, with around 77% of those polled identifying themselves as Christian, as of 2009. This is down from 86% in 1990, and slightly lower than 78.6% in 2001. About 62% of those polled claim to be members of a church congregation...

 networks.

Southworth was raised in Orland

Orland, Indiana

Orland is a town located in the northwest corner of Steuben County, Indiana in Millgrove Township at the intersection of State Road 120 and State Road 327. The population was 434 at the 2010 census...

, Indiana

Indiana

Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...

, but currently resides in Fort Wayne, Indiana

Indiana

Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...

. Southworth announced that he was gay

Gay

Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....

 in April 2008, stating, "This has been a long time coming. I’m in a place where I’m at peace with my faith, friends, family and more importantly myself. I know this will end my career in Christian television, but I must now live my life openly and honestly with everyone. This is my reason for doing this." After making this public to the Out & About Newspaper

Out & About Newspaper

-Overview:Out & About Newspaper was started in 2002. The newspaper has a target audience of more than 250,000 people. Circulation for the newspaper is 30,000 per month...

in Nashville, it quickly became national news. Southworth was featured on The Huffington Post

The Huffington Post

The Huffington Post is an American news website and content-aggregating blog founded by Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer, and Jonah Peretti, featuring liberal minded columnists and various news sources. The site offers coverage of politics, theology, media, business, entertainment, living, style,...

, PerezHilton.com

Perez Hilton

Mario Armando Lavandeira, Jr. , better known as Perez Hilton , is an American blogger and television personality. His blog, Perezhilton.com , is known for posts covering gossip items about celebrities...

, The Advocate

The Advocate

The Advocate is an American LGBT-interest magazine, printed monthly and available by subscription. The Advocate brand also includes a web site. Both magazine and web site have an editorial focus on news, politics, opinion, and arts and entertainment of interest to LGBT people...

, and the Fox News Channel

Fox News Channel

Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...

.

After coming out

Coming out

Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....

, Southworth was named one of Instinct

Instinct (magazine)

Instinct is a monthly American magazine geared toward gay men, published by Instinct Publishing, Inc. since 1997. Distributed by Curtis Circulation...

's "Leading Men of 2008". Southworth has advocated for LGBT rights with the Soulforce Q

Soulforce (organization)

Soulforce is an American social justice and civil rights organization that supports acceptance of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people through dialogue and creative forms of nonviolent direct action...

 "2008 Equality Ride". He is currently writing a book detailing his account about growing up gay in a Pentecostal

Pentecostalism

Pentecostalism is a diverse and complex movement within Christianity that places special emphasis on a direct personal experience of God through the baptism in the Holy Spirit, has an eschatological focus, and is an experiential religion. The term Pentecostal is derived from Pentecost, the Greek...

 home. In 2010, Southworth was the opening act

Opening act

An opening act or warm-up act is an entertainer or entertainment act that performs at a concert before the featured entertainer...

 for gay Christian singer, Ray Boltz

Ray Boltz

Ray Boltz is a singer songwriter who first came to wide notice in contemporary Christian music, many of his songs tell stories of faith and inspiration. He was raised by his parents William and Ruth Boltz, and was married to his wife Carol Boltz for over 30 years prior to coming out as gay in 2008...

, on his "Living True: the tour".

See also

• Christianity and homosexuality
• List of people from Nashville, Tennessee

External links

• AzariahSpeaks.com official website
• "Out & About Today: Azariah Southworth", video interview on WTVF
  WTVF
  WTVF is the CBS-affiliated television station for Middle Tennessee that is licensed to Nashville. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 5 from a transmitter north of downtown along I-24. Owned by Landmark Media Enterprises, the station has studios on James Robertson Parkway...