Shawn Thomas is a contemporary Christian singer/songwriter and worship leader whose ministry includes an outreach to the GLBT community. Shawn visits churches, groups, and events sharing about his belief in God's grace and affirming love through concerts, workshops, and spoken message. As a "CCM" artist (Contemporary Christian Music), many of Thomas’ original works are included in the CCLI (Christian Copyright Licensing International) Library. ^[-1]

He is also the owner/operator of "" in West Palm Beach, FL providing audio recording, production, and mastering services to independent artists, songwriters, and bands, and he participated as a voting “Grammy” member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences from 2009-2015.

Aaron Thomas Steiner was born November 2, 1968; his father was a pastor in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). He began using Shawn Thomas as his stage name in college and later legally changed it to Shawn Aaron Thomas. Thomas started recording original material for the first time in 1990, learning audio production basics from Jeff Peters of Chateau Productions in Dallas, TX, and he later graduated from Middle Tennessee State University in 1991 with a BA in Music Industry and Recording Industry Management.

Shawn’s first recording of original Christian music was released in 2003 (see Discography below), although previous albums and projects had been released as secular/pop music as early as 1993.

Since that time his recordings have varied in style, but remain in the CCM genre because of lyric content which focuses on Thomas’ faith.

His website lists critical acclaim recognition including: ^[11]

In 2010, Shawn Thomas published a book describing his experience as being both gay and Christian.

Titled, "Unashamed - Coming Out of the Second Closet", the volume deals with being in the crosshairs from both groups, as many Christians think his sexuality is incompatible with faith and many in the GLBT community believe his faith runs contrary to GLBT causes.

The book became controversial after certain reviews and some in the GLBT community criticized Thomas for sharing his political views ^[13] which could be described as "conservative". In several passages in the book, Thomas alludes to Libertarian political perspectives.

"UP (Unashamed Praise)" is a first-of-its-kind compilation CD released in Feb, 2011 and produced by Shawn Thomas.

It is unique in that it is a collection of 14 GLBT Christian recording artists such as Marsha Stevens-Pino and Rev. Delores Berry. The title track, "Hands Up", is a work contributed, written, and recorded by Thomas. In 2012, "UP vol.2" was released with 12 additional tracks also recorded by members of the GLBT who profess to be Christian.

On December 19, 2012, Shawn Thomas was officially inducted into the.

^[16] According to the press release posted on the Hall of Fame website, he was approved for membership based on: “…the work Shawn Thomas has done to provide a positive and healing atmosphere for today's GLBT Christian… [including building] bridges of understanding and acceptance for the GLBT community within the non-GLBT Christian community… and through his music and book [highlighting] the negatives thrust onto out GLBT Christians by the GLBT community.”

In 2015, Thomas simultaneously published his second book along with a new song (inspired by the book) released as a free single.

^[17] The book is titled, and the song is called, Both the song and the book are related in theme dealing with "self-help" and personal "motivation" as categorized on Amazon.com.

Gospel Singer, Kenny Bishop, calls this concept of Thomas', "the science of reverse positivity."

The single, "Know You're Not" was the fastest charting song of Thomas's career, hitting the OutVoice Top 10 Song Chart in less than six weeks from its release.

^[20] The YouTube video page for the song includes this description: "The message of encouragement in both the book and the song are the same: Identify who and what you are NOT in order to discover everything that you ARE."

^[21]

Shawn Thomas currently resides in the West Palm Beach area of Florida with his husband, Brian Ladd, to whom he was legally married on March 13, 2015.

Brian and Shawn were both recognized by Metropolitan Community Church of the Palm Beaches in 2009 with community service awards. Brian received “The Cherish Award” for his leadership in ministry, and Shawn was presented the “Ruby Slipper Award” in recognition of his work as an “out” contemporary Christian artist. ^[11] Ladd also appears on two Shawn Thomas albums singing with Thomas, and debuts his first recorded original song on the "UP vol.2" compilation called, "Come To Me".

In 2016, Thomas began working with The Evangelical Network (TEN) as their Project Manager ^[6]. The organization is known as an association of Christian and Evangelical ministries that are affirming to the LGBT community and holds an annual conference.

In addition to touring to churches in the US and Canada, Shawn Thomas also leads worship at Church of the Holy SpiritSong located in Wilton Manors, Florida, serving as their Worship Ministry Coordinator ^[-1].

Voice of Worship Radio (VOWRadio) ^[-1] is an online station started by Shawn Thomas in 2013 and uses third party platforms such as YouTube, Pandora, and iHeartRadio to stream Contemporary Christian Music. In 2015, Thomas began hosting his own interview program, called "FiveNFive" featuring other Christian artists and personalities. He also hosts a music review show called "90 Second Review."

From 2003 to 2017, Thomas has released a total of fifteen CD/albums of mostly original Christian music ranging in style from spiritual, praise & worship, pop, ballads, rock:

Awards can be verified at the following sites: (Pride Christian Music no longer has a website.), ,, ,,

Prior to 2003 he released three secular projects: