#ILoveGay Today

#ILoveGay Today meets up with return guest Amazin LêThị, where we talk about her ongoing work in elevating LGBTQ+ representation in sports, including the lack of Asian representation with groups and organizations including FIFA and the recent World Cup. Amazin is part of the upcoming 2023 LGBTQ Institute Business Forum, with their theme of "Growing our Commitment to LGBTQ+ Inclusion in the Current Political Landscape" coming Oct 10, 2023 in Atlanta.

#ILoveGay Today meets up with David Cruz, co-founder of FruitLoots.com based out of West Hollywood, CA. Join us as we learn about how FruitLoots was born out of the pandemic, and just a few virtual happy hours, to become an amazing small business sourcing its products primarily from LGBTQ+ vendors. They've created a variety of curated gift boxes, including gift boxes with homemade candles, that are uniquely designed for a discerning LGBTQ+ audience, along with a little "wink factor" along the way.

#ILoveGay Today meets up with return guest Sev7en Taylor, where we chat about his new album, "THE QLIPHOTH", debuting Sept 27, 2023. This album details 3 years of experience... from heartbreak, self love, finding self through challenges and taking his music & art to another level. In the same vein of spreading spiritual knowledge about the "Tree Of Life", and its polar opposite, "Qliphoth", which is about a lot of different collective consciousness.

#ILoveGay Today meets up with Spencer Hoddeson, founder of Gay Water. We chat about what inspired Spencer to start Gay Water (vodka & soda for those who wonder), and how his experience in corporate branding, as well as building up a social media following during COVID, allowed him to expand his talents into the world of entrepreneurship with the recent launch of Gay Water, now available in most states here in the US.

#ILoveGay Today meets up with Peter DeWitt, founder of GayWellness.com based out of Los Angeles. We chat about the growth of his website, along with its comprehensive database of listings. It's also nice to see Peter both partnering with other LGBTQ+ organizations that have a health & wellness angle to them, as well as attending some of the various LGBTQ+ health & wellness events happening across the country, including the Big Gay Sunday in LA.

#ILoveGay Today meets up with Aaron Goldenberg, creator of "The Mean Gays" videos, the latest gay sensation taking the Internet by storm! Raised in Miami, but now based in Atlanta, Aaron tells us about how he and his frequent collaborator Jake Jonez connected, and how the idea for "The Mean Gays" came about. Now famous for shining a light and putting a mirror in front of the good & bad of gay culture, I think the bloopers reel they recently put out strikes a great balance in letting us in behind the scenes, to see that both Aaron and Jake are having a ton of fun with this new-found parody on gay life.

We also chat about some of Aaron's previous work, as this is not his first time at the video content creation rodeo. Aaron has quite a history, including his acting role as Percy on the Righteous Gemstones on HBO Max, which carries our conversation over to the world of actors & writers and how important the current strike for being paid a fair wage in both acting and writing is at the moment.

#ILoveGay Today connects with Greg Baird of Gregger Speaks, based in Chicago. This is Greg's second time on the show, and in this episode, we chat more about what he's been up to lately, building out the Gregger Speaks video series, and expanding his platform onto TikTok while posting more and more video content on YouTube. Greg is currently focusing a lot of his energies towards the upcoming LGBTQ+ History Month, as well as Orlando and then Key West for the Out Loud weekend. He's recently been out and about creating content at the Northalsted Market Days and the Dunes Resort in Saugatuck, Michigan.

#ILoveGay Today meets up with Max Herman of Tampa Bay Tours. Join us as we chat about some of the various tours they offer, both in downtown Tampa and Ybor City. We chat about their history tours, their ghost tours and some of the LGBTQ+ history surrounding Ybor City.

#ILoveGay Today connects with Salah Bachir, author of the upcoming book "First to Leave the Party: My life with ordinary people... who happen to be famous", with an October 17, 2023 release date. Join us as we chat about how his life's work has allowed him to bring all of these stories to light, with characters ranging from Marlon Brando, Liberace, Andy Warhol, Princess Margaret and so many more woven into this amazing literary narrative that allows us to get to know Salah in context of all of these powerful personalities. We also touch on the fact that this book is one of the first where the author has placed his pronouns on the cover.

In addition, we chat about Salah's history as part of the video revolution over these past few decades, ranging from home video to theatrical film with Cineplex Media. Along the way, Salah has put a lot of his energies into the arts, as well as fundraising for LGBTQ+ non-profit organizations, including the 519 in Toronto.

A marvelous and compulsively readable collection of stories from the life of Salah Bachir—philanthropist, art collector, movie industry insider—who, with his sheer zest for life, art, human interaction, and giving back to his community has endeared himself to some of the most famous and creative people in recent times.

#ILoveGay Today meets up with Cory Allen, author of Breaking Free, a saga of self-discovery by a gay secret service agent. Join us as we chat about anything and everything related to Cory's history with the US Secret Service, learning how he concurrently managed both his personal life and his professional life in what, at times, seemed to be a rather precarious balancing act.

We learn about Cory's time in Miami, as well as his work covering the Barack & Michelle Obama for several years. Along the way, he bumped shoulders with a wide variety of characters, including Cher, Anderson Cooper and Dan Savage, just to name a few. Now living in San Francisco, we chat about how personal this book is, and the decision he made to be an open book while writing it. One major takeaway... don't feel ashamed about who you really are!

#ILoveGay Today meets up with Diego Tomasino, business consultant, executive coach and author. Join us as we chat about his book, "Come Out!", and how his book brings together his work in helping companies and company leaders with their diversity & inclusion efforts. Focusing much of his efforts on the Spanish-speaking world, he has also risen to the level of "Linkedin Top Voices LGBT", and he's played an active role with organizations including GNetwork360 & Out & Equal.

#ILoveGay Today meets up with Joan Cox, artist and business leader from Baltimore, Maryland. Join us as we chat about Joan's history with the Maryland LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce, as well as her design business, Peacox Design, and her true passion, her art. Joan creates richly detailed visual narratives that portray queer relationships as complex, beautiful, and necessary. Bringing a unique perspective to how she portrays lesbians in her full-size works, her talent and success has her art being curated in exhibitions all throughout the region.

#ILoveGay Today's special Cinequest series connects us with Danielle Fountaine, producer of Egghead & Twinkie, a coming of age film about coming out of the closet. EGGHEAD & TWINKIE takes audiences on a delightful and unforgettable road trip adventure exploring sexuality, racial identity and friendship. Join us as we chat about the film, as well as its success in the LGBTQ+ film festival circuit this year, including Queer Screen in Sydney, Rainbow Reel Tokyo, Outfest, Frameline and BFI Flare.

#ILoveGay Today's special Cinequest series features filmmaker Drew de Pinto and their short film, "Last Call". Focusing on the caretakers of three historic queer bars in San Francisco as they close their establishments amidst the 2020 pandemic lockdown, we chat about this and other works they've done that have been a part of the SF Queer Film Festival and Outfest.

#ILoveGay Today meets up with singer and performer Keeana Kee, set to perform live at the Dinah Shore Pool Party on Sunday, Sept 24 in Palm Springs. London-raised, NYC-based songwriter & fashion model Keeana Kee has performed around the world, including NYC Pride & London Pride. With her songs "Coconut Rum and Coke" and "You're Real" celebrating lesbian love stories, her style is incorporates some pop, Latin & Afropop influences.

Keeana's soulful vocal timbre is often compared to Sia, Shakira, Rihanna and Jennifer Lopez.

Keeana’s latest single, which features an LGBTQ artist Ariana Castelli, brings us an Anthem “GODDESS” that is an empowering composition for everyone regardless of their ethnicity and gender.

#ILoveGay Today's special Cinequest edition starts with Brian Silverman, writer & director of "Two Lives in Pittsburgh", an inter-generational family story that includes a child's exploration of gender, with an underlying theme of confronting one's own biases in order to come out on the other side with acceptance, love & understanding. With Stephen Chbosky as Executive Producer (director of "Perks of Being a Wallflower" and "Dear Evan Hansen"; "Rent" screenplay writer), Brian brings us a movie that seeks to bring two sides together, making this film a piece of good for the world right now.

#ILoveGay Today meets up with Julio Cesar Calvo, a man who has been spearheading all things LGBTQ+ in Costa Rica, and bringing their message of inclusiveness to the rest of the world. Join us as we chat about the work he's done in tourism and LGBTQ+ business, including his more recent focus on American ex-pats making the decision to move to Costa Rica. We explore some of the ins and outs of this life-changing move that more and more LGBTQ+ folks are undertaking nowadays. Julio walks us through their initial scouting process, and how over time, this can often lead to a full move to Costa Rica, with most folks choosing to live just outside the city of San Jose, in some of the smaller hillside towns ringing the city, or on the coast, just outside of Manuel Antonio and in newer LGBTQ+ regions such as Tamarindo.

#ILoveGay Today connects with Mitch Hara, originally from Chicago, then NYC with an Off-Broadway stint (including Studio 54), and finally Los Angeles, where he lives now. Mitch has been in a variety of films, but his real love is the stage. Listen in as he talks about his work with Jason Stuart in the show "Smothered", now in its second season and available on all of the major streaming services online, including Revry. We also chat about his one-man show, Mutant Olives, a play that takes us into the addicted life of its performer, Adam Astra (Hara), and his tainted childhood. It will make you laugh, it will make you hold your breath but in the end, you will cheer!

#ILoveGay Today meets up with Michael Venturiello, founder of Christopher Street Tours in NYC. We chat about how and when Michael got started back in 2018, coinciding with the IGLTA Convention and World Pride both descending upon NYC that same year. With the tag line "Sharing our History with Pride - LGBTQ+ History Walking Tours & Experiences", we learn about their Village Pride tour, which includes the Stonewall In, Julius' Bar and the NYC LGBT Center, and their latest, Downtown Activism, diving into some of the deeper LGBTQ+ history that is focused more on downtown NYC.

Michael is both strong on social media, as well as ensures that his company is well represented on TripAdvisor, Yelp, AirBnB Experiences and anywhere else someone online might be searching for LGBTQ+ history tours of NYC.

#ILoveGay Today meets up with Curtis Sparrer, co-founder of Bospar, a PR & marketing firm based out of San Francisco. We chat about our early days running in the same circles, with Curtis at PlanetOut and us with GayWired.com. Since then, Curtis has honed his PR and journalism talents and brought these skills together in launching Bospar in 2015, with SF Business Times naming Bospar the 8th largest Bay Area LGBT-owned business.

We also chat about Curtis' work in creating Club Courage in Cannes, an LGBTQ+ after hours space for our community to simply gather and network. Club Courage had a number of folks come and speak, including Rich Ferraro of GLAAD, as well as representatives from IAB, PRWeek, Ketchum and Adweek.

Bospar, the “politely pushy” PR and marketing firm that puts tech companies on the map, also announced the results of their Corporate Courage index, a worldwide ranking of consumer perception of brands’ support of the LGBTQIA+ community. Nike ranked first, followed by Adidas, Disney, Levi’s and Apple.

#ILoveGay Today meets up with Wesley Smoot, founder of the Unleashed LGBTQ Business Conference & Festival coming to Dallas Sept 22-24, 2023. Dubbed as the event that creates a space for brands, entertainers & LGBTQ+ professionals to connect, join us as we chat about this year's upcoming event, with speakers and entertainers including Antoni Porowski of Queer Eye, Dyllon Burnside & Indya Moore of FX/Pose, Billy Eichner, Brian Sims, Shangela, Zach Herrin, Stacey Stevenson, Jayzen Patria, Kelly Ann Winget, Daniel Franzese, Ashley Brundage and more.

#ILoveGay Today meets up with Jason Stuart, openly gay comedian and actor from Los Angeles. We chat about how he got started with his acting career first, as an extra on "One Day at a Time "in 1977. He began his comedy career in 1983, and as a featured comedian, came out publicly in 1993 on Geraldo Rivera show. Jason has an amazing history as an openly gay actor and comedian, having performed at the Millennium March on Washington in 2000, starred on Will & Grace among other shows, and created and produced "10 Attitudes" in 2004. Since then, his career has evolved where he's taken on more serious roles, including a major role in "Birth of a Nation."

We also chat about Jason's talents in keeping himself out there via social media, as well as streaming media platforms with his latest show coming out soon, Smothered - Season 2 with Mitch Hara.

#ILoveGay Today meets up with Mike Findlay-Agnew of Rising Fox, a Scottish based writer, activist, transformational life & career coach, and speaker. We chat about his work as a coach, including his participation in a recent Gay Coaches Alliance Conference in upstate New York. In addition, we chat about his activism side, including his role as CEO of the International Network of Street Papers, a global community fighting poverty and homelessness through #streetpapers, and his particular focus on LGBTQ+ homelessness.

🦊 Helping LGBTQ+ people to RISE in their confidence #RisingFox

#ILoveGay Today meets up with entrepreneur Vicky Pasche, founder of DapperBoi.com and based in San Diego, CA. Join us as we chat about her pioneering work in developing a clothing business dedicated to body-inclusivity. Her gender-neutral clothing company, in partnership with her wife Charisse, has been on Shark Tank and will be on Amazon's show "OUTRageous". We also chat about DapperBoi's amazing social media outreach and how Vicky has been envisioning and creating content since she was just a kid, and how those ideas and that experience has allowed her and Charisse to stay connected and engaged with their ever-growing client base via social media in all its forms. #DapperBoi

#ILoveGay Today connects with Scott Fullerton of Youngstown, Ohio... radio producer and host of the popular podcast, the "Left of Str8 Show". Going on it's 9th year now, Scott has interviewed guests ranging from Ben Patrick Johnson, Pete Buttigieg, Margaret Cho, Del Shores, Jason Stuart and more. He's also produced 3 Big Gay Roadtrips, and his current programming includes the Rainbow Rundown, Weekly Interviews and 5 Questions With. He also has an upcoming show, "Bears of a Certain Age", produced with The Queer Centric.

#ILoveGay Today meets up with Rachel Covello of Out Coast Florida and the upcoming FLOCC - LGBTQ+ Florida Out Coast Convention coming to Tampa July 31 - August 3, 2023. We chat about some of the various sponsors and speakers of this unique, first-time event, as well as some of the hurdles involved in bringing an LGBTQ+ tourism convention to Florida at a time of political headwinds as they are today. With Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Naples and a host of other Florida regions in attendance, this should be an amazing 3 days of networking and education about all things Florida when it comes to LGBTQ+ travel.

#ILoveGay Today meets up with Fossil Daddy, social media star, 🌈 fossil hunter, Pokémon champ and overall "educational thirst trap! Listen in as we chat about how he got started in all of this, as well as how he's successfully grown his love for fossil hunting and the science of paleontology into this amazing social media empire.

#ILoveGay Today meets up with Dr Jen Towns, "your queer therapist", where we talk about her recent book release, "Our Deepest Roots", navigating past trauma to build healthier queer relationships. Trained in clinical social work and a licensed master social worker, Dr Jen tells us about her practice and inspiration for writing this book. In it, she shares stories from her own personal and professional experiences to explore how trauma in childhood or adulthood, combined with being part of the queer community, can impact intimacy, attachment, and our everyday interactions with those closest to us.

#ILoveGay Today meets up with Zach Herrin, an American LGBTQ+ NASCAR driver based in Greenville, SC. We chat about his history with racing in all its forms, and how after a decade away from the track, he's returned in a big way, with Lambda Legal as his sponsor. We also chat about NASCAR in Daytona and how Lambda Legal sees being visible in Florida even more important than ever before when it comes to LGBTQ+ rights.

#ILoveGay Today meets up with NiK Kacy, founder and producer of Queer Prom - Behind the Velvet Rope, a Studio54-themed fundraiser party for Equality Fashion Week at Sunset at Edition in West Hollywood, as part of the #WehoPride programming for June 2023.

NiK Kacy, a self-described queer activist, designer, entrepreneur, and event producer, has been actively involved with events and fundraising for years now. Join us as NiK tells us about how they got started, their inspiration, and how this all evolved from their LGBTQ-certified business, NiK Kacy Footwear, a genderequal footwear company.

#ILoveGay Today meet up with Bret and Stephen of the social media sensation, Broadway Husbands. Bret Shuford and Stephen Hanna, married in 2011 and growing their family in 2022, tell us a bit of their story, including their background in NYC theatre, including how they left NYC, moved to Pittsburgh and then Houston, where they now call home. They split their time between Houston and NYC, as Stephen is in NYC now performing on the hit Broadway musical, New York New York.

We also chat about how this power couple documented their surrogacy journey, providing information and inspiration to other LGBTQ+ parents wishing to pursue this path towards parenting. They've also leveraged their performance and social media skills to tell their story and help others on a variety of different online shows, including the Queer Family podcast, Mombian, Family Equality and more.

#ILoveGay Today meets up with Kevin Yee, where we chat about his recent TV pilot release, "A Guide to Not Dying Completely Alone". Recently premiering at SXSW, Kevin brings to the screen life from a queer, Asian perspective. Join us as we chat about his show, as well as his life and career, spanning from growing up in Vancouver, Canada to moving to New York to pursue a life on Broadway, and then moving to Los Angeles to pursue a film career in Hollywood. Along the way, he's done standup comedy, been a Broadway chorus boy on Wicked, and has recently written, as well as acted, in shows on Netflix, Apple TV and more.

#ILoveGay Today meets up with Rob Ward of Emmerson & Ward, a theatrical production company in Manchester, UK. Join us as we chat about their latest production, "The MP, Aunty Mandy & Me", currently being performed at Kings Head Theatre in London. It has had a great run so far, having been performed at Edinburgh Fringe in 2022, and most recently, the Dublin Gay Theatre Festival. We chat about Rob's history and how he got started in theatre, where he's now part of this amazing new company specializing in staging entertaining, engaging and world class theatre, with a focus on LGBTQ+ stories and social commentary.

#ILoveGay Today meets up with Pioneer Winter in Miami, founder of the Pioneer Winter Collective, which blurs the line between physical theater and contemporary dance. We chat about Pioneer's work and inspiration in creating some amazing bodies of work over the years, where one of his stated goals is to "find dance in all bodies". Pioneer is currently the curator and festival director of ScreenDance Miami, a program of the Miami Light Project. He's also on the road this year, continuing to bring his Birds of Paradise project to folks across the country. One aspect of Birds of Paradise is that it shines a light on queer folk underrepresented even within queer community, breaking down age barriers, race barriers and more.

Democratizing performance through the unexpected, with work rooted in social practice and community, queer excellence, and beauty beyond the mainstream.

#ILoveGay Today joins Gus Penaranda, Executive Director of the New Jersey Pride Chamber of Commerce. We chat about some of the exciting initiatives they have planned for 2023, as they continue to expand and grow, partnering with a wide variety of LGBTQ+ New Jersey organizations along the way.

Gus tells us about their upcoming FIFA Summit on Sept 23, 2023. FIFA team members will discuss their diversity, equity and inclusion initiative and efforts to fend off discrimination at the 2026 World Cup. In addition, they're bringing back their LGBTQ+ Summit, held in conjunction with the 2023 League of Municipalities Conference, a unique event held in New Jersey every year. This groundbreaking summit will bring together all the state’s top LGBT+ leaders, State policymakers, Allied Organizations and Corporate Supplier Diversity leaders, who are each respected executives in their respective fields of advocacy, business, education, and sports.

#ILoveGay Today meets up with Brooklyn-based columnist, author, and sex expert Zachary Zane, author of the just-released Boyslut: A Memoir and Manifesto. Join us as we chat about Zachary's work, which focuses on sexuality, lifestyle, and culture, being published in the New York Times, Rolling Stone, The Washington Post, Cosmo, GQ, OUT, and many others. He's brought his central theme of removing the stigma of sex shaming, along with his unique perspective as a bisexual man, into Boyslut.

Through the lens of his bisexuality and self-described sluttiness, he breaks down exactly how sexual shame negatively impacts our lives, and how we can unlearn the harmful, entrenched messages that society imparts to us.

#ILoveGay Today meets up with Daphney Poyser from Dallas and founder of Fern Connections. We chat about her matchmaking service she started several years ago, blending real world dating experiences along with a strong online experience. As a certified matchmaker, she also does relationship coaching for singles and for couples. Fern Connections is unique in that they also host a variety of real world events, primarily in Dallas for now. They are also quite strong on social media, including the creation of a series of videos that come out several times per week, highlighting various topics in the dating world.

#ILoveGay Today meets up with Luis Gramajo, co-founder of Wunderkeks based in Austin, TX. Join us as Luis tells us about his journey to the US from Guatemala with his husband, Hans. Together they formed Wunderkerks, focusing on baking amazing cookies for sale at farmer's markets in their region. With the pandemic ending all in-person events, they were successfully able to pivot to a strong online presence. Tapping into their business acumen, they were able to adapt their marketing to social media, while winning over some key folks who helped them spread the word online. Today they have developed a wide range of partnerships, including Virgin Airlines.

Their business went through further adjustments as they came out publicly online and lost a chunk of business right away. They've since recovered that business, and by now being more visibly true to themselves, have grown in ways they could have never imagined. They've recently been on stage at the 2023 SXSW event with Brian Sims, and they've been very active with their local LGBTQ+ chamber of commerce in Austin as well.

#ILoveGay Today meets up with Marissa Alma Nick, author of Rebel in Venus, her first novel. This semi-autobiographical story takes place over one 'girl's night in' spent between best friends. As the evening progresses, her memory is jolted and a repressed past is revealed. It's a book about empowerment, self-realization, self-acceptance and self-love. A coming-of-age story about a woman who is realizing she can no longer outrun herself. The story illuminates queer experiences with an authentic perspective on emerging concerns including trauma, mental health, sexual assault, abuse culture, and gaslighting. In addition, Marissa is hosting a book release event at BooksandBooks on June 2nd at 7pm in Miami.

#ILoveGay Today meets up with Brian Sims, Managing Director, Government Affairs & Public Policy at Out Leadership, and a keynote speaker at the upcoming Unleashed LGBTQ+ Expo in Dallas in September.

Brian is a 5-term member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and is the first out LGBT member of the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Prior to this, he was president of Equality Pennsylvania, and was part of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and the Gay and Lesbian Lawyers of Philadelphia.

Lastly, he has extensive experience lecturing internationally to corporations and universities about the policy and legal implications of diversity and the modern LGBTQ+ civil rights movement.

#ILoveGay Today meets up with Chad Intrachooto of the Tourism Authority of Thailand. We chat about Chad's 15+ year history with TAT, as well as their dedication to the LGBTQ+ travel marketplace, including being a part of IGLTA, as well as working with key partners & influencers to help tell the story of #GoThaiBeFree.

#ILoveGay Today meets up with Wyatt O'Brian Evans, a return guest and friend, where we talk about his high-octane, sexually-charged, and compelling new novel being released this month, “Nothing Can Tear Us Apart—SHATTERED!" We chat about his book series, as well as his work in educating the world about IPV/A. These themes are in sync with this new book, which reveals provocative insight into Gay/SGL men of color, IPV/A, mental illness, childhood sexual abuse, bullying, and contentious father/son dynamics. #SHATTEREDtheNovel

#ILoveGay Today joins Tom Christ, co-founder of The Pride Cup and the KindRED Pride Foundation. We chat about the excitement of this 2nd season of Pride Cup, and how they've expanded into additional sporting events. They've been quite active on the road as well, promoting and forming partnerships at Sin City Classic in Las Vegas, Miami Beach Pride, Atlanta Bear Weekend and the upcoming Bear Jamboree in Orlando.

As part of the KindRED Pride Foundation, The Pride Cup is an annual LGBTQ+ multi-sport competition held during Gay Disney weekend. This 2nd annual Pride Cup is in partnership with WeHo Dodgeball, Outloud Sports, NGFFL, Rainbow Sports League, and OutSports Orlando.

#ILoveGay Today connects with Alison Burgos, co-founder of the Kindred Pride Foundation in Florida. Kindred Pride's Mission: To get ONE MILLION people around the world to wear RED on the first Saturday of June!

How? By inviting people throughout the world to organically join the movement by posting an image and/or a video of themselves wearing red using the hashtags #REDshirtchallenge, #TaketheREDshirtchallenge and #RSPD.

The link between red and Pride originated in 1991 when Disney cast members and the Central Florida LGBT Community decided to meet socially on the first Saturday in June in front of the Castle at Magic Kingdom. They wore red t-shirts as an expression of pride and to identify their “kindred spirits” since they had only met on a bulletin board and never in person. The KindRED Pride Foundation was inspired by the desire to expand the magic created by those who bravely participated in the original ‘Gay and Lesbian Day at Magic Kingdom.

#ILoveGay Today meets up with a Los Angeles icon, DJ Paul V., one of the founders of the original Dragstrip 66, which ran from 1993 to 2013 in the Silverlake area of Los Angeles. Dragstrip 66 was the place LA's queer/mixed underground eagerly descended upon for an evening of messy drag and trashy rock ’n roll. Listen in as Paul tells us a bit about his history and the history of Dragstrip 66, as well as his work on the upcoming film Dragstrip 66: The Frockumentary, which will contain footage from this weekend's upcoming and sold out Dragstrip 66 30th Anniversary Reunion.

#ILoveGay Today meets up with Burak Yilmaz, author of "If My Mother Never Left". We chat with Burak about his life growing up in Turkey, where he wrote "The Ordinary Story of a Homosexual" in 2002, a book that would change his life completely. Outing some of the wrong people in this book landed Burak in jail and worse, but he was able to successfully leave Turkey for New York City, where he started his life anew as a fitness model, a bartender, and whatever else he could do to get by. His latest book picks up where the original left off, chronicling his life and journey through abuse, homelessness, and being Gay In Islam, and how that has gotten him to where he's at today.

#ILoveGay Today meets up with Seth Santoro, an "intuitive" business coach from Los Angeles. We chat about Seth's work in helping people, through coaching, writing and holding various educational courses and retreats. He's gone from "Smile from the Inside" to "Stop Writing, Start Selling", along with some amazing children's books along the way. In all of his work and writings, there is always an underlying LGBTQ+ theme or current weaving it all together.

#ILoveGay Today meets up with Kirstie Pike, one half of the dynamic duo with her girlfriend Christine Diaz, where they run one of the most successful LGBTQ+ influencer and content creation companies online, On Airplane Mode. Join us as Kirstie talks a bit about how they got started 3 years ago, working with companies ranging from Michael Kors, Prada, AirBNB, Alaska Airlines, Virgin Atlantic and the Dallas CVB along the way.

#ILoveGay Today meets up with Bruce Bishop of Halifax, Nova Scotia, author of the Families' Storytelling Trilogy - Unconventional Daughters, Uncommon Sons, Undeniable Relations. Join us as we chat about his 20th century period drama book series, how he got started, and how he has included either major or secondary LGBT characters in the casts, not as tokens, but as believable and ordinary (albeit in extraordinary circumstances!) as the straight characters. We also chat about his blog, website and social media presence, as well as how he's in the process of adapting these novels for television.

Join us as we meet up with Brandon Adkins on #ILove Gay Today. Brandon is a gay kart racer and kart track owner (Adkins Raceway) in Port Washington, Ohio. We chat about his start in Ohio, where he was closeted, married and the father of 2 children. Upon coming out, he moved to North Carolina, where he met his husband Jamie Wince. They are now back in Ohio, where he can be close to his kids again, while pursuing his dream of becoming the first openly gay man to win a national karting championship as a driver and a team owner. Brandon is also a community champion with Racing Pride and his business is NGLCC-certified.