In this episode, Derek and Craig are joined by a panel to talk about being black and a part of the LGBTQ community and religion. Derek shares his spiritual journey of coming out as gay in the church and they negatively reacted, and how he got through that. 

Some more important topics of this episode are: Demonizing homosexuality, LGBT+ youth mental health, why is homosexuality being considered a sin, and religion and tradition.

Remember it's okay to be who you are, just love God, trust God.

In this episode, Derek and Craig are joined by a panel of different people who share their stories about their mental health struggles, along  with two mental health professionals. The panel consists of people that had struggled on their mental health at some point in their lives. 

Some key topics of this discussion is being in a functional depression, mental health therapist, childhood traumas, being black and gay, how to recognize mental illnesses, and how to take care of our mind. 

If you’re looking for advice for forgiveness, how to handle stress, and more about mental health journeys, this is a great episode for you.  Let’s stop out casting people and let’s come from a place of inclusivity so that we can help one another thrive and be the people that we’re supposed to be.

Email Address: [email protected]

Website: www.silencetheshame.com

In this episode Derek is joined by Marquise Vilson to talk about topics about Trans Men, the Black LGBTQ Community and the Black Lives Matter Movement. 

This conversation helps us learn a little bit of the language of the Trans people. They also talk about some sensitive topics that are really relevant to these days. He shares his journey transitioning mentally and physically and medically. 

He speaks about being confident as a black trans man. It’s important to own every and all parts of who you are, because those things are what can give you opportunities in life.

After this episode you'll understand more of: female to male transition, the black lives matter movement from black men's perspective, the black lives matter movement relationship with the LGBQT+ community, and more! 

In this episode, Derek is joined by his friend Patrick L. Riley to share his story. Patrick is a writer, a producer and a personality. In this conversation, Patrick tells us that there is nothing impossible as long as you find your way to keep going. 

Patrick talks about proving his blackness along with being gay. It was a lonely space for him going through his high school and middle school years trying to find himself. He came out at 25, and he shares his experience of the first person he came out to and being rejected. 

They also speak about the LGBTQ+ Movement being segregated, his experience with the Oprah Show, his book, and self-love!

When did he know he was gay? What was the coming out experience like? In this podcast, Derek is joined with Miss Lawrence to share their story.

Fearless, creative and love- that’s three words Miss Lawrence would use to describe themself. Throughout this episode they speak on important topics like not adhering to what society thinks you should act like and knowing you can’t control how anybody else feels and you can’t control what they think or how they respond to who you are. 

Miss Lawrence also has a love for music and shares how they were introduced to music. There’s also always been an admiration for hair and makeup, they share the journey of becoming a 6 figure hairstylist at the age of 23! 

They recently released a song titled “Say Her Name” and explains the  inspiration for writing that song, and how impactful the power of a woman is! Loving yourself 100% is so important because loving yourself isn’t just about loving the good things about you, it’s also about loving your flaws.

In this episode Derek talks to his grandmother to share her story. She shares what her life was like growing up, and then getting older and having children. 

They chat about how as you become an adult you understand and appreciate the stuff that happened at the time that you didn’t understand. Along with that they talked about how important family is, church, and acceptance. 

Derek J and his grandmother talk about her views on him being gay. She shares really powerful words that can be used to give kindness to everyone by accepting them.

One huge lesson you can learn from Derek’s grandmother is that you don't have to understand, you just have to accept.

In this podcast, Derek is joined by Ray Cunningham, a.k.a. Misster Ray,  to share his story being gay and on television. 

Ray comes from Virginia in a very conservative black family. Being gay before wasn’t like what it is now, so he left for L.A. to pursue some dreams in television. He shares how Ray from College Hill and Missterray from Love and Hip hop are two totally different people because it was at totally different times of his life.

Other helpful topics like getting thick skin, representation of masculine gay men, self-love, his battle with alopecia, and more are all discussed in this week’s interview with Ray Cunningham. 

https://www.instagram.com/missterray/?hl=en

In this episode of Gay Like Me, Derek and a group of friends talk about the divide between lesbians and gay men. 

They talk about why studs and certain gay men have issues with each other. Another issues they talk about is gay or straight, men should be gentlemen.

 Even though some things are getting better, there are a lot of separations. Everybody’s doing their own thing. The competition should stop. They all have the same struggle of being gay. They explain that if you allow yourself to understand that we’re all in this together we'll be in a better place. 

Take this time to think about how we’re going to do it differently.

In this episode of Gay Like Me, Derek J and Craig are joined by several guest participants about being fat, being feminine and dating.

They discuss topics like the unspoken dating rule, Big Boy Pride, the need for more mental health in the black gay community in Atlanta, biases, preferences, discriminations, and relationships in the gay community

They also talk about femininity and masculinity, and how it doesn’t always align with sexual preferences or sexual desire, and is very different across cultures. The beauty about the gay community is that it’s colorful. Even in the masculinity and femininity side of the house there’s room for everyone that fit. 

At the end of the day you have to be comfortable with who you are and how you see yourself. The people who are suppose to show up will. All you can do is being yourself and that’s really what’s most important. Once we get comfortable with whom we are, and we know who we are we are able to move on to life and navigate it beautifully. 

Gay Like e email address: [email protected]

Big Boy Pride Website: www.bigboypride.com

This episode is going to be an interesting episode because normally this is a podcast for the LGBTQ people of color, but this week his guest is Paris Chae. A (non-person of color) friend of Derek's for more than a decade.  

Paris discusses different topics like coming out, how he started to identify himself, getting into labels and fashion,  and his parents reactions to being gay and wearing women's clothing and makeup. 

Growing up in a mix race environment, the people that meant the most to him in his life besides her mother and father were black. He never really hang out with anybody that wasn’t black.

Derek asks Paris deep question about his past and current misunderstanding, rumors, and controveries! Paris answers hot questions like "Do you look in the mirror and love yourself 100%?" "Do you scam for your things?" and "How would you describe yourself in three words" and today's episode is ended by his advice to his younger self! 

https://www.instagram.com/parischea/