#ILoveGay Today

#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 Executiv...

#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 th...

#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...

#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...

#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 la...

#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 &...

#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 perf...

#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,...

#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 Dappe...

#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 Rai...

#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 toda...

#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 p...

#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...

#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...

#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 Stephe...

#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,...

#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. W...

#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...

#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 diver...

#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 rem...

#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 wor...

#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 onl...

#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...

#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...