GERLEMEN Podcast Wraps Premiere Season with Heart-Centered Conversations Around Sex, Social Injustice and More
Season 1 Guests featured Jai Rodriguez, Living LGBTQ Rights Icon Dr. Don Kilhefner, Matchmaker Dr. Frankie Bashan and others
Featuring a staggering 21 episodes in its debut season, the GerleMen - Celebrating Our Greatness Podcast has concluded season one with a multitude of powerful conversations surrounding consequential and current hot topics. Launched this past spring, the GerleMen podcast, hosted by LGBTQ activist and author Mike Gerle, focuses on the goal of helping move the consciousness of gay men from a place of oppression to celebration.
With a bevy of well-admired and respected guests including community leaders, celebrities, artists, and experts, the GerleMen podcast dives into significant and controversial topics relevant to gay men, or anyone self-identified as an 'other' in our society.
Some of the most impactful interviews ranged from original Queer Eye for the Straight Guy culture guide, and actor and musician Jai Rodriguez, who explored the ins and outs of Queer Hollywood, made even more challenging during the current pandemic.
Living LGBTQ rights icon Dr. Don Kilhefner, most well known for being a founding member of the Gay Liberation Front Los Angeles Chapter, took listeners on a journey through the gay rights movement of the 70s and parallels to today's fight for equality.
Lesbian matchmaker, renowned relationship coach, and featured expert on MTV's 'Are You The One' Season 8 Dr. Frankie Bashan stopped by to give relationship and dating tips and discuss her company Little Gay Book, the most successful matchmaking agency for lesbian and bisexual women in the U.S.
Accomplished actor, host, filmmaker, and advocate Yuval David joined the podcast to touch upon using art as a vehicle for social change, his award-winning and bold original content such as his 'One Actor Short' series, and his efforts to strike down the discriminatory gay blood ban prohibiting him from donating plasma to fellow COVID patients.
Other guests throughout the season included former West Hollywood mayor John D'Amico, one of the first government officials to publicly contract COVID-19; coach JD Wolfe, who spoke about gifts from the hero's journey and finding your mentors and family; California Gay Adventures founder Chris Kuwahara-Smith; Sister Unity of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence; and Yogi Joel Benjamin, among others.
From the beginning to the end of season one, Gerle navigated raw and honest conversations around topics including conscious and healthy sex, the #BlackLivesMatter movement during the height of the George Floyd protests, the courage to feel and be authentic, and the comparisons and contrasts of HIV/AIDS and COVID-19.
One of the most moving and deeply personal episodes found Gerle and his father connecting on a special Father's Day edition of the podcast. During the episode, his father took questions about being a Mormon dad with a gay son.
As a gay elder, Gerle launched the podcast with the intention of helping the next generation answer the call to brotherhood and finding heart-centered connection. "I feel a profound responsibility to take all that I have learned over the last few decades on my own hero's journey and impart that experience to my gay brothers."
The concept of the show is about knowing your story of 'otherness,' and how the odyssey from oppression to celebration has prepared each GBTQ man for greatness.
To subscribe to the GerleMen - Celebrating Our Greatness Podcast, and to listen to the debut season's episodes, visit iTunes https://apple.co/2yvWYyv. The GerleMen Podcast is also available through Spotify, Stitcher, and other platforms.
To learn more and find out the latest news on season two guests, subscribe to the newsletter by visiting the official website, www.GerleMen.com.
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The Most Happy Fella North Coast Repertory Theatre (6/03-6/28) |
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A Haunting Revue II Impro Theatre (6/06-6/26) |
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Born This Cabaret Renberg Theatre (6/24-6/24) |
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Bus People – A Hilarious & Optimistic Take on L.A. Public Transit The Actors Company (6/06-6/28) |
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MISS MAGNOLIA BEAUMONT GOES TO PROVINCETOWN Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Davidson/Valentini Theatre (6/17-6/28) |
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Mike Blaha: Pivotal Nomad Broadwater Studio (6/07-6/24) |
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My Life is a Sonnet Broadwater Studio (6/07-6/27) |
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STRAITJACKET SIRENS The Three Clubs (6/01-6/30) |
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Storytellers Theater: PINOCCHIO @ Sac Fine Arts Sacramento Fine Arts Center (6/26-6/26) |
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The Show Has Been Cancelled (Due to the End of The World) Broadwater Second Stage (6/16-6/27) |