27- Straight Jacket

I want to start by saying that we as gay men grew up in a society that completely invalidates anybody other than straight and cis-gendered people and there's a lot of stuff we're left to figure out on our own. Remember that book club I started a couple episodes ago? Well, I'm taking it pretty fuckin' seriously… In this episode, we welcome the author of June's YAAAS BOOKS read, Matthew Todd, where we discuss his book that was written during a time when LGBT+ mental health wasn't commonly spoken of. "Straight Jacket: Overcoming Society's Legacy of Gay Shame" for starters, is a self-help book, and if you're like me, you think you're perfect and there's nothing wrong with you and reading this would be an absolute waste of time. I'm here to tell you, you're wrong and YES you are the problem. In this episode, we discuss: the root of why we're so afraid of coming out, gay self destruction and how we compare ourselves to others, bottom shaming, understanding gay spaces, the brighter sides of grindr, understanding why it's important to be good to our allies, and soooo many more of the themes mentioned throughout the book. Reading this book has been life changing for me, and has helped me understand so many things about myself and the gay community that I didn't know I didn't understand, and I hope that by even listening to this episode, no matter what part of your gay journey you're on, it gives you as many “AHA!” moments as it gave me. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/yaaasbro/support