It’s Spooky Season at Coffee with Gays, and Blaine & Reed are joined by their friend Joseph Federico for a trip through the haunted heart of New Orleans.

From ghost stories and Marie Laveau’s voodoo legacy to psychic readings, vampire culture, and the queerness of Halloween itself, this episode celebrates the city’s mystical energy and the queer creativity that thrives in it.

Light a candle, sip your potion, and join the conversation — where ghosts, legends, and gays come together.

New episodes every Thursday | Follow @coffeewithgays

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New episodes every Thursday | Hosted by Blaine & Reed

We took Coffee with Gays on the road — and straight into controversy.

After one viral clip sparked hundreds of comments, Blaine and Reed sit down (in Reed’s car, of course) to unpack the debate: straight bachelorettes in gay bars, allyship vs. entitlement, and the ongoing evolution of LGBTQ+ community spaces.

From respectful allies to chaotic party crashers, from Pride parades to neighborhood gentrification, they explore how safe spaces have changed — and what it means to protect queer culture without gatekeeping.

Grab your coffee (or your road-trip snack) and buckle up — this one gets heated.

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💬 Want to sound off? Email us: dotell@coffeewithgays.com

🧠 What You’ll Hear

• Reading hate comments and unpacking the viral clip
• The gay bar debate: inclusion vs. invasion
• How straight allies can show up respectfully
• Pride parades and the “family friendly” evolution
• Gentrification, capitalism, and the erosion of queer culture
• Why gatekeeping sometimes protects the community

💬 Key Takeaways

• Respecting LGBTQ+ spaces means understanding their history.
• Allies are welcome — but awareness matters more than attendance.
• Pride has shifted from protest to parade, and that’s complicated.
• “Safe space” doesn’t mean everyone gets to make it about them.
• Conversations like these are how we keep queer culture alive.

⏱️ Chapters

00:00 — Context: Why the clip blew up
01:46 — Gay bars & straight patrons
07:55 — Reading the hate comments
14:21 — The role of bars in queer community life
20:10 — Gentrification & commercialization
21:51 — Invasion or inclusion?
24:09 — Straight allies in queer spaces
28:02 — Pride parades: family-friendly or off-mission?
33:33 — Integration vs. exclusion

🔊 Sound Bites

“You can’t equate this to a straight bar.”
“Pride parades have to be family friendly?”
“Be an ally, not the main character.”
“Straight people have destroyed Pride.”
“Bring a gay friend. Read the room. Be cool.”

🧭 Why It Matters

Community spaces are built on trust, not trendiness.
This episode isn’t about exclusion — it’s about respect.
Allies are essential, but understanding the culture you’re stepping into is too.

Support the show

Follow Us! The Hosts are on our linktr.ee 😉

🌐 Visit our Linktree For All the Socials
🕺 Follow us on TikTok
🎥 Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
📸 Follow us on Instagram
🐦 Follow us on Twitter
🍏 Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
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🌍 Check Out Our Website: https://www.coffeewithgays.com/

🎙️ New episodes every Thursday | Hosted by Blaine & Reed
☕ A Coffee with Gays First-Ever Author Special

Yes, Blaine was starstruck. And yes, we left that in.

In our first-ever author interview, we welcome novelist Robert Raasch, whose debut novel The Summer Between takes us back to 1978 — before Grindr, before DEI, before the word “community” got co-opted into a rainbow ad. Set in a pre-AIDS Greenwich Village, the book follows Andy Pollock, a closeted high school senior who finds himself (and maybe love?) in the city for one life-altering summer.

What follows in this episode is part literary salon, part red-flag dating game, and part emotionally chaotic gay boy banter. Robert opens up about turning personal memory into fiction, how writing can be therapy (until it isn’t), and the process of shaping a story that feels both personal and universal. We talk about the women who shape gay men, the architecture of Chicago, and the fantasy of living in New York before anyone knew what “viral” meant.

This one is heartfelt, hilarious, and unexpectedly healing. Come for the book, stay for the banter.

✨ WHAT YOU’LL HEAR

• Why Robert set The Summer Between in 1978 NYC
• First love stories that still sting 40 years later
• How writing fiction can be the most honest thing you do
• 🚩 A savage round of Red Flag or Dealbreaker
• What makes a queer story matter in 2025

💬 KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Coming out is always messy, even in fiction
• Community used to mean showing up in person
• Some stories are too big for 280 characters
• Women allies are often the blueprint for gay survival
• A good book doesn’t end when it’s over

🔊 SOUND BITES

• “Tell your stories. Just write.”
• “This book felt like flipping through someone else’s memories.”
• “I ignored the red flag… and then made excuses.”
• “I wanted a book where the gay kid doesn’t die.”
• “Writing’s not always therapy. Sometimes it just rips you open.”

🕛 CHAPTERS
00:00 — Blaine’s Starstruck Intro & Robert’s Arrival
00:40 — Why 1978? Setting the Stage for The Summer Between
02:56 — NYC Before AIDS: Community, Danger, Freedom
04:18 — Building Andy Pollock: Authenticity & First-Love Feels
08:52 — The Women Who Saved Us — Female Influence in Queer Stories
10:35 — From Early Draft to Final Book (Writing Process)
16:15 — Family Dynamics & Coming-Out Shockwaves
19:46 — First-Love Lessons That Still Sting
22:22 — Open-Ended Endings & Sequel Tease
25:14 — Reader DM’s That Made Robert Cry
26:03 — Casting Dreams: Who Plays Andy on Netflix?
27:20 — Would TikTok Have Ru

Support the show

Follow Us! The Hosts are on our linktr.ee 😉

🌐 Visit our Linktree For All the Socials
🕺 Follow us on TikTok
🎥 Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
📸 Follow us on Instagram
🐦 Follow us on Twitter
🍏 Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
🎵 Subscribe on Spotify Podcasts
❤️ Subscribe on iHeart Radio
🌍 Check Out Our Website: https://www.coffeewithgays.com/