From The Advocate magazine in partnership with Glad, this is LGBTQ and A.

I'm Jeffrey Masters, and today I'm talking to Darnell Elmore about the questions we all have in life.

Life's biggest questions.

And if that sounds overly grandiose or dramatic,

please know that I mean every single word.

And I think you'll see why.

Darnell is a writer and thinker,

a leading voice for black people,

for queer people.

He is the author of the incredible book called No Ashes in

the Fire and also the brand new host of the podcast being seen. Today we'll talk about spirituality,

finding meaning or not in this current moment, how his relationship to his faith has changed,

and also the imprint that HIV has had on his life.

For so long, he says, HIV felt like this inevitable thing, and that has colored many

aspects of his life. And then just to note, you'll hear some construction noises at the very

beginning of the podcast and a few other times throughout. I promise they

do not last long. We are recording these from home for a reason that I know that you know,

so I'll skip the rest of that spiel and cut right to the interview. So without further ado,

this is Darnell.

You know, it was not until reading your book that I learned the full extent of the role that religion has played in your life, and you even have a master's and theological studies from Princeton Theological Seminary.

At that time, did you think you were going to become a minister?

Yeah, I was a church boy.

...