From Luminary Media, this is LGBTQ and A.

I'm Jeffrey Masters, and I have a long and sordid history with allergies.

So unfortunately, my voice sounds a bit whack today.

That is a medical term, but I hope it will not distract from the brilliance that is Richie

Jackson.

He has a new book out called Gay Like Me.

It's an expanded letter to his son who is also gay and has a drastically different experience

for both better and worse.

You know, these generational differences in the community are something that I think a lot about.

And so I'm really excited to sit down and dive into all of this with Richie.

Let's hear it.

I want to start at the beginning of the book because I was really surprised by just the first line.

You wrote that you always dreamed of being a father, that it was a singular drive of your life.

That is a really uncommon thing, I think, to hear from a gay man, let alone just a man in general.

I could never imagine anything more vital to do than to raise a child. And also very early,

I thought I would be good at it. And I don't have a lot of things I think I'd be good at,

but I just always thought I would be good at being a parent.

And as I grew up, as I evaluated things in my life,

I always came back to parenting is the most important thing I could do.

It felt the most vital, and I felt the most alive.

And it's also what I love most.

I crave responsibility, and there's not a moment of parenting that doesn't have that.

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