“Whose fault is it that you’re gay?”
There comes a point in every episode of “That’s a Gay Ass Podcast” when host Eric Williams lobs that question. He’s being provocative, clowning on the homophobia he and his listeners have faced. He’s also genuinely curious, using it to pinpoint the moment or piece of pop culture that flipped a switch in his guest. The answer is always surprising — Williams “blames” it on the 1993 film “Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit” — and also invites celebration of a formative experience.
“My mission in life now is to make people laugh and shed the shame we were told to have as young queer people,” Williams says, “and rebel against it by being as honest and authentic as possible.”
The actor and comedian launched the podcast in 2021 from his home studio in L.A.’s Silver Lake, and his independent show has picked up 250,000 downloads over the past year. Williams brings in guests known for their sharp insights and sharper tongues, including “Saturday Night Live” star Bowen Yang, author and advocate Dan Savage, “RuPaul’s Drag Race” alum Peppermint and comedian Joel Kim Booster.
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“I tend to only invite people who use their queerness as a superpower and it is a pretty sizable part of their work,” Williams says. His guests allow the show’s “horny, self-deprecating and honest” humor to shine. For example, Savage’s “superpower” is advocating for both queer and straight people of all sexual stripes in his work.
“Some of the awful things queer people have to go through growing up showed me this podcast brings entertainment,” Williams says, “but it also changes the minds of people who might not be privy to the queer experience.”
Now, Williams is taking the podcast out of the booth and directly to the people. He’s presented “That’s a Gay Ass Live Show” in both New York and L.A. over the past year and a half. And it’s getting a signal boost as part of the upcoming Netflix Is a Joke festival. The May 9 event takes place at L.A.’s Hotel Cafe.
Like many of his listeners, the St. Louis native wasn’t surrounded by a queer peer group growing up.
“I knew one gay person for the first 18 years of my life,” he says. “I grew up in a place that was very ignorant about queer people’s lives. So I never want to say, ‘Oh, it sucks that you live there. Hope you can get out.’ I want to say, ‘Hey, there’s a community and a podcast and people who understand and have gone through what you have gone through.’”
Williams hears from all kinds of people — “from gay guys in WeHo to lesbians in Greenville, South Carolina” — about their path to discovering their true selves. But he has received a lot of feedback from one demographic: married gay listeners.
“The biggest thing I have heard is people who are similar to me that are gay and married, and how they have struggled with the queer community’s attitude toward non-monogamy or the straight world’s judgment of non-monogamy,” he says. “The show gives them the strength to discuss it with their partner and takes away any secrecy or shame. Queer people are creating our own rules in the face of judgment from the straight world.”
And Williams himself is still learning how to answer that persistent question he poses to his guests — not by finding fault, but by embracing joy.
“Being gay is fucking incredible,” he says. “When people would ask, ‘If you could choose to be gay all over again, would you?’ it highlighted my shame. I’ve never said this before, but as a 34-year-old adult gay man whose dreams are coming true and who has used his identity as a superpower, I can now say that I prefer being gay. My life is not tied to the rules of a world that told me I was wrong.”
