
Hey Gay Boy
James Wallis
Hey gay boy.
This is a podcast about the things nobody warned us about. The quiet shame, the overthinking, the patterns we carried into adulthood without ever being given a name for them.
Each episode explores gay identity, mental health, and the psychology of growing up gay. Short, honest, and stripped back. Because some things are better said out loud. Part story, part reflection on what it really means to come out, grow up, and figure yourself out in a world that didn't always make space for you.
This podcast is for the gay man who has done the coming out bit but still feels like he's carrying something he can't quite name. The one who looks fine on the outside but knows there's a version of himself he never really got to meet. The one who grew up performing, pleasing, shrinking and is only now starting to unpick why.
If that sounds familiar, you're not alone. And you're exactly who this is for.
Hey Gay Boy started as a series of short form videos. Honest, spoken word reflections on the nuances of growing up gay. The response was something I wasn't prepared for. Thousands of people telling me they'd never had a name for what they were feeling. That someone had finally said it out loud.
The Substack followed. Then came the realisation that some of these conversations needed more than a caption or an article. They needed audio. They needed to feel like a voice note from someone who gets it.
So here we are.
Each episode draws on psychology, personal experience, and the kind of quiet observations that don't make it into mainstream conversations about LGBT life. We talk about minority stress, shame, self worth, attachment, the inner child, and all the invisible ways growing up gay shapes who we become, long after we've come out.
No guests (yet). No panel discussions. Just honest, considered reflections designed to be listened to on a commute, a walk, or one of those evenings when you just need to feel a little less alone in it.
Thank you so much for being here,
James x
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- 16 episodes
- Avg 8 min
- English
S1 · E15June 24 · 11 min
S1 · E14June 17 · 10 minunderstanding the validation loop
S1 · E13June 10 · 8 minthe drama triangle: the best thing I learnt in therapy?
S1 · E12June 3 · 5 minhow much did you sacrifice to survive?
S1 · E11May 27 · 9 minthe velvet rage: the gay bible
S1 · E10May 20 · 10 min7 things therapy taught me
S1 · E9May 13 · 13 minwhy rejection breaks us
S1 · E8May 6 · 13 minwhy is the gay community sometimes a bit sh*t?
S1 · E7April 29 · 6 min14 signs you're already healing
S1 · E6April 22 · 9 min11 small acts to start healing gay shame...this week
S1 · E5April 15 · 8 minwhy happiness feels so hard for gay men
S1 · E4April 8 · 9 mingay grown and still hurting
S1 · E3April 1 · 8 minthe dark side of growing up gay
S1 · E2April 1 · 6 minlets talk about gay shame
S1 · E1April 1 · 4 minhey gay boy
March 18 · 3 minwelcome to hey gay boy