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Thank you for tuning in to another episode of the culture this your boy, Jeff, for my man and he's currently not here. He's having laptop issues. This is episode 130. And we have a very special guest today. This gentleman is the first openly gay person on the show. He is the first person that is part of the LGBTQ community on the show. He is a 33 AIDS Victor. He is a sexual abuse survivor. He is a celebrity children's entertainer. He is a children's book author. And he is also an elder advocate. Please welcome Mr. Miracle. Mike McHale. Thank you for coming on the show.
Miracle Mike:Hey. Hey, thank you so much for having me on the show. This is really great. I've been looking forward to this since we started chatting.
Jeff:I appreciate I mean, I have so many questions for you. First, I guess we'll start with just letting you introduce yourself to us.
Miracle Mike:Great, great. Yes. So my name is miracle. Mike McHale. And I got that name because in 2011, I actually overcame aids. I was diagnosed in 1990. And they gave me seven to nine years to live. And I'm like, yo, that's not going to work. I'm going to be on the culture in 33 years. So that time, my friend didn't work for me. And and so I was on the I was all over the news and 1011 Because I had broken through and I overcame aids. So Fox News of all people gave me the name miracle Mike. So I took it. And I love that and I moved from Boston to LA in 1993. I'm coming up my 30th year anniversary. I came out here to do work with children. And I was a writer on a show called Power Rangers for a couple of years. I own a mystery company interactive educational company where I wait. The Power Rangers. Yeah, Power Rangers. Yeah. Wow. You're familiar with that show. I had a blast. Oh, there he is. Yeah, I
Anthony:very Sorry, fellas.
Miracle Mike:I was a I was a freelance writer on there for two years. And I had a blast. That was craziest writing room I've ever seen. And we had to we had to watch videotapes, these are the days of the VHS. And we had to watch videotapes of the actual shows because they're from Japan. And all the all the you know, the moves and stuff when they're in their costume. Those are all the actors originally from Japan. And then when they weren't in their costumes, it was the actors here for the Red Ranger, the pink ranger and but but yeah, I wrote I worked on that for two years had a great time. Great group of writers and, and I also had a very fun three episode arc, that people remember when I talked to them about the giant coin purse. It was like a giant purse episode and, and it went on for three episodes, and everyone loved it. It's one of their favorite ones. So I was happy to like, write the story for that and be a part of that. So yeah, it was crazy. It was great. It was a lot of fun. When I
Jeff:wish I would have known that. I mean, I feel like we could do a whole new other episode just on you know, your time with Power Rangers franchise.
Miracle Mike:Power Rangers.
Jeff:Since you were mentioned. Sorry, since you mentioned Aids. I mean, I wanted to know, first of all, what's a 33? AIDS Victor? What does that even mean?
Miracle Mike:Well, it means that I overcame age. So I don't use the word survivor. Because that's kind of victime. And I know it sounds like woke or whatever. But I just feel like, because I overcame it. I use the word Victor. I'm a 33 year Victor over aids. Because I, when I was first diagnosed, I just had HIV, and just to explain it, so people understand. Every person has up to 1300 to 2000 T cells. They're called they're actual T cells in our body. And it's a wall that fights off infections and viruses that like it helps you to stay healthy. And when you're HIV, those are very weak, and they're low. I had like 300 of those when I first became diagnosed, and then in 97 When my mom passed away, that was my first time having actual aids, and my T cells dropped below 200 When your T cells are below 200 you officially according to the CDC rules Do you have full blown AIDS? And I was at that point for almost 15 years, it was from, like July of 97 until January of 2011. And after 2011, I, I had this amazing experience in an acting class of all places, with my friend Dee Wallace, who was in a movie called E T. I don't know if you're familiar with that film. But she does the how, to Joe. And, yeah, but she really, we had a moment where I realized I was trying to be a great actor. And then I realized that it had nothing to do with the acting, it had to do with the healing. And I realized that I didn't want to be a great actor I wanted to heal. So I started saying that I was healed from AIDS. And then two months later, my doctor contacts me and says, I don't know what you've been doing, but you don't have AIDS anymore. And I said, because I changed my story, bitch. I like literally stopped saying that I had AIDS, I started saying I was healed. And in two months time, I didn't have it anymore. And my doctor was amazed. And I was I ended up being all over the news and did radio shows and podcasts, which are just starting up back then. And I did TV shows, and yeah, and it was quite a journey. And so now since then, now I'm HIV again. Because at one point, I only had four T cells. And I named them candy brandy, Sandy and dandy. So I had four T cells, like trying to keep stuff out of my body. And now I'm like, up to like, 900.
Jeff:Alright, so let me get this straight. So you are HIV positive, but you do not have full blown AIDS, is that correct?
Miracle Mike:Not anymore. No. After an almost 15 years,
Jeff:yeah. Now I'm confused. Because I mean, from what from what I've always understood is you don't survive aids or you don't cure AIDS, you always just live with it. So how is that you know, me?
Miracle Mike:Well, that's why when it happened to me, I was one I was actually one of the first people documented that had gone from AIDS back to HIV. Because once you get AIDS, it's like back then anyway, there was like no hope. But now with all the medication they have, you can actually become, go backwards and just be HIV and undetectable. undetectable means they can't find the virus in your body anymore. So right now, I am HIV and undetectable because of that, which is great. And I haven't been hospitalized since before 2011. And I had been in the hospital 13 times with age. And they were every single time it was like this is that not coming back from this. He's out. He's gone. And what at one point I had West Nile virus at the same time, and I had viral meningitis. And they were just like, Yeah, you gotta say bye, because you're not getting or like, hell no, I got the culture to be on. 2023 like crazy. I ain't gonna let this hold me back.
Jeff:But now do you have to take like medications every day or something like that, to keep it in check?
Miracle Mike:Yes, yeah, there's one medication that I take every day. And it's a keeps, it keeps it suppressed. It keeps it all. Under, you know, under wraps, it keeps it all under control. And it works great. And I'm not a big drug taker. And when they when I first was diagnosed, they wanted me to take a drug called AC T, which a lot of my friends were on. And sadly, none of them are here anymore. Because it gave them a couple of extra years to live. But it also completely destroyed their liver, their organs, their there. It was like drinking like, comment or Ajax. You know, it was my friends would describe it as gross and disgusting. And they spent most of their day on the toilet. But it gave them two years longer than the doctor said they would have. And when the doctor offered it to me, I said Nope, not gonna do it. And I started doing stand up comedy to make myself healthier. And I did and my T cells kept going up and my nurse practitioner was like, What the hell is happening here? Mike I'm using I'm using humor to heal and it worked and I kept doing it and I did it first like on the fly because I figured, you know, let me see what happens. But then I ended up getting booked to open for people like Steven Wright and John Pinette and doing a lot of stuff in Boston and traveling like all over the all over the state with a group of other comedians and I never thought I'd be doing that. I was working on the stock market at the time, taking care of Meryl Streep. And so Guney Sigourney Weaver's accounts, like, what am I doing on a stage? Never Was
Jeff:any drama. You've been? You've been doing a lot of name dropping in 10 minutes.
Miracle Mike:Here, let me clean those up. Hold on. Wait, okay, maybe only when they've had significant places in my life like Dee Wallace is still one of my closest, amazing friends. And she just started a movie that I wrote that made its Hollywood premiere last Wednesday. And she's one of my dearest and most wonderful friends. And we've known each other now. Easter of 94 We met so it's coming up on 30 years. Next Easter will be our 30 year anniversary. So yeah,
Jeff:so a lot of things to uncover. So you're saying laughter played a big part. What about like the diet? or certain things that you eat certain things that helped you stay healthy? Yeah.
Miracle Mike:Well, you know what? The biggest game changer and I thought this was a crazy crazy thought my because at the same time I had had, I had warts all over my hands. That had been there since I was a kid. Because when I was a kid, we lived near a swamp, right outside of Boston. And I loved hanging out the swamp, getting the crayfish getting the frogs getting the tadpoles. And people think it's a myth. But I got a lot of warts on my hands from that yo, my hands were covered. And it was embarrassing. And a friend of mine said, you know, apple cider vinegar, helps you get rid of it, because I tried freezing them. I tried cutting them off, they just would like, pop back up, they just would not go away. So I did the apple cider vinegar. And I just rubbed it on the outside and I had 26 on my hands, both of my hands. I would shake hands, like with my hand clothes, because they were on the tips of my fingers. And I did the White the apple cider vinegar for two weeks. And I kid you not they all went away and they still have never been back in 12 years. And my doctor believes that that was also a part of the overcoming aids. He said because Apple cider vinegar boosts your immune system like times, like 1000 it makes it like incredibly strong. So now I just do it every day with a little bit of lemon. And I drink it now. And it's it's a lifesaver. It's crazy. Wow. So humor and healthy. Yeah. Hey, Anthony.
Anthony:Hey, buddy. How you doing?
Miracle Mike:Good. I'm doing great. Thanks for having me.
Anthony:I was here but like my lap top decided to be stupid today. So like, let me make sure I'm connecting. hear everybody. So it's all good. Laughter is the best medicine. I've been. I've been here. I've been here. Yeah.
Miracle Mike:Yeah. And I started my company. I have a company called mysteries by Mike. And I train kids how to be Spy Kids. So I've trained a million kids so far, how to be Spy Kids. And I use reading, writing, spelling counting. I use all those educational tools on the road to becoming a spy kid, where they solve mysteries and they actually write clues. I've written about 500,000 Riddles over the years for all these kids. And I have crazy crazy time in my life. I had the best time. And
Jeff:for some reason, some for some reason. When you said Spy Kids, I was gonna say like, what are they spying? You know, I thought you were saying I thought they were going around, you know, pointing out pedophiles or something or letting you know adults know who the pedophiles in the neighborhood are.
Miracle Mike:You know what? I may enact that in them to go and fight? Yeah, it's it's a little more, less, less alias and more blue Blue's Clues. I don't know if you're familiar with the show alias. The? Yes. With Jennifer Garner. Yeah, you know, she was trained from the age of five to be like a real spy. But it's more blue more Blue's Clues and aliens. I mean, then alias. Yeah. And I just encourage children to use the tools of reading and writing and spelling and counting to solve a mystery. So they always have a new mystery to solve every time they're with me. And I've tried a million and a lot of them are celebs select Have kids I do a lot of celebrity parties. And and I run a summer camp to for eight weeks now. For the last 17 years doing Spy Kids and pirates I do I train them to be pirates to Wayne Brady love that. I was on let's make a deal. And Wayne Brady was fascinated that I ran a spy camp. Because he's asking everyone what you do for a living. I'm like, I run a pirate camp. And a spy camp. He's like, what a pirate camp was that? Like, Well, I'm glad he's never heard of it before? Because I think I'm the only one who does it in the country. Yeah. Back then. Anyway,
Jeff:that's that's great stuff. Man. Before we move on, I just wanted to ask you, because I know that there's not a stigma behind HIV and AIDS, like there was back in the 7080s or even 90s. You know, people were really scared of it now. You know, I feel like technology and science has advanced to where people you know, can live with it can live regular, healthy lives with it. I was gonna ask you, if you feel comfortable telling us how did you contract it? And also, you know, what measures can people take, you know, to maybe prevent it? Or to live, you know, to live a healthy life with it? Like you have? Yeah,
Miracle Mike:absolutely. Well, for me, it was, it was my first love. And we actually were together for a year and a half. And then we broke up. And we were safe all the time. And then we broke up. And then two months after we broke up, we had the infamous breakup sex. And it was a heated action. And it was the only time that it was unprotected. One time, it only took one time. And I got it from that. And it's just you know, I tell people, it only takes once. It's like, you know, trying to get a baby. It's like it just I was not expecting it. It came out of the blue. And I was like what the hell, man? What's going on?
Jeff:That Dreaded makeup sex is the best thing, ain't it though?
Miracle Mike:Yeah, stay away from making stay away from oil was it we definitely weren't gonna get back together. So it was definitely breakup sex. Because there was no way we were going to be a couple again. And I loved him. I still love him. He's still alive. But yeah.
Jeff:Okay, but But did you know he had it? He had HIV at the time?
Miracle Mike:No, no. And he did not know either. He was back then it was there were actual carriers that didn't show any signs any, like, no signs of having it. no symptoms at all. He had no idea. And when he gave it to me, he was beyond devastated. And I just told him, I said, don't worry about it. It's all good. God has a reason there's a reason for everything. I'm not I've never been mad at him about it. I've never been upset about it. And, you know, there was no reason for me to forgive him. Because he didn't know. He didn't know, you know, but now he knows 33 years later. And now these days, though, you can there is a thing called prep, that a lot of people I know take. And prep basically means that you're preparing yourself, you know, if you do have unprotected sex, which, you know, I just think just use a condom, or you know, because it's even if you're on PrEP, you can get everything else you can get herpes and gonorrhea and chlamydia and all the, you know, the ABCs of sex, sexual diseases. So but that's been the mainstay now for at least probably like six or seven years now is prep. So people don't want to, you know, contract HIV, and AIDS. That's what they that's what they do. And however, everything shifted now to because, you know, I am actually a person who is called undetectable. So you can't find the virus in my body. So even if I went and had unprotected sex, I couldn't pass along to anybody, because it's not found in my body now. But technically, according to the CDC, I still have it. You know, because when I overcame aids, I was like, Well, I don't have AIDS anymore. And CDC was like, Well, you don't but, you know, because they, I guess they haven't figured out how to de stigmatize it if you will, once someone has overcome aids, so,
Jeff:I mean, does the virus live inside you or is it something that can spark it? You know, I mean, like, if you were to get an STD or something condemned, like, bring it back up.
Miracle Mike:Yes, the sparking of it. For me in my case. And I think it's in everyone else's case, too, is a lovely thing we call stress. Because the first time I had it was right after my mother passed away. And my mother was my best friend. She had me when she was 18. We were We were best best friends. And when she she was supposed to move out here to California to be with me. And she passed away from morbid obesity. She was about 550 pounds at the time. And that completely threw my life into a loop. I was just like, What the hell because I was planning on her being here and being here still now. And that was in 97. So it's been almost 30 years now. 25 years now that she's passed. And then nine months later, my grandmother died in her sleep on St. Patrick's Day, Luck of the Irish. And she, she was my other pillar. So I had my two pillars that, you know, I grew up with that, you know, they brought me up, they took care of me, those two and my grandpa, my grandpa. And so it was losing the two strongest women in my life was brought on intense amounts of stress, which I believe wholeheartedly kills the T cells, it actually, like destroys the T cells and wears them down. So that's interesting. So every time I have had AIDS, there's been stress involved.
Jeff:Yeah, know. Wow, that's a lot to absorb. I'm gonna try to stress let's try I'm a person that stresses a lot of stress about everything. So I think I should probably Yeah,
Miracle Mike:and I think it's related to any, any illness, too. I think it's related to cancer and any kind of illnesses at all, I think are, it's more it's, it's like a volcano it like erupts more when you are stressed. Because the stress does it. I picture it as like, it just dissolves your T cells. It just like gets gets rid of them and takes over so it's, I recommend to people just be in a state of, you know, calm and peace you can get upset you can get stressed about things that when they're not right, you know, and and take care, like, like we were saying before, I am an elder advocate. So I stand up for the elderly. And I definitely get stressed about that when I see them being treated the way they are. So so I will get a cold or I'll get a little sick once in a while, but have not been back to full blown AIDS at all. In 1212 years. Yeah. 2011 March 2011. Congrats, man. Yeah.
Jeff:All right. I want to shift the conversation a little bit. Because you did say you were a Christian, correct?
Miracle Mike:I am, I am. Still am to this day. When and when I do stand up. i My moniker is the morning and Christian faggot. That's what I use when I get on stage. That's when I because I need to tell people what the Bible really says about homosexuality, which is zero. It says nothing. Homosexuality, not even a little naughty talk about
Jeff:that. So let's talk about that then because I was going to ask you because one time we had, we had an astrophysicist on the show, right? And he so he was a scientist and he was also a hardcore Christian. And that whole dynamic always confused me, right? Because I figured you can't be both. I always thought you know, if you believe in science, you can't really believe in the Bible or what religion teaches you. So I feel like in this in your situation, I don't know if it applies or not. But, you know, I'm sure that the majority of your upbringing you were being told that you know, being homosexual is a sin or it goes against the Bible or against or go against God. So for you to explain to me how does that work? How can you grow up as you know, as a gay man, and still hold on to your faith and your belief and you know, in God and in the Bible and Christianity and so forth?
Miracle Mike:Absolutely. I so I, I originally grew up Catholic and then Irish Catholic, of course, with and then and then when I was 14, I became a born again Christian. And I got involved in a boarding and Christian Church, which turned out in later years to be a cult that I escaped but that's another story for later but I at the time, definitely it was you can't be gay, you can't be a Christian and be gay. So I I said Press. I never acted on anything, but I knew I was gay. And I was very ashamed of it. I was very shame, ashamed of it. And but I love God, I love Jesus with all of my heart. And as I grew up, I realized that because I studied Hebrew, and I studied Greek while I was in Bible college, and I realized that these there's six passages in the Bible, that kind of the the hardcore Christians use to deplete and attack the homosexuals. And I went and studied them explicitly to find out what they really meant. And I realized one big thing came to me, I realized that when you read historical books, like the Bible, you have to read them in context. You can't read them, like it's 2023, you have to look at who are they speaking to? When were they speaking to them? What was going on, at that time, when this letter was written to them? Like they always use the Roman scripture, where it says, you know, the the men, you know, if they're going with men, and the women are going with women, and they're going to God is going to sear your brain and you're going to be, you know, all this like, crazy, crazy stuff. So I got to actually talk about this on a game show, I was on call without prejudice, because it was a warning and Christian on the on the panel. And she said that I was backsliding and I was evil. And I said to her, Romans one, Paul, was writing to the guests who the Romans, that to the letter was four, and he was writing to them, because they believed that if they went into a temple, and had sex with the temple prostitutes, yeah, they were prostitutes in the temples back then, I don't know if they are anymore, but they were prostitutes in the temple. And they believe that they went into the temple had sex with a temple prostitute, it would bring them closer to God. And Paul was like, yeah, that's not how you get close to God. You know, Paul was, that was Paul's lesson to them, to not do that, to get close to God. There were other ways that we get close to God and having sex in a temple with a prostitute is not one of those ways. But hardcore Christians. Nowadays they don't, they don't care what it really means. They just cherry pick, and then they condemn. And then a lot of my brothers and sisters have committed suicide, because these Christians, condemn them and judge them, which has nothing to do with Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ was feed the poor, take care of the sick, take care of the widows take care of the children, visit the prisoners. You know, that's what Jesus Christ was about. He wasn't about going out there and judging everybody, for you know, for having sex with the same kind or doing drugs or do it? It's like, no, no, Jesus, like, hell no, that's not who I am. You know, people always had that misconception. You've heard the term, the turning the other cheek. And you heard that growing up, you know, and, and, again, you have to take it in context, because Jesus was like, an insane, amazing rebel. He was a rebel in his time. And so back then, back in those days, the Romans had their own set of laws. So you could slap someone in the face. That was your that was your loss. So the Roman soldiers would beat the Jews, they would beat the Jewish people, they would slap them across the face. However, if you turn the other cheek, they would slap you again with the back of their hand by accident. If a Roman soldier slapped you twice, they would go to prison for 30 days. So Jesus wasn't saying, Oh, love, love, love. Turn the other cheek. Jesus was like, yeah, let's get up in this shit. homies. Now, this is a Morgan. So he said, turn the other cheek, so that the Roman soldiers went ended up going to prison. And the same thing about that old saying, Jesus said, Go the extra mile. And again, it's like people think, Oh, that's so sweet. Go the extra mile. Don't stop at one. But again, back then in context, there were actual mile markers. And the Roman soldiers could make the Jewish people hold all of their armor for one mile and carry it for them in the sweltering heat. Once they got to the next mile marker, if A stepped one foot past that mile marker, the Roman soldiers would go to prison for 30 days. So Jesus was like, yeah, go the extra mile. Go, go go. And if they did, the Roman soldiers would go to prison. So you know, people take all these things out of context for what they really meant, and what Jesus was really talking about. And the six clobber passages are just ridiculous. I've, I've traveled all over the country, teaching about them, and getting people just telling them stop, stop hitting people with these clobber passages, because they have no place in our lives. They don't mean what you say their meaning, and 1000s of teenage, gay, LGBT, my brothers and sisters in the communities have committed suicide. Because these Christians and I use that word very lightly, because I don't believe they're true Christians. They've committed suicide and they've taken their own lives. Because these people spread these false truths about homosexuality. The word wasn't even in the Bible till 1947, the word homosexual was not even in the Bible. And these uptight people decided to switch out words and put homosexual in there. So yeah, so like, don't don't mess with people's lives like that. That's not what Christianity is. Christianity is doing great things and calling out shit. Sorry, can I swear? Sorry, cough, you know, calling out people on this when they're just, you know, and, and it gets me so angry. And I've confronted many Christians in the past, when they're out there, saying, You're going to hell do you go into hell? I walk up to them. And I say, these words I say, Matthew seven, one, and it shuts them down. They stop. Because if they know the Bible, they know it. You know, those are explicit words from Jesus, saying, Judge, no, one less should be judged. You don't judge anyone at all. And these people, they can't deny the words of Jesus, if they're a Christian. So every time they're out there preaching on the side, I'm like, No, Matthew, want Matthew seven, one. No, no, you guys got a split. And it works all the time. So if you ever see that out there, these Christians out there screaming they're, you know, condemning everyone. Just remind them Matthew seven one, and I'm telling you nine times out of 10. I've shut it down right away.
Jeff:Yeah, because I mean, growing up the only scripture they ever show you are the one you know, where they interpreted as saying, you know, that word man is supposed to marry a woman and man should not lay with another man only with, you know, with a woman. These are the two that they always reference. Oh, yeah.
Miracle Mike:That's how I opened my comedy routine when I do the morning and Christian faggot. And I say, you know, the Bible does say, man should not lie with man, his man lies with women and, and it's an abomination, which I'll talk about that in the second year. But I talked to a pat my pastor about this. And he's like, you know, that the Bible says, Man to not lie with man men. And I looked at him and I said, Of course not. I go with a woman. You put her on her back with a man you put them on his stomach, yo, of course. Man, the way lies with a woman, everyone. It's common sense. His head spun around like Linda Blair. Like but but the whole thing too, is that at that time again, it was context. There's two things that you know, with that scripture, one, there weren't a lot of people in the Jewish world at that time. So God wanted them to procreate. That's what it was all about is making more wonderful Jewish children. And, and the whole, the man's not allow the man man lies with a woman again, and it says it's an abomination. People need to understand that the actual translation, when you see the word abomination, all it means is a slap on the hand. That's all it means. It doesn't mean you're going to hell doesn't mean you're castrated. You're going to be the it just means bad. Don't do that again. That's all that means. But people hear the word abomination. They're like, Oh, my God, it's hell. It's not. It's not what that's not what they're talking about. But people you know these again, And the Christians use these words to condemn people and to judge people. And I am sorry, but they're going to be on the other side of that lake of fire when we get there. They ain't going to be on our side. They're going to be on the ones who, you know, are out here truly making a difference and loving and taking care of one another. That's what we're here for. We're here to take care of each other. We're not here to judge each other for everything, you know. And, yeah, you just have to shut that stuff down. I I trained a company called GLAAD. I don't know if you've ever heard of lad. The two h.
Anthony:Ad? Yeah, G, L. A. A, D, right. Yep. Yeah,
Miracle Mike:that I get. Yeah, I'm glad they're Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. I, I did a lot of volunteer work with them. I was like a trophy boy for their award ceremony. I was like a celebrity. Like, you know, I took them around to escort celebrity escort. And I was in a meeting once. And they were saying, you know, what can we do? All these, you know, right wing, fundamentalist Christians are coming after us and attacking us. And I couldn't take it anymore. And I had to stand up. And I said, you need to speak back to them. You need to educate them. You need to educate yourself about what the Scriptures really say. Because they only use six, to condemn everything. And they were like, can you please teach us? So I taught a whole seminar to glad about what the clobber passages truly say. And they were blown away. They had no idea. They were like, Where have you been? We needed we've needed you all these years. I'm like, I'm here now. And this is what the Bible says. This is what the Hebrew means. This is what the Greek means and the context of it. And it saved them a lot of headaches from that day forth. And they were able to articulate an answer because they wanted to run away. They wanted to cower. I'm like, now No, no, no, no, no, just respond to them in a way that they understand. And give them scriptures back. So they can understand that and it worked. And I'm happy that I can do that. And now I I do it. When I go on stage. I haven't been on stage in a while. Because I've been making a movie and writing a book. So but I'm gonna get back up there again. And people get offended by by moniker but I don't care. Because I am a born again, Christian and I am a faggot. I own it. I don't get it. I own the word. I'm not gonna let people take the word away from me, yo. It's who I am out of it.
Jeff:I mean, I appreciate your you know how comfortable you are. I want to transition into these next couple questions. And before I do, I want to prefix by saying that I understand that although you are part of the LGBTQ community, I don't ask these questions as if you are a representative of the community. Right. You know, I don't want to put the pressure on us saying you are speaking for the entire community.
Miracle Mike:Oh, yeah. No. Only uncertain things. I might, because I right, you know, but there. Yeah.
Jeff:So my next question to you is, and it's because, at least for me, I've had, I've had a hard time getting people to come on, you know, getting people to come on the show transgendered people, you know, or anybody from the LGBTQ community, only because when I tell them, you know, that I want to discuss certain topics, they automatically shut down, or they don't want to talk about certain topics. You know, if you remember, when I reached out to you, I told you, Hey, are you comfortable speaking on these topics? Absolutely. And one of the topics that I was always interested in discussing was the LEA Thomas situation to swimmer, the Olympic swimmer. And so I want to ask you, do you think that trans people should be allowed to compete in sports with non transgendered athletes?
Miracle Mike:Yeah, yeah. I mean, that's, that's such a tough one because I want it I want to excel or whatever they do, I think that there's a whole argument of if they trans, if they do their transition before they hit puberty, then it's like completely okay. Because once they hit puberty, their lungs grow, their bones get bigger, you know, they it's, you know, once a male hits pupae, once a young boy hits puberty, there are things that change in him that make him completely different from a female. And so when they do have the transition, once they've had puberty, if they decide if they're when they're 1617 to become trans, they will have a little bit of advantage over the female athletes. I think they're attempting to do like an umbrella, there's like a new thing called like, an umbrella women, like it would be trans people would be scored, according to their being trans. So they if they compete with women who are women, then they would actually get a different, they would get a different score, because they do have a little more advantage over the women that are that are actually competing as well. But I think it really all goes back to the whole the puberty thing. Because I because at the camp, I go, the can't buy go to, we've actually had a few, I would say 444 or five children who have started their transition from boy to girl, you know, they're they ate one of them is nine. And they know, they know and their parents are so supportive of them. And they love them and we embrace them. And I will I'm like I will call you whatever you want to be called until you find out who you are. It's like I respect that. And I honor that. I just think it's such a tough thing, because you know, I used to hang out with Caitlyn Jenner before he was she was Caitlyn Jenner back in the day. I just think that.
Jeff:So you hung out with Bruce.
Miracle Mike:I did, I hung out with the whole Kardashian clan clan, the summer of 95, which was a very pivotal summer, because it was just before the OJ the OJ deposition, not deposition. But the the trial was happening at that time. I just really think it's a, I think it's a individual basis. I think it's, it's, I think it's okay for them to be on the team to socialize with the team to go out and do things and to practice and to travel. But I think that when it comes down to the actual competition, they just seem to keep in mind the differences, you know, like the, like the big one, especially for swimmers, men's lung capacity grow, like a lot bigger, once they reach puberty, the their lungs are bigger, and they actually grow more bone for strength. And, you know, but pre puberty. You know, that's, you know, you know, I mean, it's like a, it's like a fine line they're going on.
Jeff:But do you think it's safe at that age, when they're transitioning at eight 910 years old? Because I've read reports where they're saying that, you know, like, the hormone therapies that they're giving these kids can be harmful, you know, can be down the line can have harmful effects to them. And even fatal effects. You know,
Miracle Mike:I think that I think that as long as there is a real doctor, not a quack doctor, as long as there's a real doctor overseeing it, and it's something that the child really feels because I let me just say I knew when I was three that I was gay, I knew it. I knew that I loved I loved matte white and love men, but I love boys when I was little, you know, I knew when I was three. So I you know, people like they don't know who they are. Yes, they do. We do. We know. We I did. And so I know that there's others that do too. I think that as long as the child really knows that, I think it needs to be like a waiting period, like they should have with, you know, with guns, which I totally support guns. I think if you want to go out and get a gun, it's I totally with the Second Amendment. But I think everything should have a waiting period, because it's a big change. So if you if the little boy wants to do that, give him six months to a year, and then see where he feels that he or she if it's going the other way. And then the parents, they really need to be involved in that. And it's not I don't think any of them just wake up one morning and say, I think I want to be a girl today. Yeah, let's do that. I think it's a really the two that I have really talked to at my camp. It really is deep in their hearts. They know that they are a girl, they know that they're a girl in a boy's body and they don't want to be in that space anymore. And as long as the parents are supportive, and they get a genuine doctor, again, not the ones off the side of a bus Who are the quack quack doctors? Then then it should be safe. I mean, I've never heard of anything happening. Any anything bad. So far, you know, that's happening with any, any younger children who have done a transition.
Jeff:But I wanted to go back to when I said that, you know, I've had a hard time getting people to sit down and have these conversations I wanted your insight on, you know, perhaps why have I had a hard time you know, booking people from the LGBTQ community? Like, what is it that you know, I mean, and, again, I don't want to speak for I don't want you to speak for everybody. But I've reached a large majority of them. And people don't want to like this Lea Thomas question that you just answered. People, you know, a lot of people don't even want to touch it.
Miracle Mike:No, no, exactly. Exactly. Yeah. I just think that people don't, people don't feel comfortable. This is just my feeling just because this is what I felt in the past. People don't want to talk about something. When there's not, there's not enough information. This is like a new ground. This is a new, amazing frontier that we're exploring, and we're finding out and, and I believe as we go along, in the coming years, there's going to be a lot more young children that are going to have the courage to say, you know, mommy, daddy, I, I believe that I'm a girl, in a little boy's body. I don't believe this is who I am. And I think that the more we talk about it, the more it will be talked about. And to stop shaming people stop making it into a stigma because it doesn't have to be because I, I have worked and I have known, many amazing trans people. They are amazing. And they're so incredible, and so inspiring. And it makes me once it made me question my own a little bit there. But I have a wonderful friend whose name is Madison now and he's actually in Washington, DC. And he, she might be one that would come on and talk to you talk to you all in. She's pretty amazing. She's very outspoken. Okay, but I just think that people another reason why they don't want to talk about it is because it's not public yet for them to, like, they haven't made it public to the people in their lives. And it's something that they're still dealing with too. And again, it's all these new things he's about about them, you know, competing, and the I think the Olympics just came out with something recently, you know, allowing them to compete, but it's again, they're going to be scored differently, they're going to be scored a little differently. And I don't know the details of that. But I want to find out. But, but I think you know, if someone is trans and they want to compete, let them frickin compete. What's the big deal, yo, it's just a competition. And, and let me just say, from a man's point of view, from a guy's point of view, I have many female friends that can kick the shit out of me. And they can beat me in a race, they can beat me swimming, they can beat me in basketball, they can. So it shouldn't be an issue. It's like, women are amazing, like, you know, women who are not, you know, trans are amazing and athletic. And I dated a girl in fifth grade, because she could play football better than me. That's why I dated her. Because I thought she was great. And she's still the most as most athletic girl I know. You know. So yeah, there's a lot, a lot of a lot of stuff around this, that, you know, the stigma and the shame and which there shouldn't be any of that. Just let people be who they frickin are already, we would be a lot be a lot happier world.
Jeff:But they're even there even letting them compete now in combat sports and MMA fighting, and different things like that. And like you said before, I mean, we can't ignore the fact that there is a competitive advantage. You know, there is a physical advantage. And I'm not gonna say in all cases, obviously, like you said, there's certain women they're gonna be guys and certain things. But, you know, again, also, like you mentioned, depending on the age where they start to transition, your body might have more testosterone, you might be taller, you might be stronger, you might be faster. Right? Yeah. And yeah, these are things that, you know, I don't know how they will address it. You know, I don't know how you can address it. But these are things that cannot be ignored. And this is this is this is where I'm at with it. You know, I just don't want to ignore certain topics, because a lot of times I see people just want to ignore it, just let it be. And they don't want to sit down and conversate they don't want to have the discussion. They just want to ignore it and just let everybody be. And I don't think that's the correct way to go about I feel like we do have to have the discussion and things can't be ignored.
Miracle Mike:And let me just say, I think you're, you're amazing for bringing up these discussions, because this is how we educate ourselves to talk about it, and talk about it and figure out what I know that a lot of people are saying that, you know, they're ideally, they would want to have like, a trans teams, you know, what I mean, competing and stuff and, you know, competing as trans with other trans women and men. And you know, but right now, they, you know, they're saying, you know, there's not enough, there's not enough trans people to do that. And I, personally believe that within five years, there's going to be plenty, because people are getting the courage to be who they are. And honestly, I don't think they I don't think trans trans people, again, I'm not speaking on behalf of them, I'm feeling for me from the ones I know, I don't think they would care if they're just competing with other trans people. It's like, it's not it's not like segregating or anything, it's just, these are your, you know, they've been through the same thing you've been through. So let's, let's open up like a whole new division. And I think that would be great, too. I think that would be an easy solve in the future, right now, it can't happen. Let them be with who they want to be with, let them you know, and it because from what I understand, a lot of the athletes, they don't care, the women athletes are like, we don't care. They're one of us now, let them come and play. Who cares? You know, what's the big deal. But you're right, though they do have, they have more testosterone, they have more, a little more speed, they have the bones larger, their lungs are definitely bigger. Men's lungs are bigger than women's lungs. So especially with the swimming, that's like a big one. But I feel like we're in the we're in. It's also new, it's new, it's not new to the Trans World, because they've been dealing with it for many years. I mean, when I first moved out here, 30 years ago, my next door neighbor was trans. And I loved her, we hung out every day, you know, but it's this is like a whole new, a whole new world. And I think once people are educated, then they will get it. And it will just be looking back at these conversations 20 years ago, and there'll be like, we even talked about that back then. Who cares? It's like, that's where I that's where I hope that it will be at some point, that it will just be like, who cares? You know, the only people who care the ones who are you know, judgmental, and Christiany. And, yeah,
Jeff:I want to transition again, as an author, you are an author, I wanted to ask you your feelings on for example, states like Florida, where you have, you know, Governor DeSantis says, trying to regulate what type of books can and cannot be used in schools, anything that has any form of LGBTQ characters or the like, or otherwise in the books have to immediately be removed from classrooms.
Miracle Mike:Yep. History to there, removing everything with black history and a to say, like, and, you know, and I, I guess he didn't get the memo. But if you don't learn from history, you're gonna keep repeating it. And it seems like that's what is going on right now. It's being repeated because Tennessee just proposed that bill yesterday or two days ago to ban same sex marriages, to ban interracial marriages and to ban inter interfaith marriages. So if you're Catholic, you can't be marrying someone who's Protestant. If you're Jewish, you can't be marrying someone who's Catholic. So they propose it and it looks like it's getting it's maybe going through in Tennessee, they've already taken out like all support for trans kids is gone in Tennessee and and they're all about taking the stuff out of the out of that no, no more drag queens telling story. I think that every drag queen in the country should just get on a bus. We can call it the the million drag March and go to Tennessee and go to every library dressed up and start telling the story and they can use my book Donald dogs as an example. But I mean, it's like, it's just kids need to know that, that it exists like the book. I know, the big one was, you know, Heather, someone has two moms. You know, it's like about a little girl who has two mothers. And it's like, you know, I've said this for over three decades, even more. Love is Love is Love is love. And many people have quoted me since then. But I'm the one who started it. But it's just, it's just love. It's you can't it's not affecting you. So stop Ed, an app already. And I think it's he doth protest too much. It's like, what is he hiding? What's secrets? Are these people hiding that want to eliminate these books? Eliminate the knowledge, eliminate the history? What are they hiding? What's going on? That just disturbs me, you know, and I say, go out and get these books and read them and order them. And I think it's a shame that Florida, I have a lot of family in Florida, that moved down there from Boston. And I think it's a shame state is, is doing this just making it go backwards in time. To the 1950s.
Jeff:I can tell him people, he might be our next president. So watch out.
Miracle Mike:Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Yeah. Oh, God, please. I can't believe that they just don't have someone who's just a moderate that just goes with the flow. It's like work for the country, not for yourself. Stop imposing your beliefs on the rest of the world there. I always get upset that there's nine people on the Supreme Court deciding the fate of 350 million people in the country. That just like, blows my mind. Maybe back in 1778. That was okay. But we have 350 million people in this country. And we have nine people deciding what their what their what is right and what is wrong. I I think that that there needs to be a huge shift about that. All that needs to shift. And we can't tell women how to use their bodies. We can't you know, my mom, by all accounts should have gotten an abortion when she had you know, she was 18 when she was pregnant with me. And 1965 Yeah, I'm that old. And in by every right. 18. unwed, 65 by all right, she should have gotten an abortion. I'm thankfully she didn't, because I knew I was supposed to be here and 57 years. But yeah, I think it's up to the women. The women need to decide what is going on with their body and what is happening. And, and people say it's God's will, it's God's will. Well, you know what, maybe the women are having their own conversations with God. Talking about what should happen. So, yeah,
Jeff:amen. So before we wrap it up, though, I have a couple of questions that were sent to me by some of our guests, some of our patrons, actually some of our listeners. Oh, nice. You don't mind. Let's start with the there's only a couple. So the first one goes, Did you choose Christianity or was it inflicted upon you?
Miracle Mike:Oh, good question. Good question. I. So I became a born again, Christian. When I was 14, there was a Sunday school bus that came through the the housing projects, and my cousin invited me to join her one Sunday. I went to the service, and I accepted Jesus into my heart. And I'm challenged. Yeah, I felt it. I felt a surge in my body. I felt something which completely shifted. And from that moment, from that moment on, Jesus has been my best friend. Wholeheartedly been my best friend. I went to office, my husband, Bob. Now, Hey, Bob, he's got to feed our kids. They're growing up Catholic. I actually love going to church. I would walk it was a mile away from our house. I would walk there every Sunday. I would say good morning to everyone in the pews and they wouldn't say hi back. But I get a little like and I even wanted to be an altar boy and because the you know the priests was actually kind of hot. Father McGonigal but yeah, but no, it was definitely not thrust upon me. I opened my arms and I took it. And I loved it. And I still, I still considered Jesus, my best friend today. After Bob, you know, Bob is my number one. He's my best best. My best G on this plane.
Jeff:Yeah. All right. And the final question from also that was sent that was a cat that was on
Anthony:the table, right? Yes. Okay, make sure what's going on?
Jeff:All right, the final question goes like this. What's the difference between how they are forcing transgender views and trying to change societal norms, and what religion has always tried to do? Both are based on belief and feelings? Neither should dictate how society should make laws and rules in a democratic society where everyone's ideas differ, you should be able to have the right to be whatever you want to be without forcing your beliefs onto others.
Miracle Mike:I believe that wholeheartedly. And I think he was saying, In the beginning, it's like, why are people pushing their views about the trend about the trans community? Is that right? Yeah. I, I honestly, the people I've come across that are against it. It really is. And I don't use this word lightly. But it really is ignorance. And it's because they've never met anyone who is trans. When you meet someone who's trans. It shifts everything you believe, because they're just they're beautiful, beautiful people just like us. They're just like everyone else. They just, they know who they are. And the government has no right to get involved in that they do not have any right to get involved in that. I believe that I actually had a friend who moved to a different state because her daughter decided he she wanted to be trans. And so she moved to a different state that had like, really great health care for it and great support system for it. And he made the trend, he made the transition. And now he is he is a young man. And I celebrate with him and her all the time with my friend who's a woman. It really is about ignorance and education, I think people need to be they need to there needs to be more shows like yours, who talk about it, just discuss it, stop making it awkward. There's nothing awkward about it, little boy, he, he feels like he's a little girl living in a little boy's body. Listen to him, listen to what he's saying. Listen to his heart. Because I've had the opportunity to sit with those kids, and talk with them. And they're fucking amazing. And they're so inspiring. And I think the more we do that, the less it's going to be, like a big, it's going to be a non issue. At some point, the more we talk about it,
Jeff:and that's all I've been trying to do is learn you know, I'll admit, I've been ignorant, you know, about the community or about, you know, what their struggles, I've been naive, I've been ignorant, because I'm not educated. And my thing has always been, you know, if you guys don't talk to us, how can I, you know, learn how can I get educated, thankful and willing to have the conversation without getting offended? You know, I mean, yeah, sure. There's people out there, there's right wingers or there's very conservative people or whatever the case that are going to take jabs and are going to be you know, talk to you in an insulting way. Obviously, you know, this is not where I'm coming from, when I tried to have the conversation is I'm trying to learn, right, so that I can learn what the correct pronouns are, what the correct phrases are to say what to say what not to say, what's offensive, what's not offensive, you know?
Miracle Mike:Yes. Well, and that's the thing is that a lot of like the Republican people, they, they just, it's like, it's my way or the highway. You know, that's the I learned that in the cult I was in which was very Republican as well. But it's like they need to realize it's not your way or the highway, there are many highways to go on, isn't just one highway. There's a lot of roads, a lot of paths to be taken. And like Oprah says, We're all we're always on our path in life. We never leave that path. Sometimes we take a break, and we, you know, we sit out for a little bit, but we're always on our path. And we need to be true to ourselves. Because if we're not, we're gonna go crazy. And we're not going to have a productive life. And don't let people tell you what to do. And that's my movie. Llinas dance is all about that. Don't let people dictate what you should do, what you can do what you cannot do. You are your own person. You were put on this planet to live your own unbelievably magical life. And don't let anyone take away that magic. And that spark, you know,
Jeff:intention to address. And to address the second half of the question that our Patreon asked, you know about changing rules and laws to accommodate? Because, for example, the big a big topic, and a big taboo topic is the topic of bathrooms, right? Yeah, you know, women bathrooms, men's bathrooms, transgender bathrooms, you know, like, why should people be allowed to go in any bathroom? You know, and it's, it's a polarizing topic that a lot of people don't want to really talk about. And again, I feel like it needs to be discussed. Yeah. Just change laws. Change rules.
Miracle Mike:Yeah, yeah. To to accommodate our own insecurities, and our own like what we're afraid of, and I just saying, let people shit when they want to shit, man. And I love it. Like a lot of places I've been going into now I I even took some photos at one place. It's like, you know, it says male, female trans. It has aliens. Like, I don't care who you are. You just go to the bathroom here. Who cares? Just go? Shouldn't it doesn't doesn't matter. It shouldn't matter. There's no, there. You know, the thing is, they always say like, Oh, they're gonna go in and get my daughter's in the bathroom. It's like, no, they're not they gotta pee. Going, that, you know, the, the only people don't understand the, the 99% of the pedophiles in the world, are straight heterosexual man. They're not gay, they're not trans transsexual, they're 90 99% of them are straight, heterosexual men, and a lot of them are married. So it's like, stop it. You know that trans people don't want your daughters, they're not coming for your daughters. They're coming for the toilet, because they gotta go.
Jeff:Is On the flip side? On the flip side of that somebody that would want to combat that would say, you know, and I don't have any daughters, I have a son. But yeah, be honest with you. If I did have a daughter, I really don't know how I would feel. You know, I don't know how I would feel if my daughter was in the bathroom. In a unisex bathroom. Right? Your there could be all types of people in there. You know, that's, that's a conversation we would have to have. Because, you know, I don't know how I would feel about that. But I know a lot of other people that do have daughters, and they definitely wouldn't want to have a trans people in the same bathroom with their young daughters. Yeah. Right. So again, that's a conversation to be had.
Miracle Mike:I think that a lot of places are already, or they already have. They have family bathrooms, too. I think that if you have a young child, just use a family bathroom, your family go use it. You know, I don't think this ain't you know, I just, I just think that trans people should, they should have a place to go man have a place to go. And they're literally just going in going to new style and going out. They're not. They're not going in there to get anyone or to, you know, groom anyone or all these false statements that go out there. It's like, they're just trying to go to the bathroom just like the rest of us. You know. And honestly, trans trans transgender people that I know they're not interested in. I'm like, I'm not interested in children. And that way, trans people aren't interested in children and that way, only 99% heterosexual men are interested in children that way. So they're the ones you should be keeping. Like hell.
Jeff:Yeah. Thank you for coming on. Man. We want to wrap this up. Can you tell everybody where you can be found? And what do you have going on? What websites?
Miracle Mike:Yes, yes. So the on Instagram 99, Dyno dogs, and that's dogs with a Z at the end. And they can also go to our site at WWW dot dyno dogs.com. And I am miracle mike.com Is my healing. It's my healing site. And I share stories on there and you know, and hopefully inspire people when I can. I try. But those are the best places and in online, it's Michael McHale actor is my other Instagram as well. And they can find me there and say hey on. Yeah, thank you for having me. Anytime I'm here,
Jeff:want to enter with a quote by Ella Fitzgerald. She said, Just don't give up what you're trying to do, where there is love and inspiration I don't think you can go wrong. the culture this is Jeff you man man Ant, Miracle Mike
Miracle Mike:thank you Anthony
Jeff:shout out to our patrons, the culture crew See y'all next week peace
Miracle Mike:Thank you Thanks guys for having me