Finding God Outside the Walls of Church with Troy Weekes from Alphabet Soup

(9s):
Welcome to the Queer Theology Podcast. I’m Brian G Murphy. And I’m father Shannon, T l Kearns. We’re the co-founders of Queer Theology dot com and your hosts from Genesis, revelation, the Bible declare good news to LGBTQ plus people, and we want to show you how Tune in each week on Sunday for conversations about Christianity, queerness and transness, and how they can enrich one another. We’re glad you’re here Today. We are joined by Troy Weeks from the New Reality TV show on Peacock and Amazon Prime Alphabet Soup to talk about the show, his music, and his faith From Harlem, New York. Troy has been singing since the age of three and performing since the age of fourteen. He’s also a songwriter, actor, dancer, and MC and Event Host.

(52s):
He is currently working on his first EP project under the new genre and style that he created Soul and Beat, which, which he talks about in this episode. He can sing Gospel, neo soul, and R and b, but he did not feel like one or the other is exactly where he fits in. Troy can be seen hosting and performing in events all across the country. This new show that Troy is in Alphabet Soup is an unfiltered reality of queer dating in NYC, where e emotions are raw, intimate texts and authentic relationships unfold without scripts or filters is now airing a peacock at Amazon Prime. In today’s conversation, Troy, she’s Journey as a reality TV star, discusses the importance of vulnerability, navigating sexuality in the role his faith plays in his life.

(1m 33s):
In this conversation we talk about all about self-love, authenticity, and the power of community, while also exploring his diverse music career. And he gives us some sneak peeks into his future. This is a powerful message of hope and resilience for everyone in the queer community and beyond. I had so much fun chatting with Troy And I think you’re really going to enjoy this episode. Let’s get into it. Troy, thank you so much for being here on the Queer Theology podcast today to talk about yourself and the show that you’re on Alphabet Soup. It’s been a really fun show to watch and I’m so excited to dive into more of it and also like your story because I think you’re like a really, I wanna say compelling character because it’s a TV show, but also you’re actual also actual a real person. So I’m shame person.

(2m 15s):
I’m glad you said that because that’s one of the most important things about Alphabet Soup is, And I want people to know, like it’s not, it’s not a a scripted show at all. It’s hundred percent a reality series. It’s a documentary, but in reality style. So everything that’s happening is in real life, real time and real life. It’s happening now. Yeah. And so the show, it’s kind of cool. It’s like it follows relationships and dating, but it’s like not a sort of like classic dating show with contestants and these sort of like pre-arranged pairings. Correct. And so, but like you are going on dates and being emotionally vulnerable in front of a camera. And so like what was it like to put yourself out there in in this way?

(2m 58s):
Well, to start it off, it was like during the pandemic, I think me and Shannon met originally during the Pandemic, he did an original series called Sex Love Misery, which is now out on Amazon. Okay. This is where it all started. Yeah. So put a ca he put a cast in. Now I was like, okay, you know what? I’ve always wanted to be a part of reality in general. Like this is like, I’ve been on a couple reality shows. I actually have another reality show out now and it’s, it’s called Complete Boss. It’s about being a Boston entrepreneur and having your own business. And I, I created my own unisex Fragrance, so Oh, okay. Cool. All those out there who wanna smell, smell amazing, you walk by it like, what is that? You got on? You gotta get you. So I can tell you about it later, But we’ll put all The links to all this in the description. Yes. You guys will have it. I’ll tell you all about it. Yeah.

(3m 38s):
I’ve been doing Fragrance for 10 years And I decided to do my own because everyone was like, you saw so good. So I was on the show for that, which is out now as well. So I’ve always wanted to do reality. I met Shannon, we did one show and sort of like we just like, Hey, we’ll see what happens with it. Nothing really came of it, but I was the only person that continued to work with him, so I was like, let’s keep the ball rolling, let’s keep the ball rolling. So boom, Alphabet Soup is born And I decided, okay, cool. This is a little bit different And I gotta be more vulnerable in a different way, so I’m gonna go ahead and go with it. And so for me it was a little, it was a little different at first ’cause I’m such a private person when my public life, like I’m a public person, but my life is private. Most people know me as Troy weeks music singer, artist, you know, musical creator, media, personality, interviews, podcasts, all that stuff.

(4m 22s):
So people know me for being on the camera. And so I’m used to being in front of the camera, but telling my business was a different thing. And so for me, I just felt like years ago I was on another show that was supposed to come out, didn’t come out. And while we’re filming, I was on that show And I was on a podcast, my first podcast, And I decided to come out as pansexual because I never talked about my sexuality. And everyone was always like, Hmm, but what is this? He’s gay. What is it? I’m like, so I got tired of people just asking. So I said, you know what I’m gonna do? I’m gonna do you guys one favor, I’m gonna put it on my podcast and I’m on, and I’m, and the show I’m on so that you guys can watch the episode and go back anytime you have any questions because I don’t have to keep explaining. And I decided to come out as pansexual because I felt like it was hard to date being pansexual, especially when the words started first coming out because people didn’t understand.

(5m 4s):
And so a lot of women wouldn’t take me seriously because a lot of women didn’t wanna have sex with a man who had sex with another band. So it’s like Barry and then dealing 21 questions and I’m like, for me, I know who I’m, I know where I stand. I’m not gonna, I, I don’t have to deal with that. If you have an insecurity about who I’m in my situation, that’s a problem for you because pansexual man can be a great father, be boyfriend, be fiance, great husband. That doesn’t change anything. And so I, I felt decided to like about to be the face of it. I’ll be the face of it. So once I decided to put my sexuality out there and say, Hey, this is who I’m be the face of pansexuality, boom, I decided to just go on and do it. And then this being show, just, it just naturally led to that. And then even having Ray on my partner, it was a lot, he’s from Jamaica Refugee, he’s never been front the camera.

(5m 44s):
It’s not his thing at all. And so for him to be at vulnerable, it took months for us to convince him to do it, but he did it. And now he, he’s, he’s so happy that he did because it allowed him to tell his story. So it ain’t been easy y’all, but I’m glad that I was able to put it on a platform like this in, in a different way where we can make change in our community for it better. Yeah. One of the fun things is like, you don’t know upfront anyone’s sexual orientations or their gender identities or their gen gender journeys. It sort of like gets revealed to you as a viewer, you know, as if you were meeting a person in real time. So that’s, it’s kind of fun to sort of be like, wait, like who is this person? What are they into, like what’s their vibe? What are they looking for? And you kind of find out exactly, it gets in pieces. But let’s say you were at like a queer dinner party or queer cocktail party.

(6m 25s):
Like how might you introduce yourself and, and what are some of the identities that are important to you? You’ve already touched on a few of them. Of course. I definitely would say my pronouns, if you hear them, I would say pansexual, identify as pansexual, the same thing. Like, so always that’s always just fear when me and my partner meet someone because they’re always like, well, you guys together, so you’re two gay guys. My partner’s pansexual and I’m pansexual. I have an 8-year-old daughter, shout out to my baby girl. Genesis Olivia, I love you girl. And so we decided that we wanted to expand our family and like, what does that look like for us? So in talking about it, we both realized we wanted the same thing. We wanted to expand our family. We both wanted to have find a girlfriend or two girlfriends or have, have two girlfriends together.

(7m 5s):
They wanna be with us, who knows whatever it looks like. We decided that we’re gonna stand on whatever it looked like for us. So it’s usually, hi, I’m choice, my partner away. I’m pansexual, he’s pansexual. I have an 80-year-old daughter, we’re looking for a girlfriend. Boom. So it’s usually how it runs if someone’s like interested because I don’t know how else to put it. So, and then like for instance, my mom watched it. She, she couldn’t pass the first episode ’cause she was just over the fact that I was dating someone else other than Ray. And then the fact that I was, me and Ray were with the girl, we had sex with the girl. She was just like, ah, this is too much for me. Y’all doing too much. Y’all doing too much. I can’t, I can’t, I can’t watch. So, you know, it’s not easy for everyone to, to process in this day and time because it’s still something like that’s not spoken about or sort of taboo in the sense of like reality.

(7m 48s):
So it’s here, it’s happening and it’s real. And so, you know, I love my mom and like she, we have, we have two ferrets and she hates any kind of animals, any kind of fake animals, anything look like a animal, like creatures. And so she was hugging up on the ferret and we’re friends now. So I’m like, if you can make a relationship with my parent and you don’t even like animals you can fund in your heart to make a relationship with our girlfriend so I don’t get over it. Yeah. And so I know that you’re like a gospel singer and like consider yourself a person of faith. Can you talk a little bit about your like spiritual or religious background and like, you ready for that? Yeah. How that got where you today we’re ready, let’s do it. So I, I grew up in the church first and foremost, I, I found God at 13.

(8m 32s):
I grew up in an under neighborhood and in my neighborhood there was a community center that always like served food and you know, engaged in the community. And I just happened to go and didn’t know they had a church. And I started going to the church there And I got ready close with the pastor. And so that started my journey in faith and I’ve been a Christian since I was 13 and so on. And I kept going and always singing and always singing as an adult. I moved to New York, back to New York because I left New York for a little while And I got into church choirs here and that’s where I started being in the church here, singing in the church, choirs here. And eventually led me to being a minister of music. So I’ve been a minister of music for five, six years now. A different church. I started singing praise and worship first and then I became a praise and worship leader from praise and worship leader that was a minister of one church and then to another church.

(9m 14s):
And so the back and forth either praise on worship, leading or ministering. And I’m actually also a Christian Buddhist. Last year my partner And I became Buddhist as well. So we’re Christian Buddhists. So yeah. And I’m actually a licensed minister. I can perform about four weddings this far. So if you’re queer and you look to get married and you want 12 weeks music to be the minister, how you doing? Come On. I love that. And I feel like there’s lots of queer Christian Buddhist crossover. Wow, I didn’t know that. I mean maybe it’s just like my, like my friends, I definitely went through like a Buddhist phase and like I am reading lots of Buddhist books and getting into meditation and the practices. It’s been really a meaningful part of my journey as well. But so I, I know to be like an LGBT person in the church, like it feels, for some people it feels like, oh my God, it was hard enough just to be gay or lesbian, bisexual.

(10m 1s):
Hard enough To come out. No, I have to. Yeah. And now like when you add non-monogamy, you’re polyamory into the mix. Yeah. It’s like you had another thing. And so like how, what has that been like navigating polyamory as a person at Faith? I dunno if you, I’m like all up in that polyamory person at Faith. I, I’m also polyamorous and bisexual and a person At Faith. So someone understand each other in a way. Like for me it’s like I’m unapologetically who I am And I don’t have to explain who God created me to be. I woke up this man, I woke up me And I tell people all the time when I do my shows, I do a lot of experience. I have my own band, I worked with them 10 years. I just had a show last night and the night before that and night before that. So I’m always working. Music is my life, music is my ministry, nor created me to be a street creature.

(10m 41s):
And that’s why I’m saying that because all my ministry ties to being in this industry, in the public, being in the eye and being someone that people are looking at. So one being someone that people are always looking at looking up to admired by, like, it, it, it’s been a journey being able to understand and stand in my own truth and be comfortable with that. Because for a long time there’s a lot of things I wouldn’t say or do, but you know, when it comes to the church, you gotta be solid and stand on your own faith for your own self because God is not the church, God is in you. And so you have to be able to stand on that for yourself because you’re gonna go through a transition no matter who you’re, and now us being who we’re is gonna a double transition because now you know it’s a lot more. And so it’s like I’m already now coming out of a stage where I’m trying to find who I am And I’m said this is who I am standing on it.

(11m 21s):
And then now the one group of people who’s supposed to all lean on and I’m supposed to rely on for love, for confidence, for guidance is sort of giving resistance too. So where do I go? And this is why a lot of us ends up in all houses in in the ballroom scene or in different situations where we shouldn’t be in because we’re looking for love or looking for comfort, looking for guidance in all the wrong places. And because we don’t have that, it leads us down the wrong path a lot. We gotta go through a lot of things to get to a point where we really find ourselves and and understand who we’re, And I feel like, you know, don’t nobody, don’t nobody know how to struggle like a LGBTQ Christian. Okay. Because Amen. Especially if you’re black, I ain’t gonna hold it. But it, especially if you’re black or trans because those two, being black in our community and being and being on GT is a lot and especially just being trans in general is, is is you know, in any community could be a lot.

(12m 8s):
So it is just something that you know, you gotta realize and stand on. When I said yes to the call on God’s life for me, I said, it’s one thing I didn’t tell you what to do Lord, but I need to not be around the corner. I don’t wanna go, I don’t wanna be a preacher in the church around the corner because there’s a lot of people in these church houses playing church And I don’t have time for it. I wanna be like Jesus, I wanna go to the, I wanna go down to down the street, I the corner. I wanna be like Jesus. And so I said yes and the Lord showed me, boom. Yeah. Immediately right after that I was in a setting, I was hosting karaoke, didn’t never been. And I was hosting karaoke And I was in a lounge and the Lord used me to prophesy to people and minister to people like I was in a church. Now I wasn’t on the microphone of everyone, but it was in a, to them personally, you come here, lemme talk to you for a minute.

(12m 51s):
The Lord told me to tell you this, da da da. Go get, go get Sarah. Tell Sarah to come here. And I’ve never did that in a real church. Like I’ve never done that in a church house. So for the Lord to say, okay, this is what you’re doing, boom. I never had an experience like that again per se. It’s always impersonal, personal like person to person. But I don’t play with God. And I already knew that that was that and that was that on that. And so every time I do a show, my live experience I call it, I always give a message because a lot of things, everything I do ties to my ministry. That’s why I said I’m a street preacher with that. I’ve even created my own style of music. ’cause I sing RB, Neo soul and gospel music, but I didn’t fit into one style and genre alone. So I created soul and bead. So if you look up drawing so hard, my single and have a video for it, that’s the epitome of what soul and be is because everything I do has a message makes you think about something, makes you wanna change, makes you wanna get up and do something.

(13m 34s):
And I don’t say Jesus lord of Christ, but you feel the spirit, you feel it. And I say to me, that’s the most important thing. I don’t have to say anything about spirituality, but you gonna feel it no matter what, no matter who you are, no matter where I’m at. And so that’s why the Lord created me to be me And I stand on it. Amen. Can you talk a little bit more, I love that so much. I, my Shannon And I hear are Queer Theology. I think long time listening to the podcast we’ll be like yeah, yeah, yeah. Like purchase like a drag show or a ballroom or like brunch with your friends or just like late night like Kiki. Like it’s, it’s like that’s the spirit there too. Can you talk a bit more about how you’ve like found God sort of outside of church walls? So once I realized who God was and, And I said yes to the Lord, that was the beginning journey for me because growing up where I grew up in the neighborhood, it wasn’t a good neighborhood and there was nobody around me who was in church.

(14m 21s):
So it was me in my spirituality sort of against all of them and trying to, you know, convert them and change and help them understand better. And like, and I’m 1314, so I like, and this ain’t, That’s a lot of weight to put on a 13-year-old, right? It’s like, why me? Like, you know this like, it’s a lot for me to handle, but it allowed me to be the stance for my family to open the door. And at that time I didn’t understand, but now I understand who I’m and why that purpose was because of the, the authority that I have and how my, how my family and everyone else looks up to me. The Lord shows me for that particular thing. Because when I say things, people speak, things happen and people listen. And so I’ve been that living example and because I’ve been an example, I’ve been able to, you know, get my mom closer to guy and get my sister, like most of the people close to me, closer to guy, anybody that’s around me, I’m hugging on you, speaking into you.

(15m 7s):
So it’s like I realize that this is really who I am and that it’s important to like, even to tell people like as simple as I work with you today, like I’m proud of you And I I’m telling you this, like I’m proud of you after researching you and looking at what you’ve done, looking with you guys, how far you’ve come. I’m proud of you. And like you have to be able to tell those two people and let them know why they, why they, why they’re alive and let some other flowers now because that’s important. Yeah. We don’t have to know each other to big each other up, but I’m proud of you. Yeah, yeah. So like what’s the reaction been like to you and the show and the sort of like the, the non monogamy of it and the sort like bold, I mean like boldly talk about sex and like it’s, it’s like you go there.

(15m 48s):
Oh yeah, We don’t, we go there. Literally. What’s the, what’s the re like in your personal life or amongst like your your more like your, your queer friends who aren’t religious, your religious friends who like aren’t queer. Everyone’s just first of all shocked when I’m like, it’s on Peacock. They’re like That. I know it’s wild. You like, there’s like, you’re like, I that’s you, that’s me. It’s you and you’re on Peacock and like you’re talking about fetish and you’re talking, you got your, your your cap and the harnesses and like I’m really exposed. Like it’s beautiful, they’re very shocked. But this, that’s not prefacing when I tell the people that’s, I’m telling ’em watch it for the first time I’m talking to, I say, listen, it’s a little different than what you’re used to.

(16m 31s):
You know me but you don’t know me. You’re getting a little bit insight into my personal life and it’s gonna be some things that you don’t know about me that you’re gonna find out. But you know, go watch for yourself and find out we can talk about it later. And that’s how to preface it because I’m like, same with my mom. She’s like, ah, so some people can handle it and some people can’t. And I, it’s not a surprise. I’ve been telling people this for a while so it’s not like they just saw it and found out like, oh my god. So if they aren my immediate family, like we did a screening a couple times, like for my birthday two, two years ago we did a screening and my family came in frame my birthday family friends. So like they got a dose of it. I got to watch it in first hand in a room full of 35, 40 people like react to the first episode. So, so it was, it was interesting like people who like who’ve known me, seen me grow up as a kid, you know, they’ve never seen me intimate or ready before like that kissing and all that stuff.

(17m 15s):
So it was a eye opener. So, but it’s always been a great reaction like for the most part. And I, a lot of people that who know me, they’re like wow, it’s a lot. You know, I understand this is who you are now. I know. But it’s always been positive for the most part. I know that there’s been some negativity out in the world that’s out there now. I’ve seen some of the posts and some things people say, but like I said in a lot last podcast, I don’t really take it in a negative way. ’cause I’ve learned being on the side of media, being involved, like I don’t give in my energy because I’m not giving you my power. Yeah. So what I’ll do is say thank you for watching. Your view means a lot, but your opinion is your opinion. Have a good night. Yeah. Bam. I don’t have to feed into the negativity, but you still watch it. So regardless of what people say. And so for me, I’ve been trying to teach that to the youngsters, the new ones, the newbies in the game of reality TV or or being on camera that there’s gonna be that no matter what.

(17m 57s):
Especially with t lgbtq, there’s a lot probably polyamory is a lot of what y’all doing in here on what we’re doing. So I mean, me personally, I expect that, but to me the message is always bigger. At the end of the day. You’re always gonna have the naysay, but the message is always bigger and so methods focus on that. Yeah. I mean I just think it’s like so powerful the way it’s, you’re you and like the other members of the show are just like so boldly yourselves and like unafraid to go there and that like, I don’t know, like kids all over the country are gonna be able to like watch it on Peacock. It’s not like Peacock, Remember is Amazon Prime? Yeah. I remember having to like secretly like use Kada download like Queer Folk or Noah’s Ark.

(18m 38s):
Right, right. Watching it alone in my bedroom. Right. You just like log into peacock.com like it’s cool, it’s wild. It’s right there for you. Yeah, that was just a dream for too because that’s, it was such a process. That’s why it took so long to finally happen because Shannon was like, you know what? We worked so hard on this, it’s a great message. Like it’s something different. Let’s just go for a big push. And so he pushed for a while with, you know, different aggregators to get it pushed major networks out tv, you know, all these other networks was interested and just the process of the networking game is, is just numbers waiting and la la la la But at the end of the day it was all worth it because we ended up with Peacock and Amazon Prime. So it was amazing. You know, the sky’s the limit to where I can go right now ’cause it’s taking the wheels of its own and so we’re just blessed.

(19m 21s):
Yeah. So you’re also like in addition to this, you know, reality dating star, a musician in your own right. And then, so talk to me, talk to me about like music and how that’s like, been part of your, your life and your journey. Ladies and gentlemen, that’s how I stop my show. So just that’s give you a little peek. So I’m Troy Weeks music. I’ve been single since I was three in performance since 14. I actually just won McDonald’s Gospel Fest 2025 male soloist winner. So for those of you who don’t know now, you know yeah boy just won 2025 McDonald Gospel Fest winner. So I’ve been been single since three performance since 14. And I had just been on this journey of finding myself. And so that’s how at age 28, the Lord let me to find soul and being, create my own style and genre music.

(20m 6s):
And then from then it’s been going, I’ve had my own band now over 10 years. The four weeks I’ve experience, and it started from one gig became eight months and now 10 years. So you can find me look all over the place performing. I travel, we travel, I’m always somewhere hosting like on red carpets, interviewing people or doing my podcast. I started doing media, my podcast years ago I was with a podcast And I one podcast I was on a a talk show from a talk show to another podcast, to my own podcast, free Yourself for four weeks. Music Out, you can look it up. And I have got that advice for weeks music, but it Very Awesome is And who I am and that’s really who I’m Troy’s music.

(20m 49s):
Yeah. And we’ll, and we’ll pull links to all this in the show notes, but I think recaps at the end of the episode. But like for this live experience, it sounds like really rad. Like where can people, if I wanna like come experience Troy’s Troy Weeks’s music experience, like how do, like where is that happening? Yeah, so the best thing to do is just check my Instagram because my Instagram is like my, my main source of everything. Yeah. I have a show, like my stories, I put a lot in my personal business because that’s, you know, it’s half fun people, like they watch it. Yeah. Since I, especially since I won McDonald’s gospel spread, especially since I’m on Alphabet super on Peacock people watching. So I put a lot of things on my story. So if you go to my Instagram at Troy weeks music, W-E-E-K-E-S, Troy, weeks, music on everything. If you type in Google you’ll see my whole life. But on Instagram I put all my shows and usually in the city you can find me mostly in Harlem, at Savannah Shrine, Harlem Nights downtown at the Groove.

(21m 37s):
So I reside, have residencies throughout the city, but I’m always a little, I’m gonna, I’m gonna come, I’m gonna come sometimes Be your city, you know, I’m all over the place. So it’s like if you, you know, once you see me, you can’t unsee me. Yeah. Once you see the experience, you can’t unsee it. And that’s the most important thing. If you, if you don’t, you just gotta come see for yourself. I always say you, you gotta see it for yourself. And the reason why I say experience, because I always tell people from the jump after I say ladies and gentlemen and hold a note forever, forever, boom. And I got asthma, but I can still hold the notes. That’s all part of the joke. And I have glasses with no lenses, so I see everything, all of that is part of the show live experience. Right. I went to scuba theater. Yeah. Okay. So I gotta add it in there. Look how vibrant I look. Okay, you kid, you gotta have confidence to worship like this. So after that I took them on the journey And I tell ’em, snap, clap, sing, move, and give money, you know, you gotta give a little tip.

(22m 26s):
Now some of us got kids the Pampers and teeth, you know, so yeah, I do a little standup comedy hosting all of it together. So it’s a musical experience and so I always let them up from the beginning. What, what the, what the house was on. And the last thing I say is, oh, you ready for the show? Yeah. You ready? And we get moving. Yeah. I mean it sounds like transcendent, it’s essentially cool. Like how, what’s your process like of putting together, like you’re, you’re weaving together music and comedy and storytelling and fa and fashion and spirituality and faith. Like, like what, how do you, like what’s your process like? How do you tap into all of that and pull it together? That’s a good question. I think the most important thing is, is I always stay tapped into my face first because, yeah, I stay grounded because being, I’m, I’m a preacher and a street preacher, so for me it’s like being, like, it’s hard to tap into that and then untap out of it.

(23m 17s):
And that’s the process that people don’t understand. I’m, I’m, I’m making myself physically, spiritually vulnerable so that I can provide for what the people need. So opening up myself, opening up myself, open myself every single time. So one, I stay true to myself. I already asked for this and the Lord said yes. And I said yes. And the sense of where I’m going. So I always go with the flow. I always, it’s always an experience, always a message because I want people to understand what’s happening. So sometimes I’ll say things I won’t remember because I’m a prophet And I always tell you if I might never remember this because it’s not for me, it’s for you, God, save the Lord. So for me, balancing all these things together is just, it’s, it’s an experience because I, I, it’s easy to burn out, but this is really my passion in my life And I wake up every day excited to do this, excited to be me, excited to go on this next journey, next experience and tap in.

(24m 9s):
And because I have someone who loves and supports me, having a great support system is important. My partner, we’re about to make four years in August and it’s just been a journey in that itself. Watch off of that suit you go see, we go through real life situations, things that real couples go through. And I think it’s important that people see a great representation of love. And this is why my partner And I Ray, we’re working on a, our community, I would say a community collective called 4K, four couples only. It’s a collective for L-G-B-T-Q-A, couples and couples, straight couples or allies of us. But we do events where we have couples only in a space where we can enjoy each other’s time and each other’s company because there’s not a lot of couples in our community that I know, I other people how many gay couples, you know, how many couples, you know there a lot of people dunno out of couples who are in our community.

(24m 53s):
So something has to give. And if me and my man gotta be Martin Luther King and Martin Luther King too, if our community would love and some people love is more, is important to bring back the love, the how important love is. And we will. And so we do these events. So if you’re a couple out there, we have a Facebook four, just reach out to me on my Instagram and say I wanna be a part of it. There’s a Facebook group on call 4K, four couples only. But I think I have to invite you to the group. I’m still trying to figure that part out. I’m new to the Facebook part of it. But yeah, like we we’re created a community of love And I feel like you just have to do what you have to do. And if you have to be the pillar for it, you have to. But it’s time to make change. We need to know that love is there and if you love yourself, you can find the love you need. You can manifest the love you want. Stop being so negative, putting things out there. I’m never gonna find, I’m never gonna, you can have anything you want if you believe it because manifestation is real.

(25m 33s):
You just gotta believe it. Yeah. Amen. You mentioned your, like your partner Ray that you do a lot of work with, he’s your partner also. You were on the show together. What was it like, like not just putting yourself up there, but putting your, like being on this reality show and, and putting your relationship with Ray and that dynamic between the two of you out, like you talked about a little bit about earlier about being like vulnerable in your, in your show and as an artist, but also I’m sure like this is like that time d kind of Exactly. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, it was, it wasn’t easy because again, I’m a very public person, so my, my, my private life is private And I keep it private for a reason, but it just sort of aligned itself where it just was time for me to finally go out there and tell my story and tell the truth and put it out there what’s happening because it’s, it’s a lot of people who need to see what looks like them and representation of themselves and, and know that they’ll be okay and they’ll be comfortable with it.

(26m 29s):
And I felt like I wanted to be able to be that and to, for Ray to finally come around full circle and do that and then see himself back and realize he was happy with his decision. Like, oh my God, not like he regretted it. It felt good because we just did a podcast recently and they asked that question like, how, like, did you guys have a fight after the show film or did you guys regret doing anything, like saying anything or doing anything? We didn’t because we were authentically ourselves and you know, and, and real about how we felt. And we do that in our relationship at, at home. And so that comes out through the TV and so it’s important that you have some strong, you have to have a foundation to stand on. You gotta have a good foundation for your house. If you ain’t got a foundation for your house, when the women blow, it’s gonna fall down. So you gotta start have a strong foundation and that relationship is different and it’s not easy, but being able to go through that journey on this process played out is inspiring to me as well because it inspiring.

(27m 18s):
It’s gonna be an inspiring to other people. So I figured that the message is bigger. It was, it was bigger than us. Yeah. And what’s like, what’s one message or a few messages that you hope viewers of Alphabet Soup take away from it? Take away from watching it. One, I hope you, I hope you understand like in in the trailer, if you don’t love yourself, I’d have you gonna love somebody else. Start with that. So you gotta love you first friend because there’s no way you can live somebody else in like, and us being l lgbtq going through the journeys of transition of getting out the house to come out the closet in the church, it’s a lot. And so you really gotta understand that you could really be in a moment of time to find the person for you, but you don’t love yourself enough to be able to understand and realize what’s happening. You miss the window of opportunity. Sometimes you don’t get it again.

(27m 59s):
So it’s important to one, walk away with love yourself first so that you can be able to receive the love you want. Because dating out here ain’t easy. Two, be authentically yourself. You wake up, you, I tell people all the time I’m gonna do my shows are my live experience. You wake up, you, it don’t cost you no money to be you, it free. You just gotta believe anything you wanna do and put your mind to it. You can do it and you can achieve it. And so be your best self. Because I’ve been told no by the four American Idol, the Voice, America’s Got Talent, all these shows. 23 times I’ve been told no. But I’m so talented and so great. I’m still living my dreams. I got my own band. I’ve been for 10 years now. I’ve been putting other artists on. I’ve been doing amazing things because your talent not based on somebody else, it’s based on you, your faith and your trusting and believing in yourself.

(28m 39s):
’cause God gave you the gift, not somebody else. And so walk in it and don’t be afraid. ’cause God gives you everything you need to make it happen. Don’t be afraid, walk in it, stand in it and walk in it. It ain’t gonna be easy. It wasn’t easy for Jesus to walk through the stand and then he wasn’t easy to come to hang himself on under the cross for, for us. But at the end of the day, there has to be, you have to stand for something or your fault for anything. Yeah. You gotta be able to say, this is what I’m doing, this is what I’m standing, like you’re standing in your faith and like you trust God and you stand, you gotta be able to stand up the same way. And I feel like that is what’s important. Take that away. And last but not least be able to have an open mind. Like the world is bigger than your two eyes right here and what you see in front of you. Like there’s so much money you can learn. And then like I learned the ignorance of that. We were taught, we were all taught ignorance.

(29m 21s):
I don’t care who you’re, where you’re from the world. We’re born being taught ignorance based on who we’re and where we’re from and who our family is. And so learn to unlearn all that negativity because at the end of the day, you only got one life to live and you’re not a cat, you ain’t got nine, you have one, it’s your life to live. And every day you get a to wake up And I, I could do today. And so, you know, age is nothing but a number. A lot of people say I’m too old, I’m too age is nothing but a number. Cheryl Lee Ralph said, if you can’t do it in your thirties, 20 through your thirties, you can’t do it in your thirties, do it in your forties. You can’t do it to your forties in your fifties. Can’t do it in your fifties. Do it your sixties. Like just do it like yeah, don’t ever stop doing it. Like your time is your time and if you believe this is what you’re supposed to be doing, just keep working.

(30m 1s):
That is why I’ve never given up because I know for a fact that the age has nothing to do with what my gift is gonna do for the world. Mm. And so I just stay focused on, on the prize looking forward. Because if you’re looking backwards in the past and on around you, on the side with the struggle, you can’t go forward. God’s trying to bless you. Look where you’re going. Listen, stay in tune and focus, you know? Yeah. Stop. Listen to everything else around you. Focus on what yourself meditate something. Yeah. I’m, I’m turning 40 in two weeks, so I’ve been reminding myself that a lot recently. Like, oh Wow, come on now I’m still be there, Have age just to number, not I’m still here. Like I got more life ahead of me. We got things to do. Keep on, keep on on. Yeah, Exactly.

(30m 41s):
I’m soon be 40, I’m 30, I turned 39 this year. So I understand like when he gets to those close age ranges, it’s like you start to question yourself. Like my, my biggest fear was being 30 and having the show for it. And my daughter was born a couple days before my 30th birthday. So it’s like I was with that fear for so long and look, I got the greatest gift of the world. Like the Lord trusts me enough to be a dad and for me to have a kit. So age is nothing but an ember. You can do anything you wanna do. If you really believe it, it’s just like, just don’t lose, just don’t lose faith in it. Just don’t lose the hope in it. You can do anything. You, as long as you still preach, you can do anything you want to do. The world in society and our family, everyone teaches us. Oh, with the weights on you, that’s look you supposed to overcome. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

(31m 22s):
So it’s okay that you’re gonna go through these trends. You’re always in a transitional, you’re always transitioning, you’re always on a on on a rotating like circle. You know what I’m saying? And that’s the part that you have to understand. You, you, you, you’re never gonna be the same. You gonna always evolve. So as you evolve, you gotta check in with yourself. I like to say I’m getting ready before you got you evolving now in a different Yeah. Decade. So how do I check in with yourself? How do I, what, what does this look like for me? Where am I going and what do I didn’t do that I don’t need to do? Or are the waste of my time and what do I need to do now to focus on where I’m going? And like those little things will make a change. It’s not the negativity of age because they ain’t number because you be plus something. Yeah. So it yeah, yeah, yeah. Has nothing to do with ages more about you as a person and how you overcome those things being thrown at you.

(32m 6s):
You know, you’ve already, you made it about to make 40, so I know you Overcome it. You know how many queer men didn’t make it to 40? Like what a blessing. Like god damn. That is My whole point. Yeah. You’re overcome, you overcame it. Yeah. So now what’s the next thing? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Man, pressure. Pressure makes diamonds. I totally like some of the hardest parts. Like they sucked. I wouldn’t, I didn’t wanna go through them, but also like they formed me into to who I am. So I You wouldn’t be who you’re, You’re all you Exactly. That Pass the points one push. Yeah. You wouldn’t be able to stand here and be confident and strong enough to stand here on your own podcast. One of the longest one lgbtq, come on. You wouldn’t be able to do that if you did not stand and believe in that. So shout out to you. Yeah. Yeah. It was like, I mean, not, not to make it about me, but like 12 years ago when we started this, like people were not happy that we were talking about sex and religion and queerness.

(32m 51s):
They were like, we wanna be just good. Well we’ll just be good gay Christians and like, don’t talk about polyamory, don’t talk about sex or like abolish the prisons. Like feed all the people have radical love, self-acceptance, like open relationships. It’s all like, and they’re like, you, You don’t even know how many people that you’ve, you’ve impacted though being able to be the voice because you too were the voice to be able to make change for a whole new world. Like, I’m even talking to you about this, it seems, I’m like, like I, It’s cool. Yeah. I’ve never been able to actually talk to someone who would understand and be able to go through it. So for me it’s like, that’s what I’m saying. Like I, I-I-I-I-I understand where you’re coming from, but somebody had to do it and you did it so that you could be where you’re, yeah.

(33m 32s):
I remember eight years ago were like on some like live webinar or something And I referenced being polyamorous. People were like, I’ve never heard another Christian out loud in public say that they were polyamorous. And I was like, hello. Hi to me. How you doing? You, you mentioned like a moment ago, like in one of your like three points was like the, the importance of loving yourself. Like how are some of the ways that you’ve learned to love yourself, like in worlds that are like stacked against us sometimes. Like what are some of the ways you’ve cultivated that, that, that self love For me, I realized that I can’t change things that I have no control over. So I, and knowing and learning that it changed my life.

(34m 13s):
And then ultimately the biggest change was becoming a addiction and abuse coach. Because I went through so much in my life that I had to deal with those. I was angry And I didn’t know, I was angry when I was angry. So I had to go through a lot to realize, you know what, this is what that is, this is what that is. And I came into a point where I realized things like emotional incest and the abuse I was really getting. I didn’t know it was abuse. And so I said, you know what? Now that I know this, I’m gonna take my power back. So I set boundaries, new boundaries for myself and moving forward with around. And so I said, okay, even with my mom, dad, boundaries, Boundaries, boundaries. So important. Yeah. And My mom’s only son and she has three kids. I have a 20 sibling. I’m my mom’s only son. And so she loves and adores me.

(34m 54s):
But I have to say, listen mom, I’m at a new place in my life, a new bond in my life where I’m tired of being your son and your boyfriend. I just wanna be your son. Just wanna be your son. I just need my mom. So I’m gonna let the boyfriend go. ’cause I need to need you to be my mom And I, we gonna have to figure out what that looks like, but let’s just do it because that’s what I need for, I have my own family, I have own relationship, I have my own things I need to focus on And I don’t wanna focus that energy that anymore. And the same thing with my dad. My dad, I love my dad. I, my dad’s oldest kid, And I keep saying oldest because I’m the oldest of my twin sister And I, but I’m the oldest all the kids. And so me, my dad are very close, so I’m my kids. He looks like he’s, he looks young, they have us young, so we look like brothers. And so I’m like, he was just here in town actually last week for the first time in a long time. And I was hosting karaoke and he gotta come sing with me. He don’t even sing.

(35m 35s):
It was interesting. It was dope. So it’s like, I tell my dad the same thing. I don’t wanna be your brother and your son anymore. I just want you to be my dad. Like, I need to separate this so that I can move on with my life because you’ve given me responsibility for too long And I don’t check on anymore. I got my own things to where about. So boom. So you have to come those realizations. So when I realized that And I became my whole self, now I’m able to operate and walk and move in a different way to let myself, in a way I can check in And I can know what the boundaries are for me. I know what, what doesn’t feel right. I know what, you know, what I need to do to change it. So taking more accountability, being more responsible. And so I, I use those things to one, live the be a living example to teach people how to be better. What a beautiful, what a beautiful message. So like Alphabet Soup, it’s out now on Peacock and Amazon Prime.

(36m 17s):
Troy works music on Instagram. Like where else can folks find you and like what else have you got coming up? Yeah, so basically again, all social media at Troy weeks music. So I have, I have a few shows coming up next month. Again, a live of experience coming up hosting karaoke again next month coming up. There’s a lot of activity, a lot of musical activities happening. So come and check it out. I also working on getting a full launch with my product, but uni it’s a unisex Fragrance that I created. I’ve been doing Fragrance for 10 years And I decided to finally do my own because it was like this muscle. Good. So not only is it in a spray form, it’s in an oil form, it’s in the body, shower, wash, body gel, lotion, body butter, massage oil. So full body, head to toe smelled good, smelled great uni, I wanna Check it out.

(37m 0s):
Yeah. And then also again, I run McDonald’s Gospel Fest. That was that. And so now I started working on the shows, working on getting uni off the ground. I’m working on my album soon. So I’m really, I have a full body of work. I’ve got, I’ve got tons of music out videos s with other people. Yeah. But it’s time that I’m finally working on my album, the Book of Life. It’s been 10 years in the making. And so babe, when that hit the ground, it’s gonna be on and popping. And y’all gonna be looking for me at your local town because when my album comes up, my goal is to go on tour to different towns, different states, different cities, and do the tour weeks live experience. And I always do, but add my own music in. Now people can hear my music, know my songs, and make it a real live experience and feature some artists from different towns. So get yourselves ready if you’re out there, if you’re an artist, check my music out.

(37m 41s):
If you’re s saying private vibe, I’m definitely looking forward to collaborative with artist. Y’all can, watching you on Peacock, Amazon. Now, I’m assuming y’all can watch me on the Complete Network Looking, complete Network. The show is called Complete Boss Bootcamp. That’s why I had uni had a billboard out in Atlanta for us. So if you’re in Atlanta, you might have seen my billboard out there from being on the show, still being a dad and loving it, loving my man and loving my life. I So check, check me out guys. Again, I love connecting with people. I’m not afraid to talk, ask questions. You can just, I’m, I’m touchable reachable, I answer my own dms and all that. I ain’t got nobody doing it for me. So let’s talk if you guys have any questions, and if you’re ever in New York City for the moment of time, come the two weeks.

(38m 26s):
Yeah, thank you for all that. We’ll put all that in the description of the episode and then we like to close out by asking like, what’s one thing that’s bringing you joy these days? One thing that’s bringing me joy is knowing that me being, living in my truth, specifically with this moment in time, something like this is gonna really be able to make change. Like, I’ve tried so hard to be the change and now that I don’t, I, being myself is actually making the change. So I, I’m bringing joy doing, spreading the word every day with about Alphabet Soup because it’s bringing light and opening minds to people that they’ve never seen before. Especially when they see it to me, it’s like, oh, well Troy’s normal. I I know him if he’s, you know, do this. And maybe it’s something like I may be interested in too. I don’t know. So like, to be able to wake up every day and inspire people gives me so much joy.

(39m 8s):
So that’s what it is for me. Keeping it, I’m keeping it normal. Thank you for being here, Troy, and thank you for being a part of Alphabet Soup. It’s such a, like the show in general is such a beautiful show that like showcases queer life from so many different angles and, and like the love and the beauty of it and the joy, but also like that you keep it real in the show and like the drama and the difficulty Real, The the, the struggle of a dating scene sometimes. And like it’s just, it feels like so real but also like so beautiful and so hopeful and so I love it. And you’re such a great part in this, in the show. And so yeah, thanks for everything. Yes, Y’all go watch it. Please go watch it, go watch it, go watch it. You really enjoy it. And this season two is already done, so at some point that’ll be all.

(39m 48s):
But please engage, tell somebody else about it. I think it’s important that we spread the word so that people can know that we’re out here, we’re queer, we’re loud, and it’s this so let’s do it. Yeah, I’m hooked. It’s such, I’m like, every episode ends and I’m like, oop, I gotta, I gotta keep watching. Like it just, right. What’s that? There’s some good, there’s some good cliffhangers in there. It’s good. It’s a good show Suck. Food stamps. Yeah, from the Trailer. One of my favorites, so yeah. Awesome. Alright, well thanks again for being here and links to all of Troy’s stuff will be in the episode description and we’ll talk to you next week. Oh Yeah. See you guys. Thank you so much for having me. Just a reminder that we’re hosting another three week cohort, all about integrating queer sex and non-monogamous relationships with our values and our faith and our spirituality.

(40m 32s):
It’s called Poly Possibilities. And we’re starting later this month. We would love to have you join. It’s happening inside of our community and Learning hub. Learn more at Queer Theology dot com slash polyposis. The Queer Theology podcast is just one of many things that we do at Queer Theology dot com, which provides resources, community, and inspiration for L-G-B-T-Q, Christians and straight cisgender supporters. To dive into more of the action, visit us at Queer Theology dot com. You can also connect with us online on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram. We’ll see you next week.