On this week's Out Here in America, Justin shares his final story for the show. His colleague Margaret Baker is the lead investigative reporter for the Sun Herald in Biloxi, Mississippi. She's covered a lot of murders but one about a transgender woman brought her closer to her identity and became a federal hate crime case. Hear Margaret's story about how she changed the way crimes against transgender individuals are prosecuted, all on Out Here in America. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of Out Here in America, Pass Christian, Miss.-native Shelby Peranich shares her story of falling in love in college, and subsequently being forced out back home. Today, she lives with her partner in Memphis, and talks to host Justin Mitchell about feeling accepted in the LGBTQ community there — as well as the proud LGBTQ community she sees forming back home along the Mississippi coast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week's Out Here in America, Austin Gaddis shares his story of being closeted in one of the University of Alabama's largest fraternities. He also shares how he participated in a covert, underground gay dating system right under his brothers' noses. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode, host Justin Mitchell sits down with Carson Jones–-the son of Alabama Senator Doug Jones. Justin and Carson look back at the 2016 election the campaign against Roy Moore. They also look to the future of Alabama during a tough political climate. Hear more on Out Here in America. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode, host Justin Mitchell sits down with Pomona College student Daniel Garcia, along with Victoria Penny — the woman Daniel proudly calls “mom” — and his new sister, Brailey Penny, to look back at Daniel’s difficult childhood in the Mississippi foster care system, and to look ahead at what they all believe is his very bright future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week's episode, trans man Dillon King takes us into the world of CrossFit in a small town in Louisiana. Hear all about King's fight to make trans lives matter in the town with the help of his family and the little gym that could, all on Out Here in America. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode, host Justin Mitchell sits down with Teddy Mars, host of the Carnival Kings’ long-running late-night New Orleans drag shows, to talk about the evolution of LGBTQ communities down South, being a visible ally for LGBTQ equality along the Gulf Coast, and balancing fatherhood with his life in a drag king troupe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week's Out Here in America, Daniel Desrochers guest hosts this week's episode. The Lexington Herald-Leader reporter sits down with Judge Ernesto Scorsone--a circuit court judge with a long history of standing up for LGBTQ rights in the conservative state of Kentucky. Hear how the judge broke down sodomy laws in the state and paved away for modern-day activism. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode, host Justin Mitchell sits down with Devin Ladner — a stripper in the heart of New Orleans' Bourbon Street — to talk about emotional labor as a dancer, losing family, and the rules of the road when it comes to being a gay stripper in the Deep South. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode, host Justin Mitchell sits down with 16-year-old Pass Christian High School graduate Jorden Blosser — the first out transgender student to receive a diploma from the 600-student school on the Mississippi Gulf Coast — to talk about ageism in the LGBTQ community, unexpected allies in public education, and coming of age as a trans teen in the Deep South. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices