Join our Patreon to unlock 25+ full-length bonus episodes, ad-free weekly episodes, mp3 downloads of our original songs, exclusive Discord access, and more! You can also support the show by grabbing a cozy fall sweater at bit.ly/lezmerch & picking up Lez-ssentials songs on Bandcamp. Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that is investing in a VHS player for no particular reason.  This week, co-hosts Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out with Daviel Shy (@solsticetits), a multi-disciplinary artist who wrote and directed over a dozen short films, runs and curates L.M.N.O.P (Lesbian Movie Night Ongoing Project), and co-founded DAYLiGHT FiLMs, a kinky, queer, analogue pivot into the adult entertainment industry. We talk in-depth about Daviel’s new series The Lovers, a 7-episode series available on Prime Video, that she brought to life during the pandemic lockdowns.  The Lovers follows the story of a laid off sex-worker who falls for a fitness witch in 2020’s L.A. When asked her elevator pitch for the series, Daviel explained that it’s basically a kinkier, gayer Skins and after watching it, we fully agree with that description. Prior to creating The Lovers, Daviel had a lot of experience with writing, directing and producing, but with the barriers of the lockdowns, she decided to also star in the series, a first that helped her realize she actually wanted to do what her character was doing. Through the assistance of the kink community in L.A., Daviel was able not only to create her series, but to connect with the network she would need to break into the adult entertainment industry and co-found DAYLiGHT FiLMs.  You can stream The Lovers on Amazon Prime Video or Vimeo On Demand.  Give us your own answers to our Q & Gay on Instagram and follow along on Facebook, TikTok, and BlueSky @lezhangoutpod. Email us @lezhangoutpod@gmail.com. Connect with us individually: Ellie Brigida (@elliebrigida). Leigh Holmes Foster (@lshfoster). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join our Patreon to unlock 25+ full-length bonus episodes, ad-free weekly episodes, mp3 downloads of our original songs, exclusive Discord access, and more! Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that is always going to root for Aubrey Plaza (even when she’s playing a literal stalker).  This week, Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out and talk about why the 2017 dark comedy Ingrid Goes West Should’ve Been Gay. We really enjoyed this extremely cringey comedy, but we wish it had gone further with Ingrid and Taylor’s relationship. Ingrid’s behavior was unhinged, for sure; but it wasn’t Saltburn level unhinged.  For those who have not seen the movie, the plot centers around Ingrid (Aubrey Plaza) who moves to LA specifically to stalk the Instagram influencer (Elizabeth Olsen) that she is obsessed with. While we fully understand the point they are trying to make about parasocial relationships and social media, we can’t help but root for Ingrid the entire time. She may have gone about everything in a really convoluted way, but Ingrid does love Taylor (unlike Taylor’s husband, who seems to hate everything about her). It feels a lot like Killing Eve, where you can’t help but root for Villanelle to “get the girl” even as she is killing people left and right.  We know one thing for sure, Ingrid Goes West Should’ve Been Gay. Give us your own answers to our Q & Gay on Instagram and follow along on Facebook, TikTok, and BlueSky @lezhangoutpod. Email us @lezhangoutpod@gmail.com. Connect with us individually: Ellie Brigida (@elliebrigida). Leigh Holmes Foster (@lshfoster). You can also support the show by gearing up for Halloween at bit.ly/lezmerch & picking up Lez-ssentials songs on Bandcamp. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join our Patreon to unlock 25+ full-length bonus episodes, ad-free weekly episodes, mp3 downloads of our original songs, exclusive Discord access, and more! You can also support the show by grabbing a cozy Halloween sweater at bit.ly/lezmerch & picking up Lez-ssentials songs on Bandcamp. Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that wants you to elect more lesbians! This week, co-hosts Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out with Janelle Perez (@janelleperezfl), the Executive Director of LPAC (@teamlpac), the only organization in the U.S. dedicated entirely to electing LGBTQ+ women and non-binary leaders. LPAC is a nonpartisan organization born out of the realization that the majority of the financial contributions made to LGBTQ+ organizations were disproportionately going to cis white men. A group of lesbians recognized this disparity and decided to try to increase equity in politics by electing a more representative government. When LPAC was founded in 2012, there was only one queer woman running for office. Just 12 years later, in 2024 there were over 200 queer women and non-binary candidates. And not only are more candidates running, but more are winning too! LPAC had an impressive 74% win-rate in 2024.  Janelle explains what it takes to become an LPAC endorsed-candidate (main answer: BE GAY!), why queer women statistically win more candidacy races than gay men do, and how a life-altering cancer diagnosis brought her parents from homophobic to “we want you to have your wedding on our front lawn” in record-time. Although she is now 10-years cancer free, Janelle’s coming out journey, decision to run for State Senate in FL, and involvement with LPAC are all interwoven with her diagnosis. At 28 years old, Janelle was diagnosed with 2 types of terminal cancer. This could’ve easily derailed her life, but instead it was the catalyst that brought her family together and gave her the itch to get involved in local politics. Janelle shares that queer women typically run for office for mission-driven reasons rather than a desire for power. She herself ran on the basis of expanding access to healthcare for people in her home state after receiving an egregiously large bill for a cancer treatment. After her experience running for office, she pivoted to the organization that had backed her candidacy, LPAC, eventually stepping into the role of Executive Director. We talk a lot about gay audacity on this podcast, and Janelle and LPAC have it in spades. If Janelle’s story inspires you and you would like to learn what it takes to run for office in your district, be sure to reach out to LPAC for all the resources you could ever possibly need to get started. Learn more about LPAC: https://www.teamlpac.com Give us your own answers to our Q & Gay on Instagram and follow along on Facebook, TikTok, and BlueSky @lezhangoutpod. Email us @lezhangoutpod@gmail.com. Connect with us individually: Ellie Brigida (@elliebrigida). Leigh Holmes Foster (@lshfoster). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join our Patreon to unlock 25+ full-length bonus episodes, ad-free weekly episodes, mp3 downloads of our original songs, exclusive Discord access, and more! You can also support the show by gearing up for Halloween at bit.ly/lezmerch & picking up Lez-ssentials songs on Bandcamp. Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that would rather go to literal prison than marry a man. This week, Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) enter their showgirl era with the ultimate lesbian cowgirl diva, Brooke Eden (@brookeedenmusic), and talk about why the 2002 Oscar-winning movie-musical, Chicago, Should’ve Been Gay. Chicago is a millennial casting wet-dream with Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Queen Latifah, Mýa and a tragically underutilized Lucy Liu. If you haven’t seen the movie (or the 1975 stage show it’s based on– hot take but the movie is better), it’s essentially Orange is the New Black: The Musical. Although Chicago puts our stars Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly into the overtly heteronormative world of the 1920s, there is little to no hetero explanation for 99% of the plot. The story is set in a time period when people could end up in jail just for being gay, so it honestly does not surprise us that Queen Latifah is essentially running a lesbian harem on Murderesses Row. Sure, these specific women are in jail because they killed their husbands (and side-pieces), but is that not the gayest reason to be in jail? In fact, we reckon Murderesses Row functions like a 1920s HER. If we had a choice between marrying a man or killing said man, going to jail and getting to hook up with Velma freaking Kelly, call us Piper Chapman because we’re skipping GO and doing the Cell Block Tango. We know one thing for sure, Chicago Should’ve Been Gay (and all that jazz). Give us your own answers to our Q & Gay on Instagram and follow along on Facebook, TikTok, and BlueSky @lezhangoutpod. Email us @lezhangoutpod@gmail.com. Connect with us individually: Ellie Brigida (@elliebrigida). Leigh Holmes Foster (@lshfoster). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join our Patreon to unlock 25+ full-length bonus episodes, ad-free weekly episodes, mp3 downloads of our original songs, exclusive Discord access, and more! You can also support the show by grabbing a cozy fall sweater at bit.ly/lezmerch & picking up Lez-ssentials songs on Bandcamp. Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that is issuing an ultimatum to all of you– listen to this episode or seriously miss out. This week, co-hosts Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out with award-winning author, global keynote speaker, and host of I Feel That Way Too, Michelle MiJung Kim (@michellekimkim) for an in-depth breakdown of Season 2 of everyone’s favorite messy reality tv show, The Ultimatum: Queer Love.  When Michelle told us she wanted to talk about The Ultimatum, we were immediately on board. We love mess just as much as the next gays; and season 2 really went off the rails in ways that were at best hilarious and at worst downright unsettling (like, we hope Netflix paid for their therapy unsettling). This extreme level of messiness adds an authenticity to the cast that actually feels like a move in the right direction for queer representation. They’re not the usual sanitized “love-is-love” mainstream gays. Instead the cast are real queer people, appearing as they are, un-healed trauma, complicated families and all. And we think their bravery deserves a lot of credit. Now if we could just get a host that wouldn’t be so scared to take her claws out and ask the real questions, we’d have a master class for young queers in recognizing red flags, navigating conflict effectively (and ineffectively), determining consent and boundaries, and questioning heteronormative relationship values.  Give us your own answers to our Q & Gay on Instagram and follow along on Facebook, TikTok, and BlueSky @lezhangoutpod. Email us @lezhangoutpod@gmail.com. Connect with us individually: Ellie Brigida (@elliebrigida). Leigh Holmes Foster (@lshfoster). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join our Patreon to unlock 25+ full-length bonus episodes, ad-free weekly episodes, mp3 downloads of our original songs, exclusive Discord access, and more! It costs less per month than one iced coffee and it makes a huge impact in keeping our little indie queer podcast going.  You can also support the show by gearing up for Halloween at bit.ly/lezmerch (we’ve got the cutest gay ghosties) & picking up Lez-ssentials songs on Bandcamp. Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that will be there for you. This week, Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out and talk about why the older-millennial-favorite, Friends, Should’ve Been Gay.  Although Friends is problematic for so many reasons (and time has not done it any favors), there were still moments in the series that were groundbreaking for the queer community. In 1996 Carol and Susan’s wedding was the first lesbian wedding ever on American tv and, unsurprisingly, 2 network affiliates refused to air the episode. But even a lesbian wedding could not save the show from being aggressively heteronormative in ways that we truly believe make our whole generation eligible for compensation. There really is no bigger example of a show just overflowing with comp-het energy than Friends. You’re expecting us to believe that there exists a group of six friends in New York City and not one of them is gay? One of them is quite literally a soap-opera actor with a live-in longterm boyfriend, but somehow even he is not gay? We could’ve had the ultimate “and they were roommates” of shows, but instead we got a full decade of being gaslit into thinking Ross was a “nice guy”. And don’t even get us started on how dirty they did Janice.  We know one thing for sure, Friends Should’ve Been Gay. Give us your own answers to our Q & Gay on Instagram and follow along on Facebook, TikTok, and BlueSky @lezhangoutpod. Email us @lezhangoutpod@gmail.com. Connect with us individually: Ellie Brigida (@elliebrigida). Leigh Holmes Foster (@lshfoster). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join our Patreon to unlock 25+ full-length bonus episodes, ad-free weekly episodes, mp3 downloads of our original songs, exclusive Discord access, and more! You can also support the show by grabbing a cozy fall sweater at bit.ly/lezmerch & picking up Lez-ssentials songs on Bandcamp. Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that is begging for Britney Spears to release the non-binary edition of “I’m Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman”.  This week, co-hosts Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out with non-binary actor Robyn Holdaway (@robynholdaway) who you may recognize as Layla from Netflix’s Sex Education. Robyn is a prolific voice actor, as well as an educational creator on TikTok where they make videos with their wife about everything from exploring gender and sexuality to navigating physical and mental health challenges.  We talk with Robyn about LGBTQ+ representation across media, the differences between realistic/accurate representation and idealistic representation, and what it means to actually become the representation they wish they’d seen when they were younger. In examining the intersection of sapphic and non-binary identities, Robyn discusses the (unfortunately unsurprising) amount of backlash they’ve received online for explaining the meanings of words like ‘sapphic’ using gender-inclusive (and completely accurate) language. From there Robyn dives into explaining their non-binary identity and why their marriage doesn’t feel particularly ‘sapphic’ due to Robyn’s “Gomez Addam’s”-style masculinity, and we consider our own gender identities– concluding that Leigh’s gender is “Tiny Dad Mom” and Ellie’s is “Rainbow Unicorn Overalls”.  Give us your own answers to our Q & Gay on Instagram and follow along on Facebook, TikTok, and BlueSky @lezhangoutpod. Email us @lezhangoutpod@gmail.com. Connect with us individually: Ellie Brigida (@elliebrigida). Leigh Holmes Foster (@lshfoster). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join our Patreon to unlock 25+ full-length bonus episodes, ad-free weekly episodes, mp3 downloads of our original songs, exclusive Discord access, and more! You can also support the show by gearing up for fall (we’ve got beanies, cozy mugs, and sweatshirts!) at bit.ly/lezmerch & picking up your favorite Lez-ssentials songs on Bandcamp. Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that would 100% play Pink Pony Club while the boat sinks. This week, Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out with Broadway producer, writer, actor, creator of viral sapphic content, and host of the Sapphic Panic Podcast (and co-host of new podcast,That’s So Sapphic), Alexi Melvin (@thealeximelvin), to talk about why James Cameron’s 1997 blockbuster film Titanic Should’ve Been Gay.  Honestly, there is shockingly little that needs to be changed for Titanic to be a full-on queer masterpiece. Jack is already so androgynous that he’s giving Gentleman Jack and Rose… well, she’d literally rather fling herself into the freezing sea than marry a man. Everything– from the directorial choices made (especially the framing of Jack and Rose’s sex scene), the casting decisions (Leonardo DiTWINKrio was truly a bizarre choice for a 90’s male romantic lead), and the lesbian savior-complex audacity of Jack sacrificing himself for a woman he kissed for the first time only 6 hours prior– combines to make Titanic a film that truly feels gay. Whether you were a young femme in the 90s feeling seen by Kate WinsLEZ’s portrayal of sad-girl Rose or a young androgynous queer feeling inspired by Leo’s depiction of Jack and his “Hey Mamas” energy, Titanic had something for everyone.  We talk about the few tweaks we would make to the movie, the added layer of complexity the story gains when viewing Jack as either an androgynous lesbian or a young trans man, the ‘eat the rich’ of it all, and why we truly believe both Jack and Rose could’ve fit on that ‘door’ at the end. We know one thing for sure, Titanic Should’ve Been Gay. Give us your own answers to our Q & Gay on Instagram and follow along on Facebook, TikTok, and BlueSky @lezhangoutpod. Email us @lezhangoutpod@gmail.com. Connect with us individually: Ellie Brigida (@elliebrigida). Leigh Holmes Foster (@lshfoster). We’re heading to France from March 25-31st, 2026, and we want you to come with us! Learn more and secure your spot on our Big Gay Trip to Paris and Bordeaux at bit.ly/lezdofrance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thank you so much for hanging out with us for 9 seasons! Join our Patreon to unlock 25+ full-length bonus episodes, ad-free weekly episodes, mp3 downloads of our original songs, exclusive Discord access, and more. You can also support the show by gearing up for fall at bit.ly/lezmerch & picking up Lez-ssentials songs on Bandcamp. Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that thinks, “It’s not the time” to be glorifying traditional heteronormative values. This week, co-hosts Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) are back from summer break and more unfiltered than ever!  We have not even been away that long and in the meantime a really insidious conservative “family values” vibe has begun to spread through the queer community. Prominent queer celebs (cough Fletcher and JoJo Siwa) who built their brands on the backs of a predominantly queer audience are “reverse” coming-out publically as dating cishet men while our rights are crumbling all around us. It’s giving ‘I’m one of the good gays’ and we are really not here for it at this time in our political landscape. Keep in mind, we recorded this episode before the Betty Who debacle and we didn’t even need that to fill an hour-long podcast on the ‘tradwife’ of it all.  Now before you get out your pitchforks, we have ZERO issues with bisexuals. Our world of algorithms and click bait isn’t really keen on nuance and this issue requires it in spades. We are not denying that biphobia exists in the lesbian community and that lesbians need to do better; AND it is also true that queerness is about more than just who you’re dating. Like it or not, there is a political and cultural component to queerness and you cannot just opt out and expect to not piss off your fanbase. There is nothing wrong with being a queer woman and dating a cishet man, that in itself does not make you less queer. However, there is something deeply jarring about the sharp pivot from Fletcher straddling women on stage in leather pants for years to Fletcher making the very calculated decision to release “Boy” (the 2025 ‘trad’ equivalent of “I Kissed A Girl”) as the single for her album during one of the most politically fraught Pride months in recent history. When highly visible queer women like Fletcher and JoJo Siwa are behaving more “trad” than the Mormon wives on TikTok (you know the ones) at the exact same time that the Supreme Court is about to potentially rip away our right to get married, there’s a serious problem. Between the decline of political queerness, the rise of traditional gender roles (where did all the “bi wife energy” kings go?), and whatever the hell is going on with all these butter-churning performatively queer “pick-me gays” taking influencer jobs away from hard-working cottagecore dykes, the overall vibe is a mess™ right now. We don’t love that the world appears to be burning down around us; but, hey, at least we have each other. Give us your own answers to our Q & Gay on Instagram and follow along on Facebook, TikTok, and BlueSky @lezhangoutpod. Email us @lezhangoutpod@gmail.com. Connect with us individually: Ellie Brigida (@elliebrigida). Leigh Holmes Foster (@lshfoster). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re excited to bring you a feed drop from Rom Com Vom, a miniseries from Sex Ed with DB that dissects your favorite romantic comedies through a feminist and queer lens. In this episode, host Danielle Bezalel is joined by actor and writer Brandon Kyle Goodman to revisit Legally Blonde. They break down why the movie still resonates, where it falls short on representation, and whether Elle Woods is actually challenging the system — or just learning to play by its rules. Plus: the camp, the class privilege, and why Hollywood can’t seem to let a woman succeed without giving her a love story. Listen to the full episode here and find Sex Ed with DB wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we are 'holding space' for this Wicked good episode from our friends over at Cruising podcast. We hope you’re enjoying our summer swaps. Stay tuned to the feed because Lez Hang Out will be back with Season 9 very soon and we have some really exciting episodes that we cannot wait for you all to hear! -------- You might know this week's guest, Tracy E. Gilchrist (@tracyegilchrist), as "the queen of queer media" or simply "the holding space lady." She reached internet fame last year when her interview with Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande went viral during the Wicked press tour. But it goes without saying that Tracy is a whole person, who has lived a whole life, outside of that one video. Tracy has worked in queer media since the 90s - specifically covering queer entertainment and pop culture news for outlets like The Advocate and Out Magazine. We discuss how she ended up in this position of having basically interviewed every queer-adjacent person in Hollywood, first crushes / kisses / girlfriends, and the lesbian pop culture moments that shaped us. In Act II, we break down her viral moment and everything that comes along with that. Who had she seen holding space for the lyrics of defying gravity? When did she first clock the finger-hold? What does she really think of Ariana and Cynthia, and have they exchanged words since? We get into it… Thank you for listening to Cruising Podcast! Cruising is reported and produced by a small but mighty team of three: Sarah Gabrielli (host/story producer/audio engineer), Rachel Karp (story producer/social media manager), and Jen McGinity (line producer/resident road-trip driver). For more Cruising adventures, follow @cruisingpod on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. Check out full episode details, transcripts and more at http://cruisingpod.com/. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our sapphic summer feed swaps continue with an episode from our friends Kris and Shana at Bad Queers (@badqueerspod). This time they’re chatting all about every gay's favorite chaos-fueled reality dating show, Netflix’s "The Ultimatum: Queer Love"! If you aren’t already subscribed to Bad Queers, what are you waiting for? And don’t worry— Lez Hang Out will be back in your ears with all new episodes in just a few short weeeks. ---------------------------- Netflix sure rushed this season out huh? Watch our recap of episodes 8-10, including the reunion, and final grades for season 2 of The Ultimatum: Queer Love. We're talking brussels sprouts, grandparent die-offs and how Kyle's mom is the real winner of this season. Recap Notes: 2:25 - Intro 3:20 - Episode 8 14:25 - Episode 9 25:54 - Reunion/Episode 10 48:28 - Final grades We are on Patreon!! patreon.com/BadQueersPodcast Subscribe to our Youtube https://www.youtube.com/@BadQueersPodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to the LHO Summer Hiatus where we share episodes from some of our favorite LGBTQ+ podcasts! This week we’re sharing an episode from the Lesbian Book Club (@lesbianbookclubpod), a podcast that dives deep into sapphic literature (one book at a time) with co-hosts Lauren and Haylie. If you enjoy this episode, be sure to give Lesbian Book Club a follow so you don’t miss out on any great gay reads this summer. And if you’re missing Lez Hang Out, don’t despair! We’ll be back in your ears with all new episodes in a few short weeks—and in the meantime, you can join our Patreon for instant access to over 25 full length bonus-episodes! Check out bonus episodes and additional perks like mp3 downloads of all our original music and our entire catalogue of episodes in an ad-free format at patreon.com/lezhangout. --------------------------------- We hope you are as obsessed with this book as Haylie is, because she wants companionship embarking on the painful journey of waiting for Cleat Cute by Meryl Wilsner (they/them) to become a series. Listen in as we talk about egregious miscommunications, smut, and the extremely Taurus way of keeping your living space as a temple - just like Grace Henderson. Also, if you've been dying to find out what Lauren's type is, this is the episode for you. Please download, share and leave us a review! We want your feedback! You can text us at the link above, send us a DM on Instagram or TikTok, or email us if that's more your style. Thank you for listening! Instagram and Tiktok: @LesbianBookClubPod Email: LesbianBookClubPod@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lez Hang Out will be back with our season 9 premiere later this summer. In the meantime, we are excited to bring you episodes from other LGBTQ+ podcasts that we think you will love! This week’s episode is from Tilly’s Trans Tuesdays, a podcast hosted by Tilly Bridges (@heckyeahtillybridges). You may recognize Tilly from our episode on The Matrix! This episode is so much fun and perfect for kicking off your hot gay summer. It’s all about the trans allegory woven throughout the Barbie movie! If you enjoy the episode, there’s a lot more where that came from. Subscribe to Tilly’s Trans Tuesdays to hear the rest of Tilly’s multi-part series on Barbie. ---------------------------------------- Do you guys ever think about dying? The BARBIE movie rocked my world, and I instantly connected with it on a fundamental level, even beyond the surface feminist story. Do you wanna know why? Do you wanna know why you saw so many trans people, especially trans women, talking about how much this movie meant to them and the tears it brought? My friends, it's because BARBIE is one hundo percent an intentional (?!) trans allegory! Come along on this 8-week journey as I show you all the inherent, beautiful transness within! This week: context, why it's Funny Pink MATRIX, the film's visual language, and we learn all about Barbie's world of lies! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join our Patreon to unlock 30 full-length bonus episodes, ad-free weekly episodes, mp3 downloads of our original songs, exclusive Discord access, and more! Right now, we’re retiring our lower tiers– so all new patrons who join at $5/month or higher (or upgrade!) by will be entered into a raffle to guest star on a bonus Patreon episode. Once we reach 100 PAID tier patrons, we will pick the winner! You can also support the show by grabbing your #pride365 gear at bit.ly/lezmerch & picking up Lez-ssentials songs on Bandcamp. Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that does its little dance on the catwalk.  This week, Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out with Lauren Chan (@lcchan), a Canadian model, TV personality, entrepreneur, and former fashion editor. She is also an outspoken advocate for LGBTQ+ and AAPI representation as well as an expert in the size-inclusive fashion world.  If you happened to walk by a newsstand recently and took enough time away from petting the bodega cat to peruse the magazines, you likely saw Lauren. She made queer history with her Sports Illustrated Swimsuit appearance as the very first out lesbian to appear on the cover! Can you believe it took until now for an out lesbian to be featured? While we may think Sports Illustrated is a male-gaze aligned space, Lauren says that’s what makes it so perfect for these kinds of stories. By meeting people where they are and introducing them to concepts and perspectives they may not have had a reason to think about, Lauren provides a gateway to nuanced conversations and increased empathy. Sure, straight men may initially buy the magazine for the bikini pics, but if they stay for the coming out stories that can go a long way in changing the narrative toward LGBTQ+ people.  Lauren came out in 2023, incredibly publicly, in her first appearance in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit where she made history as the first lesbian rookie! She discovered her sexuality in a very familiar way– with the lesbian masterdoc in hand, podcasts about coming out later in life on repeat, and an expanse of free time provided by the pandemic lockdowns. From divorcing her husband to now being engaged to be married again (but, to a woman) the short years since coming out have been a real whirlwind for Lauren.  We are obsessed with how Lauren takes the media’s long history of objectifying women and flips it on its head. She may look like just another hot girl, but Lauren is a catalyst for change, inclusivity, self-love, body positivity, and sheer gay audacity.  That’s a wrap on Season 8, lezzies! Thank you for hanging out with us this season, and we can’t wait to see you back for Season 9. Give us your own answers to our Q & Gay on Instagram and follow along on Facebook, TikTok, and BlueSky @lezhangoutpod. Find your fav tol and smol hosts Ellie & Leigh at @elliebrigida and @lshfoster. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join our Patreon family to unlock 25+ full-length bonus episodes, ad-free weekly episodes, mp3 downloads of our original songs, exclusive Discord access, and more! You can also support the podcast by buying our original merch at bit.ly/lezmerch.  Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that is “back in black-and-white”.  This week, Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out to talk about the 2025 Black Mirror episode: Hotel Reverie, for this Lez-ssentials episode, a recurring segment on the essential movies and TV shows in the lesbian canon.  Hotel Reverie stars Issa Rae, Emma Corrin, and Awkwafina in a bittersweet sapphic story that centers around a sci-fi style high-tech simulation of an old 1940’s classic film, “Hotel Reverie”. The premise is that Hollywood A-lister Brandy Friday (Issa Rae) will be playing the lead role of Dr. Alex Palmer (in spite of the original actor being a white man) in the remake; and to do so, she will be sent inside a fully immersive simulation of the film complete with “people” who think they are real, but are they?  Of course as soon as Brandy enters the simulation, she begins to fall for Clara, Dr. Palmer’s love interest in the original. Initially, Clara sticks to the script, but as the movie progresses, she begins to completely break the plot with her uncontainable gayness. The explanation is that the actor who played Clara, Dorothy Chambers, put so much of herself into the performance that “echoes” of Dorothy exist now in the simulated version of Clara. With the influence of Dorothy’s memories and a growing attraction to Brandy, Clara begins to be more and more openly gay and that is actually bad for Brandy– if she doesn’t manage to stick the landing and say the final line of the movie, she could be trapped forever in Hotel Reverie. Plus there’s that sticky little feature that if Brandy were to be killed in the simulation, she would die in real life. But for all the danger, Brandy cares about only one thing, Clara, their love, and the little simulated life they build while the movie is “frozen”.  We talk about the unavoidable comparisons to San Junipero, the many, many glaring plot holes throughout the episode, and the implications of Black Mirror consistently burying their gays and also only allowing gay characters to exist in simulations, video games, computers, etc. Additionally, we discuss the unsatisfying ending and why it didn’t feel as resolved or happy as it did for our lesbians in San Junipero.  At the end of the episode, stick around to hear our original song based on Hotel Reverie, titled “A Time You Don’t Remember”, written by Leigh Holmes Foster and produced by Ellie Brigida. Join us on Patreon at bit.ly/lezpatreon for instant access to mp3 downloads of all our original songs or find us on Bandcamp to purchase songs individually.  Remember, you can give us your own answers to our Q & Gay on Instagram and follow along on Facebook, TikTok, Youtube and BlueSky @lezhangoutpod. Find your fav tol and smol hosts Ellie & Leigh at @elliebrigida and @lshfoster. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join our Patreon family to unlock 25+ full-length bonus episodes, ad-free weekly episodes, mp3 downloads of our original songs, exclusive Discord access, and more! Right now, we’re retiring our lower tiers– so all new patrons who join at $5/month or higher (or upgrade!) by July 1st will be entered into a raffle to guest star on a bonus Patreon episode. You can also support the show by grabbing some #pride gear at bit.ly/lezmerch or picking up Lez-ssentials songs on Bandcamp. ********* Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that is having a rough night.  This week, Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out and talk about why the 2017 dark comedy Rough Night Should’ve Been Gay(er). Rough Night stars Zoë Kravitz, Scarlett Johansson, Kate McKinnon, Ilana Glazer, and Jillian Bell in a Bridesmaids meets The Hangover-style romp around Miami. If you’ve seen Rough Night, you’re probably thinking– but that movie already IS gay. The lesbian couple, Blair and Frankie (#Blankie!), should qualify it for a Lez-ssential! And you’re right, the movie is already pretty gay and we do love #Blankie; but it is honestly impossible for us to ignore Alice’s BIG LESBIAN CRUSH on her best friend Jess. Alice literally murders the first guy we see try to touch Jess. And Jess choosing to marry a straight up diaper man isn’t exactly a strong endorsement for her heterosexuality either.  We talk about gay magnetism a lot, and it is inconceivable to us that this friend group only has 2 gay girls in it. We’re not sure why the movie is trying so hard to pretend that the whole group is mostly straight women, but we’re not buying it.  We know one thing for sure, Rough Night Should’ve Been Gay(er). Don’t forget to give us your Q & Gay answers on Instagram and follow along on TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, and BlueSky @lezhangoutpod. You can find your favorite smol and tol hosts at @lshfoster and @elliebrigida. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join our Patreon to unlock 30 full-length bonus episodes, ad-free weekly episodes, mp3 downloads of our original songs, exclusive Discord access, and more! Right now, we’re retiring our lower tiers– so all new patrons who join at $5/month or higher (or upgrade!) by July 1st, 2025 will be entered into a raffle to guest star on a bonus Patreon episode.  You can also support the show by grabbing your #pride gear at bit.ly/lezmerch & picking up Lez-ssentials songs on Bandcamp. Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that still pledges allegiance to Heda Lexa. This week, Leigh (@lshfoster) hangs out solo with Regan Latimer (@thereganlatimer), director of the documentary Bulletproof: A Lesbian’s Guide to Surviving the Plot (@bulletproofdoc). We’ve talked a lot on this podcast about the longstanding BYG (bury your gays) trope in media and the “cancel your gays” version of today. The absolute slaughter of 2016 is what ultimately led us down the path of creating our own queer musicals with guaranteed happy endings and zero dead gays. Regan was inspired in a similar way, after one straw too many– the brutal killing of Denise on The Walking Dead. She decided to turn that outrage and pain into fuel for exploring the BYG trope, learning why these plot decisions are made, and even exploring the psychology behind why lesbian character deaths impact LGBTQ+ viewers so strongly.  For Bulletproof, Regan spoke with filmmakers, screenwriters, passionate fans, showrunners, and television industry professionals about their experiences and perceptions on lesbian representation in the media. They wanted to look not only at where representation stands now, but at where it started and where it may be headed. When the pendulum for LGBTQ+ rights and societal acceptance swings in either direction, the media landscape reflects those changes. The few positive examples of queer representation we have on screen right now are as a result of projects greenlit before the pendulum began its broad backswing. Regan reminds us to enjoy the representation we have right now, to cherish the precious happy moments of Ellie and Dina while we still can.  After all, the pendulum swings as society does; and we are at a particularly scary time for queer rights and acceptance, especially here in the United States. The real worry is about what types of projects may be getting greenlit right now, whose voices and stories are allowed to be told and amplified, and whether that push we saw after 2016 for more diversity in writer’s rooms continues or is abandoned. We’re already seeing more and more shows with prominent queer characters get unceremoniously cancelled– but it is not all doom and gloom. Even with queer rights and representation sliding backward, there remains more lesbian representation than we ever had growing up. With any luck, younger gays will never have to know what its like to not see themselves on their screens, even if the only representation left is, to Regan’s dismay and Leigh’s chaotic delight, problematic queer people on reality television shows.  Canadian listeners, you’re in luck (for so many reasons). Bulletproof: A Lesbian’s Guide to Surviving the Plot is streaming now. Not in Canada? Follow @bulletproofdoc on Instagram for release updates in your country.  Give us your own answers to our Q & Gay on Instagram and follow along on Facebook, TikTok, and BlueSky @lezhangoutpod. Find your fav tol and smol hosts Ellie & Leigh at @elliebrigida and @lshfoster. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join our Patreon family to unlock 25+ full-length bonus episodes, ad-free weekly episodes, mp3 downloads of our original songs, exclusive Discord access, and more! Right now, we’re retiring our lower tiers– so all new patrons who join at $5/month or higher (or upgrade!) by July 1st will be entered into a raffle to guest star on a bonus Patreon episode. You can also support the show by grabbing some #pride gear at bit.ly/lezmerch or picking up Lez-ssentials songs on Bandcamp. Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that is brought to you by BIG SHARK. This week, Leigh (@lshfoster) hangs out with queer screenwriter, returning guest and friend of the pod, Alix Markman (@markwoman), to talk about why The Meg Should’ve Been Gay. Alix has been waiting to talk about this incredibly queer shark movie for years and we are so excited to fin-ally dive in. Self-aware, comedic monster movies are the best monster movies and The Meg does not disappoint.  From the gay shark girlfriends (who were roommates!) to the marine biology commune and their shared child (And the sheer presence of Ruby Rose), everything about this movie feels queer. Alix whips out an L Word-style “Alice board” to break down the relationship dynamics of the commune before adding even more research to the mix with unquestionable proof of The Meg’s gayness– a 2016 Autostraddle article titled “The 100 Most Lesbianish First Names, Ranked By Lesbianism”, in which “Meg” is number 16.  We know one thing for sure, The Meg Should’ve Been Gay. Don’t forget to give us your Q & Gay answers on Instagram and follow along on TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, and BlueSky @lezhangoutpod. You can find your favorite smol and tol hosts at @lshfoster and @elliebrigida. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lez Hang Out is proud to be sponsored by Olivia, the travel company for lesbians and all LGBTQ+ women! Join our Patreon to unlock 25+ full-length bonus episodes (including our brand new one on Bros), ad-free weekly episodes, mp3 downloads of our original songs, exclusive Discord access, and more! Right now, we’re retiring our lower tiers– so all new patrons who join at $5/month or higher (or upgrade!) by July 1st, 2025 will be entered into a raffle to guest star on a bonus Patreon episode. You can also support the show by grabbing your #pride gear at bit.ly/lezmerch & picking up Lez-ssentials songs on Bandcamp. Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that wants to wish everyone a Happy Pride Month, because queer joy is resistance.  This week, Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out with Jennie Wetter, the Director of rePROS Fight Back (@reprosfb), an initiative that fights for sexual and reproductive health rights and justice issues. Jennie is also the creator and host of the rePROs Fight Back podcast. Among the many things that rePROS does to fight back is to grade each of the 50 states on access to reproductive and sexual health rights and care (including access to gender-affirming care). They have recently released their 13th annual (fully interactive!) 50-state Report Card and spoiler alert: The United States as a whole gets an F. Fair warning, looking up your state’s grade might make your heart hurt (unless you’re like Leigh and live in one of the 5 states that actually got an A).  We talk with Jennie about what things have been like for rePROS since the reversal of Roe and whether our Gilead robes absolutely have to be red (it’s just not our color). Although it can be really easy to become overwhelmed by how bad things are, Jennie explains that there’s actually a lot to be hopeful about. Between the abortion funds and local clinics there are quite a lot of resources on the ground to help people access care, even in states with strict legislation. Medication abortion remains available and is a fully safe option. With the recent attacks on trans rights, initiatives like rePROS are fighting even harder to ensure access to gender affirming care for all who need it, including minors. Even though at the federal level, things are bleak (that report card is a real eye-opener), there are ways to fight back at the state-level and getting involved locally can really help keep that feeling of doom at bay.  Jennie reminds us that no one person can do or know everything (even if Ellie’s ADHD really wants her to try). Figure out which one cause you want to put your energy toward and focus solely on that. Even Jennie doesn’t know everything, but she makes herself a trusted resource by knowing what direction to point people in when they come to her for help. Take a deep breath and remember, you don’t have to take on everything yourself! Find your lane and follow it and know that others are doing the same in the lanes you didn’t choose. Burning yourself out trying to do it all won’t help anyone and certainly won’t help you feel any better. We see you, we appreciate you, and we want you to remember: no act of resistance is too small.  Give us your own answers to our Q & Gay on Instagram and follow along on Facebook, TikTok, and BlueSky @lezhangoutpod. Find your fav tol and smol hosts Ellie & Leigh at @elliebrigida and @lshfoster. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices