Lez Hang Out | A Lesbian Podcast

Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast where you could qualify for reward points every time you get your gay card stamped. This week Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out to talk about the absolute PR disaster that is JoJo Siwa’s pivot into so-called “Gay Pop” (which apparently didn’t exist before her). If you’ve been a listener for a while, you’re likely aware of how much Leigh in particular was really rooting for JoJo Siwa. But even Leigh can’t excuse the complete mess that JoJo has created for herself. Honestly, every mistake JoJo has made in her press appearances should have been so easy to avoid that we are convinced her PR team must actually consist of 6 dopey dogs in a trench coat rather than actual trained media professionals (and certainly zero queer elders). Whether you think JoJo’s team is simply failing her or you believe the disappointing PR around her career pivot and latest song, Karma, is a very intentionally done psyop (as Ellie does), it is very clear that regardless of the intentions, it’s just not working for the gay community.  If you are not chronically online like we are you may be surprised to find out that 20 year old JoJo Siwa has gone from being a beloved icon for queer youth to a laughing stock in a really short amount of time for reasons that just seem so completely unnecessary. She maybe could have walked back a few concerning statements like being the creator of a “brand new genre” of music (gay pop), if she wasn’t made to look like a complete fool in every subsequent interview. Yet, she just keeps doubling down on being massively uninformed about queer history and music in general. Between her team choosing to dress her up as Gene Simmons (while actively teaching her exactly zero facts about KISS), creating a bizarrely sanitized ‘bad girl’ music video that feels more straight pageant than gay camp, and failing to broaden her exposure to actual pre-existing gay pop (aside from 40-year-old songs by Madonna), we can’t quite wrap our heads around what her PR team is thinking.  We currently live in a golden era of gay music and there is honestly zero excuse to not at least be aware of what is going on within the industry, especially if you are literally trying to pivot into that genre. As someone who grew up super-sheltered and always in the spotlight, we aren’t that surprised about JoJo’s overall lack of experience with queer history and the community as a whole. The problem is that someone at her level of fame should really have a more well-informed PR team supporting her through this. If she had spoken to literally any older gay people beforehand, JoJo could have avoided putting her foot in her mouth so many times.  Follow us on Twitter: Lez Hang Out (@lezhangoutpod) and answer our Q & Gay questions at the end of every episode. You can also join us on Facebook.com/lezhangoutpod and follow on Instagram (@lezhangoutpod). Find us individually on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok at Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida).  You can support Lez Hang Out while unlocking a bunch of perks including access to our exclusive Discord channel, monthly full-length bonus episodes (including our latest episode on Red, White & Royal Blue), weekly ad-free episodes, and more by joining us on Patreon at bit.ly/lezpatreon. You can also support the podcast by buying our original merch at bit.ly/lezshop and purchasing our original Lez-ssentials songs for as little as $1 each on Bandcamp! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that googled “Am I Gay” before it was cool.  This week Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out to talk about one of the most controversial and widely read pieces of modern lesbian “literature” on the internet, the Lesbian Masterdoc. The 31-page document titled “Am I a lesbian?” first appeared in 2018 and experienced a rather large resurgence during the pandemic shutdowns of 2020 (when people actually had enough time to read a 31-page document).  For those of you who somehow managed to avoid reading the Masterdoc, it is essentially every “Am I gay” quiz from 2002 onward condensed into a 31-page pdf. The main issues that we have with the Masterdoc are that it greatly oversimplifies the experience of compulsory heterosexuality, completely ignores all nuance involved with sexuality (to an almost comical degree), and uses exclusionary language when the doc absolutely can apply to anyone who experiences attraction to women. It also somewhat reads like an attempt by the writer to get her straight best friend to sleep with her. However, we still want to give some props for the Masterdoc being very purposefully inclusive of trans and nonbinary lesbians and at the very least not giving off terfy vibes.  Even though the Masterdoc should certainly be taken with many grains of salt, some of the experiences listed really hit home (a little too hard if you ask Leigh). We’ve said it before, but comp het is a doozy! We dive into our own experiences with navigating comp het back in our ‘straight’ days and lament about why straight women have to speak so negatively about their male partners all the time (be less confusing, straight women!). If you are looking for a fun activity to bust out at your next shindig, we absolutely recommend pulling out this bad boi (fun for the whole family!) and seeing how many of your straight friends get clocked by the Masterdoc.  Follow us on Twitter: Lez Hang Out (@lezhangoutpod) and answer our Q & Gay questions at the end of every episode. You can also join us on Facebook.com/lezhangoutpod and follow on Instagram (@lezhangoutpod). Find us individually on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok at Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida).  You can support Lez Hang Out while unlocking a bunch of perks including access to our exclusive Discord channel, monthly full-length bonus episodes (Currently at 19 and counting!), weekly ad-free episodes, and more by joining us on Patreon at bit.ly/lezpatreon. You can also support the podcast by buying our original merch at bit.ly/lezshop and purchasing our original Lez-ssentials songs for as little as $1 each on Bandcamp! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that is in its Wachowski Sisters Era.  This week, Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) talk about the 1996 crime thriller Bound for this Lez-ssentials episode, a recurring segment on the essential movies and TV shows in the lesbian canon. Even though this film is from the 90s, it still has some of the best lesbian representation, including a sex scene that doesn’t just cut away to crashing waves and a happy ending a la Thelma and Louise where our lesbians escape together while making out in a pickup truck.  If you haven’t seen Bound, it is a really fun thriller about recently freed ex-con Corky (Gina Gershon) and high femme sex worker Violet (Jennifer Tilly). The two end up in the same apartment elevator and as soon as their eyes meet the game is on. Violet and her mob boyfriend Caesar live in the apartment directly next to the unit that Corky is currently working on, so Corky can hear everything that goes on. In a move taken right out of a porno, Violet ‘loses’ her earring down the sink and Corky shows up to save the day with her strong muscles and super gay arm tats. Corky does not make any immediate moves, wrongly assuming that Violet must be just a straight girl up for a little experimenting. Luckily for Corky, Violet is not shy about making her wants known and after boldly pointing out that she knows what the labras on Corky’s arm signifies, she shows off her own tattoo which happens to be like a centimeter away from her nipple. We all know where this is going and it would have gone a lot farther if not for freaking Caesar who shows up and is so homophobic that he doesn’t even realize his girlfriend was getting railed by the plumber. Things escalate quickly after this, with Violet zeroing in on Corky as her perfect partner for planning her escape from Caesar and the mob (but not without stealing 2 million dollars first). They have sex all of one time and in true lesbian fashion, Corky is ready to risk it all, all over again.  Bound holds up as a Lez-ssential after all these years, because it is so openly and unapologetically queer, especially for 1996. Both main characters are established queer women who are secure in their sexual identities, the story doesn’t revolve around them coming out or conflict specifically due to them being gay, there is a scene in a lesbian bar, and we get a happy ending. All the boxes are checked off and we genuinely can’t think of anything we would change.  At the end of the episode, stick around to hear our original song based on Bound, also titled “Bound”, 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. Follow along on Twitter: Lez Hang Out (@lezhangoutpod) and answer our Q & Gay at the end of every episode. Leigh Holmes Foster (@lshfoster) and Ellie Brigida (@elliebrigida). You can also join us on Facebook.com/lezhangoutpod and follow along on Instagram (@lezhangoutpod). You can support Lez Hang Out while unlocking a bunch of perks like access to our exclusive Discord community, monthly full-length bonus episodes, weekly ad-free episodes, and more by joining us on Patreon at bit.ly/lezpatreon. You can also support the podcast by checking out our original merch at bit.ly/lezshop. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that is a little concerned about what the queer community’s obsession with ‘forbidden romance’ says about us.  This week Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out to talk about the trope that has historically overwhelmingly dominated queer media- forbidden love.  The allure of forbidden love makes it a popular trope across all media, not just queer media, and dates all the way back to Romeo and Juliet. However, forbidden love is so overrepresented in queer media that it is difficult to even name a story where it isn’t the dominant trope. Sure there are the obvious examples, the period pieces like Portrait of a Lady on Fire and Ammonite, but it goes much deeper than that. Everyone’s favorite romcom Imagine Me and You? Forbidden love. Campy classics D.E.B.S. and But I’m A Cheerleader? Forbidden love. It’s the one thing that nearly all queer stories in our media have in common with very few outliers.  When considering why forbidden love is so pervasive within queer stories, it is impossible to ignore the very real consequences of gay relationships throughout history. For example, ignoring the forbiddenness of a queer relationship for an American film set in the years between DOMA and Obergefell would be historically inaccurate. Because of this all gay stories were technically stories about forbidden love up until quite recently. The interesting thing is that even after ‘gay’ no longer immediately equaled ‘forbidden’, queer stories continued to find ways to incorporate the trope. There is something too appealing about forbidden love to leave it in the past. Now there are just extra steps included for why the relationship is forbidden such as an affair (Imagine Me and You), a concerning age gap (Carol), or unhealthy power dynamics like the ever popular student/teacher relationship (Loving Annabelle). One of our favorite unique twists on the forbidden love trope is actually the short-lived Netflix series First Kill, which flipped the genre on its head by making the forbidden aspect be that one of the girls was a vampire and the other a monster hunter. Whether we should all be in therapy for our penchant for forbidden love remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure, we aren’t going to stop eating these stories up anytime soon!  Follow us on Twitter: Lez Hang Out (@lezhangoutpod) and answer our Q & Gay questions at the end of every episode. You can also join us on Facebook.com/lezhangoutpod and follow on Instagram (@lezhangoutpod). Find us individually on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok at Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida).  You can support Lez Hang Out while unlocking a bunch of awesome perks like access to our exclusive Discord, monthly full length bonus episodes, weekly ad free episodes, and more by joining us on Patreon at bit.ly/lezpatreon. You can also support the podcast by buying our original merch at bit.ly/lezshop and purchasing our original Lez-ssentials songs for as little as $1 each on Bandcamp! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that wants you to draw us like one of your gay French girls. This week Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out with figurative artist Halie Torris (@halietorris) to talk about the sapphic gaze in art and what differentiates it from the all too familiar male gaze.  If you spend any time on lesbian TikTok you are likely familiar with Halie Torris’ paintings. The videos of her music-inspired paintings set to songs like Fletcher’s Cherry and Taylor Swift’s Maroon have gone viral multiple times, demonstrating just how feral we all are for art that doesn’t speak to the male gaze. The entire history of art has mostly been portrayed through the male gaze, a perspective that tends to objectify and oversexualize women. Sapphic art, in contrast, is much more subtle, focusing on the little things that men don’t typically appreciate. Halie describes her paintings as capturing the moment right before the climax of the action, that moment right before the wine splashes, the hook of a finger in a belt loop, the hand lightly grazing a thigh. Her paintings showcase the beauty and intricacies of sapphic relationships by sharing these more secretive moments that mainstream art often fails to recognize. There is a big focus on body language in Halie’s paintings and a tendency to intentionally obscure the subjects’ face from view. With the faces hidden, it is easier for people to connect their own narratives to the paintings. Halie views music as a prompt for creating her visual art, fueling the narratives that already reside within her. Alongside Halie’s music-inspired series, she has been hard at work on her newest series of paintings, the situationship series. These paintings focus on the turbulent emotions experienced before, during and after a situationship.  We talk with Halie about her artistic journey, how her paintings going viral has impacted her, and of course, the gaylor of it all. Whether you are a Swiftie or not, there is no denying Taylor is a musical mastermind, painting pictures with her words through incredibly descriptive lyrics. Illustrative songs like Ivy and iconic stage performances like Taylor’s Vigilante Shit chair dance have inspired Halie to create gorgeous figurative paintings from the sapphic gaze. Taylor’s frequently queer-coded lyrics with a focus on secret relationships and yearning speak to sapphic listeners in a different way than their straight peers, in much the same way Halie’s art does. The beauty lies in the subtlety, a feature missing from figurative art created with the male gaze in mind. Even in 2024 Halie can practically count on one hand how many figurative artists she knows of who have made art for and from a female gaze let alone a sapphic one. While we of course wish that sapphic art was not so difficult to come by, we are thrilled that artists like Halie are working hard to change that.  Follow us on Twitter: Lez Hang Out (@lezhangoutpod) and answer our Q & Gay questions at the end of every episode. You can also join us on Facebook.com/lezhangoutpod and follow on Instagram (@lezhangoutpod). Find us individually on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok at Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida).  You can support Lez Hang Out while unlocking a bunch of awesome perks like access to our exclusive Discord, monthly full length bonus episodes (including our brand new one on The Kids Are Alright), weekly ad free episodes, and more by joining us on Patreon at bit.ly/lezpatreon. You can also support the podcast by buying our original merch at bit.ly/lezshop and purchasing our original Lez-ssentials songs for as little as $1 each on Bandcamp! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that will literally never shut up about queer pirates.  This week Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out with Adam Korenman (@officermankorn), Seth Bowser (@sethypoo88), Nat Leykam (@natleykam), and Jaime Rockafellow (@warriorcatprincess) to talk about their currently in-production queer pirate musical, The Great Age of Sail (@the_great_age_of_sail).  Unless you are brand new to Lez Hang Out (which, if you are, welcome!), you are likely very familiar with our love of queer pirates, queer musicals, and queer pirate musicals. So in love in fact that we have spent the past 3 years working on one of our own. So, when we found out about The Great Age of Sail, we could not resist getting together with the creative team to talk about our mutual love of pirates, musical theater and all things gay.  In 2020, the TikTok sea shanty craze hit and Adam was hooked instantly. He began writing his own shanties, but they were not enough to scratch the itch. The more shanties he wrote, the more a story began to emerge and Adam realized there was a perfect opportunity to develop it into a musical. He shared his shanties with Nat, who saw their potential and brought Seth on board as a composer. From there, they developed enough of a musical to do a small stage reading where they met theatrical Swiss Army Knife Jaime who turned out to be the final piece of the puzzle they needed to shape the musical into what it would become today.  Musical theater is a magical space for both self-exploration and self-expression, which is probably why so many queer people find themselves drawn to it. We talked with Adam and co about what each step of the creative process has been like over the last 4 years since writing that first sea shanty, why queerness is a central element to any good pirate story, and what goals they have for the show. After an overwhelmingly successful crowdfunding campaign and well-received small stage reading, The Great Age of Sail is in the workshop stage of production with a more advanced stage reading planned for this summer. We personally cannot wait to hear it! Follow us on Twitter: Lez Hang Out (@lezhangoutpod) and answer our Q & Gay questions at the end of every episode. You can also join us on Facebook.com/lezhangoutpod and follow on Instagram (@lezhangoutpod). Find us individually on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok at Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida).  You can support Lez Hang Out while unlocking a bunch of awesome perks like access to our exclusive Discord, monthly full length bonus episodes, weekly ad free episodes, and more by joining us on Patreon at bit.ly/lezpatreon. You can also support the podcast by buying our original merch at bit.ly/lezshop and purchasing our original Lez-ssentials songs for as little as $1 each on Bandcamp! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that wants the ugly, untalented gays to please report to the principal’s office. This week, Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) talk about the 2023 instant cult classic Bottoms for this Lez-ssentials episode, a recurring segment on the essential movies and TV shows in the lesbian canon. This film had an incredibly limited theatrical run, but still managed to end up with an astounding (and well-deserved) 90% critic-score on Rotten Tomatoes. If you have not had a chance to watch Bottoms yet, we highly recommend renting it before listening to this episode, as it’s honestly just so much more fun to go in with as little information as possible.  Bottoms is a wildly queer and campy teen movie a la American Pie and SuperBad. Unlike its straighter counterparts, this film flips a lot of the stereotypes on their heads in a way that we really love. Main character PJ is actually pretty terrible. She’s constantly objectifying every girl she sees and lying more often than she tells the truth, and yet, we are totally here for it! Her bestie Josie is not far behind her in the making completely crazy decisions department as she spends the entire first half of the movie lying through her teeth about literally killing other kids in juvie (spoiler alert: neither of these ‘ugly, untalented gays’ was ever in juvie).  No matter how chaotic Bottoms seems at first, it is still a shock to see just how far the movie takes things. Sure, we knew the girls were going to create a fight club, but nothing about that premise could have prepared us for the absolute massacre that is the ending. The violence ramps up throughout the story- a broken nose here, a car bombing there; each incident slowly getting the audience more and more acclimated to the off-the-rails violence until it becomes totally plausible that these teenage girls are just full-on publically murdering football players left and right. This film holds back exactly 0 punches all while managing to keep the main characters relatable enough that they speak to the baby gay in us all.  At the end of the episode, stick around to hear our original song based on Bottoms, “Going Down Swinging”, 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. Follow along on Twitter: Lez Hang Out (@lezhangoutpod) and answer our Q & Gay at the end of every episode. Leigh Holmes Foster (@lshfoster) and Ellie Brigida (@elliebrigida). You can also join us on Facebook.com/lezhangoutpod and follow along on Instagram (@lezhangoutpod). This is your last chance to join Ellie and Leigh in Costa Rica this May for a queer wellness retreat. Don’t let future-you suffer from fomo! Book a spot by January 30th at bit.ly/lezdocostarica and treat yourself to a once in a lifetime experience, new friendships, and some much deserved relaxation in a beautiful National Park.  You can support Lez Hang Out while unlocking a bunch of perks like access to our exclusive Discord community, monthly full length bonus episodes (including a brand new one on Will and Grace), weekly ad-free episodes, and more by joining us on Patreon at bit.ly/lezpatreon. You can also support the podcast by checking out our original merch at bit.ly/lezshop.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that wants to hypnotize you via app. This week Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out with Shantell Yasmine Abeydeera (@shantell_yasmine_abeydeera), writer/actor/producer/director and founder of Thornbyrd Films, a queer-female led production company, and triple threat (actor/writer/producer) Emily Goss (@emilygoss650) to talk about Thornbyrd’s 2023 psychological thriller Healed. If you haven’t had a chance to watch the film yet, you can rent it now on Amazon Prime. We highly recommend taking the time to watch it before listening, as this episode is very spoiler heavy. We talked with Emily and Shantell Yasmine (Yaz) about the creation of Thornbyrd Films, the utilization of genre films like Healed as catalysts for important conversations that can inspire social change within a broader audience, and why it is so refreshing to not have to watch yet another coming out story. We love how Healed kicks off without explaining to the audience how we got to this point. It introduces the main characters as an already established married couple, making no attempts to explain Olivia’s pregnancy or how the characters got together.  Healed follows the story of celebrity couple Olivia, played by Emily Goss, and Jazz, played by Yaz, as they attend an intimate meditation retreat at the invitation of renowned mindfulness expert Georgia. Although the retreat at first feels like a nice getaway, particularly for the heavily pregnant and overwhelmed Olivia, it quickly becomes clear that all is not as it seems. When Georgia’s unorthodox therapy sessions evoke troubling memories for Jazz, she becomes skeptical of Georgia’s methods. As she digs deeper, Jazz uncovers a sinister plot that puts her and Olivia at the center of a research experiment that neither of them would have ever consented to.  This film feels like Get Out and The Miseducation of Cameron Post had a lovechild. Although the storyline heavily deals with the traumas of conversion therapy and internalized biphobia, we feel that it works really well as a thriller. It can be hard as queer people to watch movies like Cameron Post, because the traumas hit a little too close to home. However, when conversion therapy is approached as the basis for a thriller, it takes on a whole different feeling, with the mystery serving as a sort of barrier between the viewer and the would-be trauma of it all. If you are a fan of suspenseful thrillers with wild twists and turns, you will love Healed.  This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Follow us on Twitter: Lez Hang Out (@lezhangoutpod) and answer our Q & Gay questions at the end of every episode. You can also join us on Facebook.com/lezhangoutpod and follow on Instagram (@lezhangoutpod). Find us individually on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok at Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida).  Spots for Costa Rica are filling up fast! You only have until January 30th to book your trip. Secure your spot today at bit.ly/lezdocostarica and gift yourself an epic kickoff to summer fun and relaxation. You can support Lez Hang Out while unlocking a bunch of awesome perks like access to our exclusive Discord, monthly full length bonus episodes, weekly ad free episodes, and more by joining us on Patreon at bit.ly/lezpatreon. You can also support the podcast by buying our original merch at bit.ly/lezshop and purchasing our original Lez-ssentials songs for as little as $1 each on Bandcamp! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

90 Day Fiancé? You mean the show that made U-Hauling mainstream? This week Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out with comedian and 90 Day Fiancé expert Cara Connors (@caraconnscomedy) to discuss the inherent gayness of getting married in 90 days, how much money it would take us to go 'straight for pay' and how a gigantic lesbian became a hit in middle America. When the pandemic hit, Cara had her own life parallel 90 Day Fiancé when a person she just met basically moved in with her overnight and introduced her to the wonderful world of 90 Day Fiancé. They watched every single episode and Cara started doing her own impersonations of every couple. That's when she decided to put those impersonations up on Instagram and the rest is history. Cara became an icon for Middle America and #TLC fans everywhere. We dive in deep to talk about all of the queer couples that have been on 90 Day Fiancé, especially the train wreck that is Stephanie and Erika, 90 Days first lesbian couple. Yes, Stephanie is the one who was selling her farts in jars and ended up in the hospital because of it. We speculate about if Kenneth, lesbian Gordon Ramsay, and Armando, his much younger husband, will make it after being married for 2 years. And of course, we couldn't talk about 90 Day without talking about Big Ed and his obsession with bisexual wives. Follow us on Twitter: Lez Hang Out (@lezhangoutpod) and answer our Q & Gay questions at the end of every episode. You can also join us on Facebook.com/lezhangoutpod and follow on Instagram (@lezhangoutpod). Find us individually on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok at Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida).  Spots for Costa Rica are filling up fast! Don’t miss out on gifting yourself or someone you love the queer vacation of a lifetime. Secure your spot today at bit.ly/lezdocostarica. You can support Lez Hang Out while unlocking a bunch of awesome perks like access to our exclusive Discord, monthly full length bonus episodes, weekly ad free episodes, and more by joining us on Patreon at bit.ly/lezpatreon. You can also support the podcast by buying our original merch at bit.ly/lezshop and purchasing our original Lez-ssentials songs for as little as $1 each on Bandcamp! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast brought to you by the color PINK! This week Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out with TikTok educational content creator Nikita Redkar (@nikitadumptruck) to discuss the nuanced topics of labeling sexuality, gatekeeping within the queer community, and why everything wrong with -gestures vaguely- can be traced right back to Reagan. If you have ever wondered what it would be like to learn about politics, current news and economics directly from Cher Horowitz, Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Elle Woods all wrapped into one very pink high femme girly, you’re in the right place.  Back in the early days of the pandemic it seemed like everyone and their roommate was reading the Lesbian Master Doc and heavily analyzing their gender and sexuality. While there are some useful things in the master doc if you do happen to be a lesbian, it gets complicated when considering how difficult it can be to really tell the difference between societally influenced attraction to men and organic attraction to men.  When Nikita first came out as bisexual in 2016, the label felt like it fit her perfectly. Then, in 2019, fueled both by having learned about compulsory heterosexuality from the master doc and by recognizing that she was more drawn to women and feminine leaning people than she was to men or masculinity, the lesbian label felt like a better fit. As a full time TikToker with a heavily queer following, Nikita found that as she posted more overtly lesbian content, she was celebrated and welcomed more strongly by the community. She started to really lean into her newfound identity, even getting a septum piercing (that she didn’t even really want that much) as a way of flagging. In 2021, Nikita realized that she may have leaned a little too hard, too fast into identifying as a lesbian. She began to feel anxiety over the idea of having to come out publicly all over again as a bisexual, knowing that this change could cause backlash from some of her lesbian followers. While we like to think that most lesbians are welcoming and accepting of bisexual women, shifting labels back and forth can also trigger defensive feelings in those whose own sexuality was accused of being ‘just a phase’. Although Nikita is out about being bi to her family and friends, internalized shame and anxiety over possible negative reactions has caused her to keep the closet door shut on her TikTok. We dive into navigating the nuances of labels and talk about some of the ways in which bisexuals have historically been treated poorly or seen as less queer by certain sectors of the community and why gatekeeping typically does more harm than good. Follow us on Twitter: Lez Hang Out (@lezhangoutpod) and answer our Q & Gay questions at the end of every episode. You can also join us on Facebook.com/lezhangoutpod and follow on Instagram (@lezhangoutpod). Find us individually on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok at Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida).  Spots for Costa Rica are filling up fast! Don’t miss out on gifting yourself or someone you love the queer vacation of a lifetime. Secure your spot today at bit.ly/lezdocostarica. You can support Lez Hang Out while unlocking a bunch of awesome perks like access to our exclusive Discord, monthly full length bonus episodes, weekly ad free episodes, and more by joining us on Patreon at bit.ly/lezpatreon. You can also support the podcast by buying our original merch at bit.ly/lezshop and purchasing our original Lez-ssentials songs for as little as $1 each on Bandcamp! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that wants you to, “Check her texts!!!!”.  This week, Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) talk about A24’s 2022 slasher-comedy Bodies Bodies Bodies for this Lez-ssentials episode, a recurring segment on the essential movies and TV shows in the lesbian canon.  Before we go any further, please heed this spoiler warning! This episode is spoiler heavy right out the gate, so if you have not yet seen Bodies Bodies Bodies, do that first! We really enjoyed this movie, because of how it flips the Bury Your Gays trope fully on its head. Sure, lots of people end up dead, but not our lesbians! For those less familiar or who did not choose to heed the warning and watch the movie first, the film follows the story of Sophie (played by Amandla Stenberg) and her girlfriend of 6 weeks, Bee. Sophie brings Bee to a mansion party in the middle of nowhere during a hurricane to meet some of the absolute worst people ever (ie. her “friends”), dance, and do lots of drugs while the world collapses around them. These people are in no way actually friends and have negative levels of trust for each other. It’s a recipe for disaster that ramps up to 1 million the second the first body hits the ground.  Even though bodies are dropping and accusations are flying, Sophie and Bee somehow remain the most functional couple at the party. Sure, Sophie said ‘I love you’ and Bee didn’t say it back, but what is love if not murdering a veterinary assistant for your girlfriend of six weeks? After all, actions always speak louder than words. Although we do find out that Sophie probably (definitely) cheated on Bee with Jordan, the trauma these lesbians just went through and the secrets they now have to keep on lock from the cops will probably bond them together forever. We can’t wait to see what totally bonkers shenanigans happen at the wedding. At the end of the episode, stick around to hear our original song based on Bodies Bodies Bodies, “Bodies”, 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. We are planning another #TrovaTrip gaycation! Join Ellie and Leigh in Costa Rica May 1-6, 2024, for the relaxing queer vacay you deserve. For more information and to be among the first to book a spot (and snatch up that Early Bird Discount!), visit bit.ly/lezdocostarica. Follow along on Twitter: Lez Hang Out (@lezhangoutpod) and answer our Q & Gay at the end of every episode. Leigh Holmes Foster (@lshfoster) and Ellie Brigida (@elliebrigida). You can also join us on Facebook.com/lezhangoutpod and follow along on Instagram (@lezhangoutpod). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that is entering its Beyoncé Lemonade era.  This week Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out to discuss cheating, a topic that has been at the helm of many a queer discussion since the news broke about soccer star Ashlyn Harris dating Sophia Bush. While we are always thrilled to welcome a new member to team alphabet mafia, we do wish it could have happened in a less messy way. Instead, it seems to have come at the expense of two marriages, that of Sophia to her ex-husband and of Ashlyn to ex-wife Ali Krieger.  Cheating is a complicated subject, especially in today’s era of ethical non-monogamy and breaking down outdated societally imposed barriers on relationships. Even when discussing the apparent overlap of Ashlyn and Sophia’s relationship with that of their respective ex-spouses, Ashlyn tends to get a lot more flack for cheating than Sophia does. We believe this is largely due to queer people being conditioned to view cheating differently when it is intricately attached to a person’s coming out journey.  Another reason cheating is complicated is that everyone seems to have a different definition of what constitutes cheating. For some, simply watching porn or finding someone else attractive can be seen as cheating while for others the line is drawn at physically getting with another person. Ultimately, cheating comes down to breaking your partner’s trust and typically involves some degree of lying or hiding the truth. We talk about why people cheat, whether we think emotional or physical cheating is worse, and when it may be possible to forgive a cheater.  Follow us on Twitter: Lez Hang Out (@lezhangoutpod) and answer our Q & Gay questions at the end of every episode. You can also join us on Facebook.com/lezhangoutpod and follow on Instagram (@lezhangoutpod). Find us individually on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok at Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida).  We are planning another gaycation with Trova Trip! Join Ellie, Leigh and a gaggle of gays in Costa Rica May 1-6, 2024, for a relaxing vacay in the heart of the gorgeous Rincón de la Vieja National Park. For more information and to be among the first to book a spot (and snatch up that Early Bird Discount!), visit bit.ly/lezdocostarica. You can support Lez Hang Out while unlocking a bunch of awesome perks like access to our exclusive Discord, monthly full length bonus episodes, weekly ad free episodes, and more by joining us on Patreon at bit.ly/lezpatreon. You can also support the podcast by buying our original merch at bit.ly/lezshop and purchasing our original Lez-ssentials songs for as little as $1 each on Bandcamp! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that isn’t broken, it’s golden. This week Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out with multi-platinum singer-songwriter, LP (@iamlpofficial), to discuss their brand new album Love Lines and highly anticipated North American Tour. For those who have not yet had a chance to listen to LP’s 7th studio album, Leigh describes the songs as shiny and having a ‘brightness’ to them. This tracks with LP’s own statement of the album feeling like a kind of rebirth, working with a new team to create introspective songs that get really honest about LP’s life experiences. There is an ease to the sound reminiscent of mellow days spent kicking back in a nice California hotel and taking stock of your life. We talk with LP about their songwriting process (a process that is wildly fast- in the time it took you to read this sentence, LP has probably written another song). We also discuss what it is like to be a musician while being visibly “the biggest dyke alive”. We chat about the challenges (and pros) of tour bus life, the horrors of being in a public relationship and going through a breakup, the unfortunate ageism plaguing the music industry (yet somehow doing absolutely nothing to hinder the careers of old white male musicians), and how LP managed to beat Warner Brothers at their own game by bringing their songs over to an indie label and becoming more successful than ever. Check out LP’s Love Lines wherever you like to listen to music and watch them perform all your favorite songs live on tour: https://www.iamlp.com/tour. Follow us on Twitter: Lez Hang Out (@lezhangoutpod) and answer our Q & Gay questions at the end of every episode. You can also join us on Facebook.com/lezhangoutpod and follow on Instagram (@lezhangoutpod). Find us individually on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok at Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida). We are planning another gaycation with Trova Trip! Join Ellie and Leigh in Costa Rica May 1-6, 2024, for the relaxing queer vacay of your dreams. For more information and to be among the first to book a spot (and snatch up that Early Bird Discount!), visit bit.ly/lezdocostarica. You can support Lez Hang Out while unlocking a bunch of awesome perks like access to our exclusive Discord, monthly full length bonus episodes, weekly ad free episodes, and more by joining us on Patreon at bit.ly/lezpatreon. You can also support the podcast by buying our original merch at bit.ly/lezshop and purchasing our original Lez-ssentials songs for as little as $1 each on Bandcamp! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How many punches do you have on your gay card? This week Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out with Matison Card (@matisoncard), a lesbian singer-songwriter, actor, and reality tv contestant on Coming Out For Love, the first US lesbian dating show. Although the show just became available for streaming this summer, it was actually recorded 2 years ago. So what has fan favorite Matison been up to since then? We dive into what Matison has been doing since filming wrapped (spoiler alert: there’s a UHaul and karaoke involved!). We also talk about what it was really like behind the scenes of a queer reality dating show, what Matison learned about relationships from the experience, and where dating shows go wrong when it comes to casting and creating potential matches. It turns out you cannot just throw a bunch of sapphics in a room and expect them to bang, even if they are all astrology gays. We explore the best friends to lovers pipeline, the lesser talked about lesbian relationship benefits (being the same shoe size as your partner is severely underrated), and the bizarreness of trying to match whole adults with people whose frontal lobes have not even fully developed yet. For those of you who have not yet seen Nicole Conn’s Coming Out For Love, you can check out the whole first season and get into all the juicy gay drama here.  Don’t forget to follow us on the platform formerly known as Twitter: Lez Hang Out (@lezhangoutpod) and answer our Q & Gay questions at the end of every episode. You can also join us on Facebook.com/lezhangoutpod and follow on Instagram (@lezhangoutpod). Find us individually on Instagram, X, and TikTok at Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida).  We are planning another gaycation with Trova Trip! Join Ellie and Leigh in Costa Rica May 1-6, 2024, for the relaxing queer vacay of your dreams. For more information and to be among the first to book a spot (and snatch up that Early Bird Discount!), visit bit.ly/lezdocostarica. You can support Lez Hang Out while unlocking a bunch of awesome perks like access to our exclusive Discord, monthly full length bonus episodes (including our brand new episode about Blue Is The Warmest Color), weekly ad free episodes, and more by joining us on Patreon at bit.ly/lezpatreon. You can also support the podcast by buying our original merch at bit.ly/lezshop and purchasing our original Lez-ssentials songs for as little as $1 each on Bandcamp! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to the podcast that, “has never for once in our lives been able to think straight”. This week, Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) talk about the 2008 romantic drama I Can’t Think Straight, based on the novel by the same name, for this Lez-ssentials episode, a recurring segment on the essential movies and TV shows in the lesbian canon. Although this film was released in 2008, it remains one of the few lesbian movies with diverse QPOC representation. The story centers around the relationship between Tala, a Christian Palestinian woman from Jordan, and Leyla, a British Indian Muslim woman living in London. Tala is in the midst of her fourth engagement to some irrelevant man and working in London when she meets Leyla and loses all ability to think straight. In true lesbian fashion, their eyes meet once at Tala’s engagement party and the rest is history.  These two women have incredible chemistry together and it is impossible not to root for them from that very first glance. Tala is bold in her pursuit of baby gay Leyla, inviting her on a weekend getaway for just the two of them and slyly booking a room with only one bed. After sleeping together literally once, Leyla’s whole world tilts on its axis and she comes out to her extremely homophobic mother. Tala, however, chooses to remain closeted, causing Leyla to break up with her. But don’t worry. After all, this would not be a Lez-ssential if the story ended there. After the breakup, Leyla gets a new girlfriend (but really we all know how rebounds go) and achieves her dream of becoming a published author. Meanwhile, Tala breaks off her engagement (again), comes out to her parents (who really should have known after that many failed engagements to forgettable men), and in classic rom com style, writes Leyla a poem. She then attends Leyla’s book signing and our lesbians finally get the happy ending they deserve.  At the end of the episode, stick around to hear our original song based on I Can’t Think Straight, “Waves”, 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. We are planning another #TrovaTrip gaycation! Join Ellie and Leigh in Costa Rica May 1-6, 2024, for the relaxing queer vacay you deserve. For more information and to be among the first to book a spot (and snatch up that Early Bird Discount!), visit bit.ly/lezdocostarica.  Follow along on Twitter: Lez Hang Out (@lezhangoutpod) and answer our Q & Gay at the end of every episode. Leigh Holmes Foster (@lshfoster) and Ellie Brigida (@elliebrigida). You can also join us on Facebook.com/lezhangoutpod and follow along on Instagram (@lezhangoutpod). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Come for the thirst traps, stay for the (f)em(me)powerment. This week Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) sit down with Ivy (@eveleena), the founder and producer of Les Vixens Burlesque (@lesvixensburlesque) and host of Tea & Glitter: The Podcast. For those who are not in the know, the Les Vixens are the largest and longest running all-queer Burlesque troupe in the world! As if running the Les Vixens wasn’t impressive enough, Ivy also produces and directs the largest and longest-running LGBTQ+ women’s weekly lesbian event in the U.S., GIRL the Party (@girltheparty). Ivy uses her platform as an entrepreneur and performer for mental health and queer advocacy, community connection, and humanitarian efforts, all while she continues to prance and dance her heart out, leaving a trail of sequins and glitter wherever she goes. We chatted with Ivy about femme invisibility in the queer community, reclaiming femininity from the grubby paws of the patriarchy, performing for the female ga(y)ze, and spreading mental health awareness via therapeutic thirst traps. With an all-queer Burlesque troupe, consent and agency are prioritized in a way that just does not happen very often in straight spaces. This not only provides safety for the performers, but also gives permission to the queer women in the audience to look at the performers without fear of falling into that predatory lesbian stereotype. These performances are BY the all-queer Vixens FOR a queer audience. Sure, a cishet male can go see a show, but he should not expect to get the same treatment as the sapphics in the audience. Don’t forget to follow us on the platform formerly known as Twitter: Lez Hang Out (@lezhangoutpod) and answer our Q & Gay questions at the end of every episode. You can also join us on Facebook.com/lezhangoutpod and follow on Instagram (@lezhangoutpod). Find us individually on Instagram, X, and TikTok at Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida).  We are so pumped for our upcoming vagaytion in Croatia where we will get to hang out in person with 15 of you! If you did not get in on this trip, we apologize in advance for the intense fomo you are about to experience. But, don’t fomo too hard, because we have another opportunity to travel with Ellie and Leigh (and Mermaid Kristin Sparkle!) coming in 2024. If you want to be among the first to know more about our next Trova Trip vagaycation, fill out the quick survey at bit.ly/leztrip. This also helps us to plan even more exciting future trips! You can support Lez Hang Out while unlocking a bunch of awesome perks like access to our exclusive Discord, monthly full length bonus episodes, weekly ad free episodes, and more by joining us on Patreon at bit.ly/lezpatreon. You can also support the podcast by buying our original merch at bit.ly/lezshop and purchasing our original Lez-ssentials songs for as little as $1 each on Bandcamp! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you remember the article (2014), go take an ibuprofen for your back. This week Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) sit down with Chris Sabol (@chrissabs) and Billy Aberle (@billyaberle) to talk about their brand new musical, Straight Forward (@straightforwardmusical) and the real life story that inspired it. Not only did Chris and Billy go to college with Ellie (and experience the exclusive pre-coming out variant of your favorite tol le$bean host), but together they have written and produced a gay musical (remind you of anyone?). We chatted with Billy and Chris about the challenges of writing and then producing an Off-Broadway run and the importance of telling LGBTQ+ stories of all kinds, especially in the face of the current political climate. The article and the story behind it are both incredibly true to their time. For those of you who are less familiar with the real life story of “straight men” Mike and Garrett and the effect their relationship had on the queer and straight communities alike, strap in for the tale of your new favorite ‘and they were roommates’ couple. The story itself is one all queer people can relate to at its core. As much as we may have blotted out of the memories, pretty much all of us started out our lives identifying as ‘straight’. But what happens if you truly believe you are straight (like you are legitimately happy being straight) and then you start to fall in love with your best friend? Not in the, ‘Oh, I fell in love with my best friend so I should re-evaluate my sexuality’ kind of way. But in the, ‘I still overwhelmingly identify as straight and that feels true, but there seems to be this one very surprising exception’ kind of way.  Yes, to us and probably you, falling in love with your best friend based on who they are on the inside while disregarding their physical looks and gender identity, is a pretty queer-coded experience. But this is not the case from Mike and Garrett’s perspective; and their experience of sexuality is just as valid as any other. The story of two self-identified straight men leaning into their newly discovered feelings for one another and being open to exploring their evolving relationship (while still largely identifying as straight) captivated just about everyone on first read, sparking serious and important conversations about the fluid nature of sexuality and the many different ways to experience it that are still relevant today.  Learn more about Pivotal Productions’ Straight Forward at straightforwardmusical.com.  Don’t forget to follow us on the platform formerly known as Twitter: Lez Hang Out (@lezhangoutpod) and answer our Q & Gay questions at the end of every episode. You can also join us on Facebook.com/lezhangoutpod and follow on Instagram (@lezhangoutpod). Find us individually on Instagram, X, and TikTok at Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida).  We are so pumped for our upcoming vagaytion in Croatia where we will get to hang out in person with 15 of you! If you did not get in on this trip, we apologize in advance for the intense fomo you are about to experience. But, don’t fomo too hard, because we have another opportunity to travel with Ellie and Leigh (and Mermaid Kristin Sparkle!) coming in 2024. If you want to be among the first to know more about our next Trova Trip vagaycation, fill out the quick survey at bit.ly/leztrip. This also helps us to plan even more exciting future trips!  You can support Lez Hang Out while unlocking a bunch of awesome perks like access to our exclusive Discord, monthly full length bonus episodes, weekly ad free episodes, and more by joining us on Patreon at bit.ly/lezpatreon. You can also support the podcast by buying our original merch at bit.ly/lezshop and purchasing our original Lez-ssentials songs for as little as $1 each on Bandcamp! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s been a long time coming. It’s been a long time (It’s Ellie and Leigh!). It’s been a long time coming (It’s fearless). It’s been a long time coming (big reputation)...It’s been a long time coming (And they said, Speak Now). It’s been a long time coming. (We are Lez Hang Out and we were born in 2017!) It’s been a long time coming (Loving her was Red). It’s been a long time (Meet me at Midnight). It’s been a long time coming (Lover). That’s right, gays! Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) are back, baby with Season 7 of the little lesbian podcast that could! Thank you so much to everyone who has been listening whether you started the journey with us 6 years ago or are brand new to the pod. We are so excited to have you here! An overview of what’s been going on in queer news and media would be too depressing, so we are doing something a little different this time and reminiscing about the gay old days. If you are a gay of a certain age like us, you probably had a very different high school experience than what is currently depicted in tv shows and movies. Many millennials and older gays did not get to have quintessential high school experiences like playing Seven Minutes in Heaven or bringing a date of their desired gender to the Prom. When we watch shows and movies like Hulu’s Crush, what stands out the most is just seeing the characters be openly queer without it having to be a whole thing. We can’t even imagine playing Spin the Bottle and not having to first have an intense discussion about what to do if it were to land on someone of the same gender.  While we are sure it’s still not easy to come out and be openly queer (especially depending on where you live), it gives us hope to see that at least within the realm of queer media representation, things have improved for the youth. They are living their best gay teenage years and we love to see it! Can you even imagine how much better life would have been if the gay representation you had as a teenager was something like Crush instead of the biphobic love triangle in South of Nowhere, the hypersexualized relationships in The L Word or the barrage of Bury Your Gays attacks? Even more recent teen media like the OG Pretty Little Liars (which we refuse to believe was over a decade ago) gave full on softcore p0rn love scenes to the heterosexual couples and faded to black on Emison. It’s only very recently that the media has finally stopped cutting away every time a gay couple does anything even remotely sexual.  Although a lot has changed (for the better!) about queer representation, there are still some things that are largely the same – namely the tropes. These tropes exist for a reason and we do love certain ones, but others really deserve to be left in the past. We would be very happy to never watch another ‘lesbian student falls for her highkey predatory teacher’ love story for the rest of our lives. Instead, we want to see more tropes spun on their heads! Give us more of the too cool for school gay kid who is the one doing the bullying or show us a teenage lesbian hitting on a straight friend without it absolutely ruining her entire life. Don’t forget to follow along on the platform formerly known as Twitter: Lez Hang Out (@lezhangoutpod) and answer our Q & Gay at the end of every episode. Leigh Holmes Foster (@lshfoster) and Ellie Brigida (@elliebrigida). You can also join us on Facebook.com/lezhangoutpod and follow us on Instagram (@lezhangoutpod).  We would not have made it to Season 7 without the support of our incredible Patrons! You can support Lez Hang Out while unlocking a bunch of awesome perks like access to our exclusive Discord, monthly bonus episodes (there is a brand new one available now about Nimona!), weekly ad free episodes, and more by joining us on Patreon at bit.ly/lezpatreon. You can also support the podcast by buying our original merch at bit.ly/lezshop and purchasing our original Lez-ssentials songs for as little as $1 each on Bandcamp! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s fine-ally time to talk about the Target fiasco. This week Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out to wrap up Pride month and Season 6 with a look at what it really takes to be a good queer ally in 2023. As anti-LGBTQ+ hate increases across the country, it is no longer enough for allies to just be okay with queer people existing. Corporations that were previously known for performatively turning their logo into a rainbow each June and selling Pride themed merchandise are now pulling back and removing what little support they had been showing in favor of appeasing the loud, fanatical homophobic and transphobic bigots. With our right to simply exist as we are under attack, it is so important for allies to show up and stand up for the queer community and to do so in ways that do not cause further harm.  We are done accepting the bare minimum from so-called ‘allies’. Just going to Pride and posting pics of yourself day drinking in your Love Is Love t-shirt are not going to cut it anymore. The stakes are rising incredibly fast and true allies need to recognize the very real fear that queer people are currently experiencing. Depending on where you live, it may have never felt safe to be gay. However, now even the spaces typically known for being welcoming, safe environments for queer people are under attack. The safe havens that gays have been fleeing to from their small towns for decades are beginning to look a lot less safe. This Pride month has been a heavy one and has served as a stark and much needed reminder for many that Pride has always been and will always be a riot, a protest, and much more than rainbow capitalism wants it to be.  It’s entirely possible to not be homophobic, but still not be a particularly good ally. Take Target for example. Historically, Target has not been homophobic and has long been viewed as ‘gay Walmart’. But this month, Target showed that when push comes to shove, they are not here for the community and are in fact a bad ally. If you think you are an ally but then balk at the first sign of backlash or resistance, you are not actually a good ally. Instead, a good ally is someone who is willing to be a little uncomfortable, willing to embrace change, and willing to show support even when that support is unpopular.  Follow along on Twitter: Lez Hang Out (@lezhangoutpod) and answer our Q & Gay at the end of every episode. Leigh Holmes Foster (@lshfoster) and Ellie Brigida (@elliebrigida). You can also join us on Facebook.com/lezhangoutpod and follow along on Instagram (@lezhangoutpod).  This #pridemonth and all year long don’t forget to support LGBTQ+ creators and small businesses directly. You can support Lez Hang Out while unlocking a bunch of awesome perks like access to our exclusive Discord community, monthly bonus episodes (there are already 11 of them to enjoy upon joining!), weekly ad free episodes, exclusive merch and more. Join us on Patreon at bit.ly/lezpatreon. You can also support the podcast by buying our original merch at bit.ly/lezshop to proudly rep queer all year and purchasing our original songs for as little as $1 each on Bandcamp!  Want to go on a dream vacation and make lifelong memories with a group of amazing queer people? Invest in your own joy this #pride and grab one of the last 3 spots on our #trovatrip to Croatia coming up this September! Get all the details at bit.ly/lezdocroatia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Reality dating shows, for when therapy is just too expensive and you want to add a little chaos to your life. This week Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out and process the delightfully dramatic Netflix reality dating show, The Ultimatum: Queer Love. If you haven’t been watching this show or you are not that into #realitytv, buckle up, because this is a wild ride.  The premise is absolutely nuts- one person in a relationship wants to get married, the other does not for whatever reason. The solution - not couple’s therapy! Nope. The solution is apparently to split up and get involved in a 3 week long trial marriage with someone from another couple in the same predicament. Then, to get back together for a 3 week long trial marriage of their own. At the end of all that mess, everyone can decide to choose their original partner by getting engaged, themselves by walking away single, or their new love ie. the person they spent 3 weeks with in that first trial marriage.  The issue with the show is mainly the premise itself. It basically throws people into that honeymoon phase and makes them compare those feelings to the less exciting feelings they have for their long term partner. We talk about the reasons The Ultimatum is an incredibly unhinged concept, the bonkers decision to not once tell us a single one of these queer people’s pronouns, and the hate crime that was the finale. Genuinely, we were so relieved to watch the reunion, because watching that finale felt like we had stepped into an episode of Black Mirror. Ultimately, if all the show achieved was freeing Xander, it was worth every second. Follow along on Twitter: Lez Hang Out (@lezhangoutpod) and answer our Q & Gay at the end of every episode. Leigh Holmes Foster (@lshfoster) and Ellie Brigida (@elliebrigida). You can also join us on Facebook.com/lezhangoutpod and follow along on Instagram (@lezhangoutpod).  This #pridemonth don’t forget to support LGBTQ+ creators and small businesses directly. You can support Lez Hang Out while unlocking a bunch of awesome perks like access to our exclusive Discord community, monthly bonus episodes, weekly ad free episodes, exclusive merch and more. Join us on Patreon at bit.ly/lezpatreon.  Want to go on a dream vacation and make lifelong memories with a group of amazing queer people? Invest in your own joy this #pride and grab one of the last 4 spots on our #trovatrip to Croatia coming up this September! Get all the details at bit.ly/lezdocroatia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices