Listen Up Girl

Today on Listen Up Girl: Scott Wiener wins Nancy Pelosi's seat and becomes the first openly gay person to represent San Francisco in Congress, Cait Conley flips New York's 17th District, Janelle Sarauw becomes the U.S. Virgin Islands' first out delegate to Congress, and Amanda Gonzalez is set to become Colorado's first out secretary of state. In Germany, more than half of this year's 299 Pride marches were attacked or disrupted, and physical assaults on marchers nearly quintupled. The Beijing Queer Film Festival is cancelled the night before opening after weeks of police pressure. A Tokyo court orders a Kofu city assembly member to pay damages to Akutagawa Prize winner Li Kotomi for outing her. Senegal puts 32 people on trial on November 12 while Dakar hosts the Youth Olympics. And Greater Palm Springs Pride celebrates its 40th anniversary this weekend. Hosted by Zach Randles-Friedman https://www.listenupgirl.com/ Follow me at https://www.instagram.com/therealzachre/ Podcast music: https://dillonderosa.com/ Thank you Dillion!!! GayBFF: the app where making LGBTQ+ friends is finally as easy as swiping — no dating pressure, just your people. https://gaybff.app/ https://apps.apple.com/us/app/gaybff-make-real-friends/id6795699619 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Yesterday was the rainbow wave. Today, the other side of election night: anti-trans sports measures passed in Nebraska (Measure 442) and Arizona (Prop 318), and are leading in Washington (I-638) and Colorado (Prop 134), even as Democrats swept those blue states.Also today: the Supreme Court hears St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy, where Catholic preschools want Colorado's public funding while turning away children of LGBTQ+ parents. The FDA gives tentative approval to Dr. Reddy's generic lenacapavir, the twice-yearly PrEP shot, at $40 a year for 120 lower-income countries. An estimated 150,000 people march at Taiwan Pride after the Commander D police raid. Thomas Bradley becomes Queensland's governor and Australia's first openly gay state governor. And Celebrity Traitors winners Sebastian Croft and Romesh Ranganathan give their £83,000 BBC prize to refugee charities, including one for LGBTQ+ refugees. Hosted by Zach Randles-Friedman https://www.listenupgirl.com/ Follow me at https://www.instagram.com/therealzachre/ Podcast music: https://dillonderosa.com/ Thank you Dillion!!! GayBFF: the app where making LGBTQ+ friends is finally as easy as swiping — no dating pressure, just your people. https://gaybff.app/ https://apps.apple.com/us/app/gaybff-make-real-friends/id6795699619 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It was a blue wave, and a rainbow one. In this special election edition of Listen Up Girl, Zach Randles-Friedman breaks down the biggest LGBTQ+ wins of the 2026 midterms.Chris Pappas becomes the first openly gay man elected to the U.S. Senate. JD Ford, JoAnna Mendoza, Marni von Wilpert, and Jeremy Moss help flip and win House seats, while Robert Garcia lines up to chair House Oversight. Sarah McBride wins a second term, and Bentley Hudgins and Joanna Whaley make history in Georgia and Michigan. Virginia writes marriage equality into its constitution, Missouri rejects Amendment 3, Texas rejects the anti-trans ad playbook, Keisha Lance Bottoms becomes the first Black woman elected governor in U.S. history, and Maura Healey and Tina Kotek win second terms. Hosted by Zach Randles-Friedman https://www.listenupgirl.com/ Follow me at https://www.instagram.com/therealzachre/ Podcast music: https://dillonderosa.com/ Thank you Dillion!!! GayBFF: the app where making LGBTQ+ friends is finally as easy as swiping — no dating pressure, just your people. https://gaybff.app/ https://apps.apple.com/us/app/gaybff-make-real-friends/id6795699619 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It's Election Day, and Virginia voters decide Question 2, which would remove the state's 2006 same-sex marriage ban from its constitution. Gov. Abigail Spanberger made her closing pitch at Babes of Carytown in Richmond alongside HRC President Kelley Robinson and Equality Virginia's Narissa Rahaman.Also today on Listen Up Girl: India's Special Intensive Revision strikes more than 130 million names from voter rolls, and activists say trans voters are hit hardest. Northern Ireland's Turing's Law scheme has granted zero pardons in eight years. Catalan prosecutors seek nearly eight years in prison for two police officers accused of torturing a gay Arab man in Barcelona. More than 150 LGBTQ+ Wikipedia editors from 30 countries meet in Montreal for Queering Wiki 2026. And the B-52s receive their Hollywood Walk of Fame star with a tribute to Ricky Wilson.Listen Up Girl is a daily LGBTQ+ news podcast hosted by Zach Randles-Friedman. New episodes every day. 🌐 listenupgirl.com 📲 @TheRealZachRE Hosted by Zach Randles-Friedman https://www.listenupgirl.com/ Follow me at https://www.instagram.com/therealzachre/ Podcast music: https://dillonderosa.com/ Thank you Dillion!!! GayBFF: the app where making LGBTQ+ friends is finally as easy as swiping — no dating pressure, just your people. https://gaybff.app/ https://apps.apple.com/us/app/gaybff-make-real-friends/id6795699619 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today on Listen Up Girl, the day before Election Day: Long Island congressional candidate Chris Gallant turns a tabloid leak of leather photos into his "Make Politics Sexy Again" campaign. Georgia librarian LaVonnia Moore files a federal lawsuit after being fired over a trans-inclusive picture book display. A new Uncloseted Media investigation finds Guy Hammond's Strength in Weakness ministry still selling programs to Canadians four years after the country banned conversion therapy. Russia's anti-LGBTQ "extremism" law starts fining people who supported it. An 18-year-old is charged after a dating app lure and group attack in an Ellisville, Missouri park. And we remember Sir Patrick Stewart, actor and lifelong LGBTQ+ ally, who died at 86. Hosted by Zach Randles-Friedman https://www.listenupgirl.com/ Follow me at https://www.instagram.com/therealzachre/ Podcast music: https://dillonderosa.com/ Thank you Dillion!!! GayBFF: the app where making LGBTQ+ friends is finally as easy as swiping — no dating pressure, just your people. https://gaybff.app/ https://apps.apple.com/us/app/gaybff-make-real-friends/id6795699619 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.