Lez Hang Out | A Lesbian Podcast

When you join our Lez Hang Out family on Patreon you will gain instant access to 24 and counting full-length bonus episodes, ad-free weekly episodes, mp3 downloads of all our original songs, an invite to our exclusive Discord channel, and more! We can’t wait to see you there.   You can also support the podcast by buying our original merch at bit.ly/lezmerch and purchasing our original Lez-ssentials songs for as little as $1 each on Bandcamp. Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that is about to get itself cancelled. This week, Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out and talk about why queer people are so drawn to specul-gay-ting, why certain celebrities ping our gaydars and others just don’t (sorry, Sabrina Carpenter - we still love you!), and why the straights seem to be speaking a totally different language from us a lot of the time. Our topic was inspired by Jane Wickline’s performance on SNL last month where she portrayed Sabrina Carpenter singing about why she deserves her own gay rumors. If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s literally all over TikTok. The skit on Saturday Night Live is hilarious but also brings up an interesting talking point - why is it that we specul-gay-te about certain celebs but not others? Why Taylor Swift but not Sabrina Carpenter? Honestly it isn’t rocket science, but there is quite a bit of gay history involved. For centuries queer people have been creating and utilizing our own secret coded language to be able to flag to one another. This was especially important during times when being gay was a crime, but many forms of flagging are still popular today. After all, you don’t just keep the keys to your Subaru on a carabiner for nothing. This is why Sabrina blatantly making out with an alien dancer on stage and even kissing Jenna Ortega in the Taste music video, while delightfully campy, does not ping our gaydar; but Taylor Swift’s Betty does.  Remember, you can 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 respectively. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When you join our Lez Hang Out family on Patreon you will gain instant access to 24 and counting full-length bonus episodes, ad-free weekly episodes, mp3 downloads of all our original songs, an invite to our exclusive Discord channel, and more! We can’t wait to see you there.  You can also support the podcast by buying our original merch at bit.ly/lezmerch and purchasing our original Lez-ssentials songs for as little as $1 each on Bandcamp. Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that wants to make two become one.  This week, Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) kick off the new year by talking about the societally normalized weaponization of the “urge to merge” in a relationship and how, as usual, the problem is because of straight culture and cishet men. For the record, it is our belief that it is not codependent to actually like and want to be around your significant other(s)! That’s kind of the point of being in a relationship in the first place.  Is it really ‘U-Hauling' just because you want to spend all your free time with your partner? Are you really ‘whipped’ for being considerate of your girlfriend’s emotional and physical wellbeing? We really don’t think so and while the jokes may be amusing on occasion, the overarching culture is damaging for women, especially queer women.   The old “ball and chain” concept has been a staple of mainstream culture for longer than we’ve been alive. Think about the straight couples that you know. Have they merged their friends or do they hang out in mostly gendered groups doing separate things? We really think this comes down to straight men seeming to not really like women or spending time with them (outside of the bedroom). This negative attitude toward spending time together spilled over from the mainstream culture into lesbian relationships and we can’t help but wonder how much of that cultural spill links back to popular queer media like The L Word. Remember, you can 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 respectively. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When you join our Lez Hang Out family on Patreon you will gain instant access to 23 and counting full-length bonus episodes, ad-free weekly episodes, mp3 downloads of all our original songs, an invite to our exclusive Discord channel, and more! We can’t wait to see you there.  Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that wants to welcome you to the house of dykes! This week Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out with Juno Rosenhaus, curator of dyke artists and founder of the Dyke+ ArtHaus (@dykearthaus), a dyke-forward and wholly inclusive space in Philadelphia for queer and trans artists (of all kinds) to come together, create art, and build community. We talk with Juno about the process of creating the ArtHaus, the inherently political nature of the word ‘dyke’, and our personal experiences with vulva shame.  At its core, the ArtHaus is an extremely political space, with foundations in abolitionism, feminism, and intersectionality. It strives to be an anti-capitalist space that increases accessibility to art for all and serves as a safe space for everyone in the community. Although the ArtHaus centers dyke artists over 40, anyone of any age who identifies as part of the LGBTQ+ community is welcome. Whether you visit the Dyke+ ArtHaus for an artist residency, a weekend getaway in the guest room (that reportedly contains PORTALS TO OTHER WORLDS), an afternoon jaunt to see the current exhibit, “Twenty (Dyke Artists) over Forty (Years Old)”, or for a community event like the upcoming anti-capitalist gift-making workshop, you are sure to find yourself inspired.  In addition to learning all about the Dyke+ ArtHaus, we also spoke with Juno about her personal art project, “I Won’t Be Pretty For You: Vulvas Queered”, a series of varied and inclusive photographs of vulvas done in a fine art style to combat vulva shame, promote body and sex positivity, and normalize vulvas of all kinds (and don’t worry, the project is trans inclusive). Apparently vulva circles, where you literally sit in a circle with your friends and look at your vulvas in little mirrors and talk about them together, used to exist in the 70’s and we are deeply upset that this is no longer a common practice #bringbackvulvacircles!  We are heading to France from March 31st through April 6th for this year’s BIG GAY TRIP! Join Ellie and Leigh for a vacay to Bordeaux and Paris where we will tour a winery, explore the catacombs, and dance the night away at the best gay bars. Make a 25% deposit by January 1st in order to secure your spot on the trip. Space is limited, so sign up soon! Give us your own answers to our Q & Gay on Instagram and follow along on Facebook, TikTok, and BlueSky @lezhangoutpod.  You can find your fav tol and smol hosts Ellie & Leigh at @elliebrigida and @lshfoster respectively. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When you join our Lez Hang Out family on Patreon you will gain instant access to 23 and counting full-length bonus episodes, ad-free weekly episodes, mp3 downloads of all our original songs, an invite to our exclusive Discord channel, and more! A Patreon membership is also a great gift for making your loved one’s Yuletide (and next 12 months) as gay as possible.  Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that is a little bit obsessed with Beanie Feldstein.  This week, Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) talk about the 2024 dark buddy comedy Drive-Away Dolls for this Lez-ssentials episode, a recurring segment on the essential movies and TV shows in the lesbian canon.  Drive-Away Dolls is a chaotic queer romp set in 1999. The plot follows Jamie and Marian, two lesbian besties who could not be more different from one another, as they take a road trip to Tallahassee while being pursued by some very inefficient goons. Coen brothers movies are known for a flavor of dark humor and a level of absurdity that can be polarizing, and this one is no exception. While Leigh (and her wife) found Drive-Away Dolls hilarious, Ellie won’t be rewatching anytime soon. If you’re hoping to find a new ship to stay up late reading about on Ao3, you’ll probably be disappointed. Although the level of lesbian shenanigans is off the charts from Jamie’s L Word vibe to the sheer number of dildos on screen at any given time, the sexual chemistry between the leads is not believable. While we can’t quite root for Jamie and Marian as a couple, we still found the movie enjoyable as an outlandishly gay comedy. At the end of the episode, stick around to hear our original song based on Drive-Away Dolls, titled “Member of Congress”, 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.  Mark your calendars for our Black Friday Sale! From November 29th- Cyber Monday all of our original merch will be 20% off with code “LHOBlackFriday”. Check out our store at bit.ly/lezmerch and start making your wish list now.  We are heading to France from March 31st through April 6th for this year’s BIG GAY TRIP! Join Ellie and Leigh for a vacay to Bordeaux and Paris where we will tour a beautiful winery, explore hauntingly historical catacombs, and dance the night away at the best Parisian gay bars. Make a 25% deposit by January 1st in order to secure your spot on the trip. Space is limited, so sign up soon! Give us your own answers to our Q & Gay on BlueSky @lezhangoutpod and follow along on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. You can find your fav tol and smol hosts Ellie & Leigh at @elliebrigida and @lshfoster respectively. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that wants to travel the world with you! This week Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out with Allyssa Leaton (@thelesbianpassport), a lesbian travel content creator, and talk about her experiences traveling as a solo queer woman. Allyssa grew up in the Bible Belt not knowing the word ‘lesbian’, let alone what it meant. Now she proudly serves as much-needed queer representation in the travel space, inspiring hopeful LGBTQ+ travelers and finding all the best gay hotspots around the world.  Although Allyssa has visited more than 20 countries at only 25 years old, she does not make her travel decisions with ticking boxes in mind. Instead of always going to a new country, she has made repeat trips to her favorite places, including Buenos Aires (the city she credits as having the most sapphic-inclusive queer scene) and Iceland (a place where being gay was such a nonissue that Allyssa felt cultural whiplash). As an introvert, Allyssa has found herself thriving as a solo traveler, loving the freedom provided by solitude. We talk with Allyssa about the safety of traveling alone as a lesbian, tips for finding queer spaces and making friends in a new place, and the challenges of traveling full-time.  Check out Everywhere is Queer for a simple way to find queer spaces all over the world.  If this chat inspired you to take a BIG, GAY trip, you can find more information about our next Big, Gay trip on our website.  You can support Lez Hang Out while unlocking a bunch of exclusive perks including access to our Discord channel, 23 and counting full-length bonus episodes, weekly ad-free episodes, and more by joining us on Patreon. You can also support the podcast by buying our original merch at bit.ly/lezmerch and purchasing our original Lez-ssentials songs for as little as $1 each on Bandcamp. You can give us your answers to our Q & Gay questions on Twitter @lezhangoutpod and follow along on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. Ellie (@elliebrigida) and (Leigh @lshfoster) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that is excited to have you at our group therapy session. This week Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out with Elle Deran (@elle.deran), a trans and nonbinary actor, advocate, and content creator, and talk about the beauty and joy of embracing self-actualization and doing the work to live authentically.  After coming out as trans and nonbinary exactly 1 week prior to the start of the pandemic, Elle had the time to cocoon in their apartment and really take the time to uncover her identity. When they emerged and began to interact with the world again, Elle was disheartened to find that people were interacting with and responding to her very differently than they had been prior to presenting in a more gender-authentic way. Social media provided a path to community and an opportunity for a sort of group catharsis about shared transphobic experiences. This access to a like-minded community acted as a haven for navigating the challenges that came with choosing to embrace authenticity in place of perpetual people-pleasing.  While speaking with Elle, we talked about the reasons why being a “people-pleaser” is really doing a disservice to both yourself and everyone else. Although this sent Ellie into a bit of an existential spiral, it was an important door into a deeper conversation about the value of authenticity, trusting your intuition, and listening to your body in order to figure out who you truly are. We also discussed why it is actually so important for everyone, regardless of gender identity, to sit with and analyze their feelings about their own gender. This hit home for Leigh, who spent some time reflecting on the gender dysphoria she felt during her pregnancy as well as the recently realized gender euphoria she experienced through something as simple as choosing to stop shaving her legs. In the end, we realized that when you are able to feel joy in being your 100% authentic self, it is easier to feel that same joy when you see others being true to themselves too.  Elle has created a 5-part video workshop, “The Heart of Allyship: A Self-Reflective Approach to Trans and Nonbinary Support”. If you are interested in diving deeper into the concept of gender on a whole, reflecting on your own gender, and learning more about trans and nonbinary communities, you can access the complete workshop for a one-time fee of $49.99.  You can support Lez Hang Out while unlocking a bunch of exclusive perks including access to our Discord channel, 23 and counting full-length bonus episodes, weekly ad-free episodes, and more by joining us on Patreon. You can also support the podcast by buying our original merch at bit.ly/lezmerch (use code lhospooky for 20% off your purchase through November 1st!) and purchasing our original Lez-ssentials songs for as little as $1 each on Bandcamp. Give us your own answers to our Q & Gay on Twitter @lezhangoutpod and follow along on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. You can find your fav tol and smol hosts Ellie & Leigh at @elliebrigida and @lshfoster respectively. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that fully supports your decision to get the iconic Kristen Stewart Love Lies Bleeding mullet.  This week, Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) talk about Kristen Stewart’s 2024 sapphic crime-thriller Love Lies Bleeding for this Lez-ssentials episode, a recurring segment on the essential movies and TV shows in the lesbian canon. This movie is a wild ride, and we think it is more enjoyable to go into it with as little information as possible. Be sure to watch the film before listening, as there are many spoilers ahead! However, if you are super squeamish about blood and gore, you may need to sit this one out. The gore is realistic and not at all over the top, but we did find it a bit disturbing and uncomfortable to watch at times. Love Lies Bleeding introduces us to possibly the (and we say this with the utmost respect) dykiest Kristen Stewart character yet. Lou is a complicated, small-town lesbian working at a gym and sporting the gayest mullet we have ever seen. She has a clingy, obsessive ex-girlfriend named Daisy and a super messy relationship with her family. Refreshingly, Lou’s issues with her family are not because of homophobia. Instead, we learn that her dad is a shady, dangerous man who straight-up kills people, her mom has been “missing” for the past 12 years, and her sister is too brainwashed by her violent, misogynistic husband to be a half-decent sibling.  When Lou meets Jackie, a bisexual beefcake played by Katie O’Brien, it is like a moth to a flame and their passion quickly ignites into a full-blown toxic, obsessive relationship. They U-Haul after sleeping together one time and then Lou proceeds to get Jackie hooked on steroids to help her bulk up for an important bodybuilding competition. The film does an excellent job showing how the steroids are changing Jackie’s body and personality, shielding none of the horrors of addiction and obsessive love from the viewers. Several realistic sex scenes help to emphasize the problematic relationship dynamics between Lou and Jackie. It's not all violence and sex though, as we were laughing our heads off on multiple occasions from all the campy, queer chaos in a Bodies, Bodies, Bodies type of way. Even though Lou and Jackie’s relationship is 100% toxic and gets almost everyone in their path killed, we cannot help but be fascinated by these nuanced antiheroes and the movie's exploration of what it means to be a monster. At the end of the episode, stick around to hear our original song based on Love Lies Bleeding, titled “Destiny”, 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.  You can support Lez Hang Out while unlocking exclusive perks, including access to our Discord channel, 23 and counting full-length bonus episodes, weekly ad-free episodes, and more by joining us on Patreon. You can also support the podcast by buying our original merch at bit.ly/lezmerch (use code lhospooky for 20% off your purchase through November 1st!). Give us your answers to our Q & Gay on Twitter @lezhangoutpod and follow along on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. You can find your fav tol and smol hosts Ellie & Leigh at @elliebrigida and @lshfoster respectively. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast voted most likely to talk at you about gay sh*t for 8 years. This week Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out and try to nail down what it is that makes them both so freaking gay.  Between Leigh voting Ellie most likely to not see a straight person for 3 years and Ellie voting Leigh most likely to get recognized at Home Depot, this was truly meant to be a deeply unserious episode. However, it takes a bit of a turn when Ellie goes into a whole existential crisis trying to pin down exactly what about her is gay. In her defense, she typed ‘lesbian stereotypes’ into Google and quickly discovered that Google has never encountered a feminine lesbian (especially one that hates hiking, isn’t a vegetarian, and is genuinely terrified of cats). Luckily for Ellie her intense love of oysters, her Co-Star account, and her strong celesbian diva energy come in clutch to verify that she is in fact super gay after all (whew).  On the other hand, Leigh tends to fit a bit more of the stereotypes. From her ever-growing stash of little boy’s button-down shirts to her handyness around the house and self-proclaimed love of fixing things, Leigh might look like a cliché gay at first glance. But did you know…she has a dog! (Yes, so does Ellie, but we’re not talking about her right now). Truly the gayest thing about Leigh is neither her skill with a hammer nor her very short haircut. It’s not even that her ex was in her wedding party. The gayest thing about Leigh is actually her deep, esoteric knowledge of niche queer media. If you want to talk to someone about that obscure foreign web series with that one gay couple, you’re in luck; because Leigh does too.  We would not have made it to Season 8 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, 22 and counting 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/lezmerch (free shipping on orders $100+ with code lhoship) and purchasing our original Lez-ssentials songs for as little as $1 each on Bandcamp! Give us your own answers to our Q & Gay on Twitter @lezhangoutpod and follow along on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. You can find your fav tol and smol hosts Ellie & Leigh at @elliebrigida and @lshfoster respectively. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out with host of Nuances: Our Asian Stories (@nuancespod), LAZOU (@itslazou), to talk about her new mini series Queering Premodern Asia,, women who married ghosts to get out of marrying real live men, one of the most prolific poets of all time, Wu Zao, and how she wanted to possess a courtesan's jade body, and the Golden Orchid Society. LAZOU, pronounced “Lah-Zoo”, is of Chinese Mauritian descent. She was born in Toronto, ON, but grew up in Mauritius. The tiny African island is the only place the Dodo bird🦤 ever lived! She is now based in California. She is a music producer, songwriter and vocalist. Her music has been featured on TV shows such as The Young & The Restless, True Lies, Real Girlfriends in Paris, & more. On Nuances, LAZOU brings Asian stories to light with Asian guest hosts and scholars. Her most recent episode, 'But Where Are The Lesbians,' highlights the rich lesbian world of pre-modern Asia, often overlooked in Western narratives. Gay men are documented everywhere, but lesbians rarely are and the tales are fascinating. Like - did you know that in premodern Japan, there were s*x toys specifically designed and marketed to lesbian women, along with drawings showing how to use these toys?  We would not have made it to Season 8 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, 22 and counting 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/lezmerch (free shipping on orders $100+ with code lhoship) and purchasing our original Lez-ssentials songs for as little as $1 each on Bandcamp! Give us your own answers to our Q & Gay on Twitter @lezhangoutpod and follow along on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. You can find your fav tol and smol hosts Ellie & Leigh at @elliebrigida and @lshfoster respectively. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you’re a later-in-life gay, congrats on making it out! And if you’re still in the closet, we see you, we love you, and your gayness is valid.  This week Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out with host of the Made It Out Podcast (@madeitoutpodcast), Mal Glowenke (@malglowenke), to talk about the journey from recovering Texas-raised (closeted) lesbian to loud and proud podcast host. The heteronormative societal culture from growing up in Dallas was strong, but the pull of LA was stronger. All it took was one visit to Hollywood to break the closet door wide open, catapulting Mal into a beautiful, technicolor world of community and possibility.  It’s been a long journey from Mal’s days of scrolling Craigslist’s “Women Seeking Women” board to moving to DTLA and experiencing her baby gay days right as the pandemic hit. After 20+ years of having to live inauthentically, Mal had a lot of unraveling to do, including needing surgery to reverse the plastic surgery that she had done solely for the sake of appealing to the male gaze. By finding queer community, Mal finally had the safe space she needed to liberate her true self.  Now that Mal is wide awake to the harms of the heteronormative patriarchy, she is using her podcast to get the word out about the importance of voting. Her new six-episode series, Made It Out (To the Polls), partners with LPAC, the only national organization dedicated to advancing the political representation and power of LGBTQ+ women and nonbinary candidates at every level of government. We would not have made it to Season 8 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, 22 and counting 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/lezmerch (free shipping on orders $100+ with code lhoship) and purchasing our original Lez-ssentials songs for as little as $1 each on Bandcamp! Give us your own answers to our Q & Gay on Twitter @lezhangoutpod and follow along on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. You can find your fav tol and smol hosts Ellie & Leigh at @elliebrigida and @lshfoster respectively. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The summer of 2024 will forever be remembered as a magical renaissance for the girls, gays and theys. From the queer women sweeping the Paris Olympics to the loudly lesbian musicians and singers topping the charts (and each other), it has truly been the hot gay summer of our dreams.  This week Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) are back in your eardrums with the premiere of Season 8 (!!!) of the little lesbian podcast that could. We’ve only been gone for a few weeks, but there is so much to talk about. Whether you’re a sports gay or not, you most likely saw at least some of the summer Olympics where 55 LGBTQ+ women made it to the podium. These incredible athletes were not the only ones breaking records this summer though, as Ellie saw firsthand at Chappell Roan’s overwhelmingly well-attended Lollapalooza set. Everything Chappell releases lately has been such a bop that the Midwest Princess effectively united the straights and the gays (even though the straights definitely still don’t understand Good Luck, Babe). But Chappell isn’t the only lesbian we’ve got blasting in our airpods. Billie Eilish has fully embraced the challenge of making sure no one ever questions her sexuality again. After releasing a chart-topping song about eating a girl out for lunch, Billie somehow made things even more sapphic by rolling around in a pile of bras and panties with Charli XCX in the Guess remix music video. We’d be remiss to not mention our girl Reneé Rapp (who we are going to sorely miss on the Sex Lives of College Girls next season) and who, alongside Chappell Roan, has been very vocal and intentional about her lesbian identity.  We would not have made it to Season 8 without the support of our wonderful Patrons! You can support Lez Hang Out while unlocking a bunch of awesome perks like access to our exclusive Discord, 22 and counting 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/lezmerch (free shipping on orders $100+ with code lhoship) and purchasing our original Lez-ssentials songs for as little as $1 each on Bandcamp! Follow the pod on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook & Twitter @lezhangoutpod You can find your fav tol and smol hosts Ellie & Leigh at @elliebrigida and @lshfoster respectively Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that wants every kid to have access to queer role models and positive LGBTQ+ representation.  This week Leigh (@lshfoster) hangs out solo with Lindz Amer (@mxlindz), the creator of the web series Queer Kid Stuff (@queerkidstuff) and author of the inclusive parenting book, Rainbow Parenting: Your Guide to Raising Queer Kids and their Allies, and the children’s book, Hooray for She, He, Ze, and They!: What Are Your Pronouns Today?. Lindz travels to schools and libraries across the country to talk to children, parents, and educators about the importance of affirming childrens’ identities. They are also a consultant for mainstream preschool media (for example, Lindz created a nonbinary character for Paw Patrol that unfortunately resulted in quite a bit of backlash from outraged conservative parents because of course it did).  Lindz is currently working to reboot their award-winning preschool web series Queer Kid Stuff through a Kickstarter campaign which runs through July 5th.  For those of you who are unfamiliar, Queer Kid Stuff is basically the LGBTQ+ inclusive version of Mr. Rogers that we all wish we’d had growing up. Leigh spoke with Lindz about their dreams for the new and improved Queer Kid Stuff, what they have learned about early childhood education and how best to teach queer concepts since releasing the original web series, their journey to recognizing and embracing their transness and becoming a more authentic version of themselves, and why in the face of horrific LGBTQ+ youth mental health statistics, positive media representation is more important than ever for both kids and caregivers alike.  In today’s age, it isn’t enough to only educate and direct content at LGBTQ+ people. We also need to educate and raise allies in our effort to normalize queerness everywhere. Statistics show that when educators, parents, and caregivers support children’s sexual and gender identities through the use of affirming language and respecting their chosen pronouns, the risks of queer youth harming themselves goes down by a whopping 50%. With so many recent attempts to censor queerness in childrens’ media including the banning of drag storytime at libraries, as well as the censorship of school and library books that reference queerness in any way, it is critical that we as a community push back and continue to do everything in our power to teach kids how to live authentically and proudly as their truest selves.  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).  Happy Pride to all! From now through the end of June you can take 15% off your purchase at our merch store with code lhopride and stock up on everything you need to show your Pride 365! Visit bit.ly/lezmerch to secure the bag.  You can support Lez Hang Out while unlocking a bunch of perks including access to our exclusive Discord channel, monthly full length bonus episodes, weekly ad free episodes, and more by joining us on Patreon at bit.ly/lezpatreon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that wants you to have the gay audacity to do ANYTHING your little queer heart desires! This week Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out with Kyne Santos (@onlinekyne), the Math Drag Queen and author of Math In Drag. From an early age, Kyne knew he loved two things, math…and makeup. He could never have known back then that those two loves would lead him on a journey to becoming the Math Queen! Through his recently released book and viral TikTok videos, he uses drag as an avenue for making math more approachable and fun for everyone. Whether you consider yourself good at math, “bad with numbers” or anything in between, Kyne is here to broaden your mindset and help you to embrace the beautiful possibilities of both math and drag.  When we are little, people decide pretty quickly to put us into the math/science box or the creative/arts box. The truth is so much more nuanced than that, with math applying to every creative pursuit you can think of. Even songwriters are doing math every single time they write a note on a page. Math in itself is a creative puzzle solving tool and when embraced can open a whole new world of possibilities. What we learn in K-12 is usually just the basic tools of math and it is a shame that learning seems to stop right before getting to the more creative applications. Math and creativity do not have to be kept in separate boxes, and Kyne’s book and videos show that there are ways to approach math that are much more relatable and fun.  We talk with Kyne about both math and gender as social constructs, the economics of being a contestant on Drag Race through the lens of Game Theory, how math is used in music (sound engineering, anybody?), and the importance of keeping an open mind about math and drag alike.  Kyne’s book, Math In Drag, is available now (and the audiobook is coming soon!). Learn more about the book and pick up your very own copy here.  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).  Happy Pride to all! From now through the end of June you can take 15% off your purchase at our merch store with code lhopride and stock up on everything you need to show your Pride 365! Visit bit.ly/lezmerch to secure the bag.  You can support Lez Hang Out while unlocking a bunch of perks including access to our exclusive Discord channel, monthly full-length bonus episodes, weekly ad-free episodes, and more by joining us on Patreon at bit.ly/lezpatreon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that wants to take you out to the ball gay-me.  This week, Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) talk about the 2022 Amazon Prime series A League of Their Own for this Lez-ssentials episode, a recurring segment on the essential movies and TV shows in the lesbian canon. This series was based on the 1992 film of the same name and featured an absolutely stacked cast. Literally everyone is in this show (Even Rosie O’Donnell!). Of course we cannot talk about ALOTO without first talking about the upsetting and completely undeserved cancellation that came after giving us one of the most perfect seasons of television ever made. In spite of the series’ success, Amazon Prime decided not to move forward with a Season 2, contributing to the all too common “Cancel Your Gays” trope that has been a favorite of seemingly every modern television network lately.  If you haven’t caught on, we think this show was a home run and would not change a single thing about it (aside from making it 800 seasons long). Even with only one season, ALOTO packs in more queer women content than any show we’ve ever seen (outside of The L Word). As a period piece ALOTO does a fantastic job of showing what life was like for these women as they attempted to live as authentically as possible while navigating the laws of a heteronormative and racially segregated society. It is honestly so refreshing to see such a wide range of queer relationship dynamics on our screens, especially the ones that are not solely romance-focused. Sure, we all go feral for D’Arcy Carden as Greta spinning little gayby Carson’s entire life on its axis, but it’s equally satisfying watching Jess and Lupe’s queer masc bromance and the queer elder x baby queer dynamic between Uncle Bertie and Max. At the end of the episode, stick around to hear our original song based on A League of Their Own, titled “Baseball Diamonds (Are A Girl’s Best Friend)”, 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. Our merch store is moving! Get ready for Pride 365 days a year with our official Lez Hang Out merchandise soon to be available directly through our website (with an expanded range of items!). In the meantime, you can still grab our past designs from the old shop at bit.ly/lezshop.  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 wants to know if you wear Docs, Crocs, or Birkenstocks.  This week Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out with Eleanor Medhurst (@dressingdykes), lesbian fashion historian and author of both the blog Dressing Dykes and the soon-to-be-released book, Unsuitable: A History of Lesbian Fashion, to talk about lesbian, and more broadly, queer, fashion throughout the ages. Although often subtle to the heterosexual observer, the decision to dress in a way that pushes the envelope on what is considered acceptable is one that queer people have made time and time again, often at great risk to their personal safety. As times and laws regarding acceptable dress have changed, queer fashion has followed suit, making it possible for historians like Eleanor to track these changes through recorded history.  Fashion provides a rather useful historical record of queerness, shifting over time to reflect the ever-moving needle of societal acceptability. The modern lesbian uniform of “Docs, Crocs, and Birkenstocks”, flannels, beanies, and carabiners did not just crop up one day out of nowhere, but instead developed out of a necessity for queer people to both flag themselves as outside of the norm and to find one another in an otherwise heteronormative world. Nowadays, lesbians in many areas of the world have the opportunity to dress however they would like, whether that be more masculine, androgynous, feminine or all over the spectrum. Sadly, not very long ago, that was simply not the case. Due to laws like New York’s 3-piece Clothing Law ( which required people to wear at minimum 3 pieces of “correctly-gendered” clothing), queer people of the past had to be extremely cautious of their fashion choices or risk being arrested. This can make it a little more difficult to track queer people through history, as of course, the ones who make more risky fashion choices are often the ones who make it into the history books. Those who fell in line with the laws of the time, typically femmes, were mostly invisible outside of the lens of a more masculine-presenting partner.  In addition to providing a way for queer people to look back and see ourselves represented throughout all of time, fashion is still used in modern media to express things about the characters to the audience. Take Gentleman Jack, for instance. While the show was based on the very real person, Anne Lister, some things were changed about Anne’s fashion to make her more understandable as “outside of society’s norms” to a modern audience. The real Anne Lister never would have worn a top hat on the regular and likely would have worn a more typical bonnet like other women of the time. However, the showrunners did not feel that this look would make Anne stand out quite enough and chose to give her a top hat to more strongly emphasize her masculinity and power. Eleanor’s book, Unsuitable: A History of Lesbian Fashion, will be available beginning June 1st and is available for pre-order now. Follow us on Twitter: Lez Hang Out (@lezhangoutpod) and answer our Q & Gay questions at the end of every episode. You can join us on Facebook.com/lezhangoutpod and follow us 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, 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 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