Out of all of the musicals you could possibly blame for making you gay, I would have guessed that Les Miserables would be somewhere near the bottom of the list.
But not, it turns out, if you are radio presenter, author, and host of the Coming Out Stories podcast Emma Goswell, who had her queer awakening with thanks to the story about a French peasant and his quest for redemption in 19th century France... Hmm...
We caught up to talk about the Manchester in the 90s, and in particular the lesbian bar Follies, which sounds like one of those delightfully bizarre places that has a little bit for everybody (including those who just want a nice cup of tea and a sit down!).
Before we get in to it, and in order to set the context for the beginning of the episode, we start off by discussing the strange rivalry in England between the North and the South of the country.
I'm pretty sure every country has their own version of this, but worth stating that the North is seen as more down to earth whilst the South is seen as snobby and hoighty.
Total oversimplification, but hopefully that's enough to get us going.
Do you have any memories of Follies, or clubbing from your own scene that you want to share? Well, if you have please get in touch - I want to create the biggest online record of people's memories and stories - go to www.lostspacespodcast.com and find the section 'Share a Lost Space' and tell me what you got up to! Bonus points for embarrassing photos!
You can also find me on Facebook (www.facebook.com/lostspacespod), Instagram (www.instagram.com/lostspacespod) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/lostspacespod)
Find out more about Emma by listening to either of her podcasts - Coming Out Stories, which is all about coming out stories, and Effin Hormones, which is a show all about the perimenopause. You can also follow her on X (www.twitter.com/emmagoswell).
