Lost Spaces: Memories from Gay Bars, Lesbian Clubs, and LGBTQ+ Parties

More new podcast recommendations this week! This week I'm sharing an episode of The Queer Family Podcast, a show all about queer families. Every episode is a chat between host Jaimie and different guests who have been through the process of starting their own family, and I've learnt so much from listening about how varied everyone's journey is. This particular episode is a chat with Richard and Carlos, (aka @therealdadsofnewyork), who chat about their experiences of fostering and adopting. The thing I love in particular about this conversation is that very specific energy between a couple (you know what I'm talking about!).

Ahoy! I'm taking a few weeks off over the festive period to recharge (and eat too many mince pies). But, rather than leaving you languishing out there in podcast land without any fresh content I thought I would share some of my favourite episodes from past guests' own podcasts. And, the first show that I'm sharing is..... This Queer Book Saved My Life! This show is hosted by JP Der Boghossian, who appeared in the Lost Spaces episode "Every Bachelorette Party Seems To Be At A Queer Bar Now" waaaaay back in August 2022. I wanted to share this episode because: JP is a total sweetheart and I think you'll love his interview style The episode, a conversation with Maya Williams, the Poet Laureate of Portland, Maine, covers a book that is often the focus of book-banning campaigns - The Colour Purple. I am baffled by all this book banning malarkey, and I want to hear your views on it!

Sometimes on this show we talk about spaces that my guest went to religiously, and they have stories from years of partying and socialising. And sometimes, like with this episode, we go to spaces that my guest only went to once. Despite that, it was still hugely influential to them. And, so, although we don't know the name of this week's bar, or exactly what town it was in, we DO know that it was in Arizona, that it was a country bar, and that it had a huge impact on my guest, David F M Vaughn from the queer parenting podcast Gaytriarchs. We talk all about the overlap between queerness and southernness, the beauty of an unpretentious bar, and the fear of going to queer spaces on your own (and being judged horribly!). Do you have any inkling of what this week's mystery bar could be, 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) or Instagram (www.instagram.com/lostspacespod) Find out more about David by having a listen to Gaytriarchs wherever you find podcasts, or by following him on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/davidfmvaughn).

What do you do when Malcolm McLaren, that hugely influential promoter and manager for punk rock bands like Sex Pistols, Adam and the Ants, and Bow Wow Wow, tells you that he thinks you should move to New York City? Well, you pack your bags and get moving! That’s exactly what this week’s guest did, packing his bags and moving with his best friend Lauren after the two got talking to Mr McLaren at a party they attended in their home state, California. Moving from San Diego in the autumn of 1985, the two were plunged in to the exciting NYC nightlife scene immediately, attending the lost space Boy Bar on their very first night. And Boy Bar came to be a pretty big deal in Miss Guy's life - but, I'll let her tell you about that. This is a really great conversation, and another reminder after the conversation a few weeks ago with Sherry Vine of a time when New York City nightlife was vital and throbbing and the centre of the universe... Do you have any memories of Boy Bar, 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 Miss Guy by following him on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/missguynyc/) or visiting his website (www.missguy.com)

What do you do when you're a drag queen who wants to get more gigs? Well, that's simple - you create you own night! Easy, right? But we're not talking about just any old drag queen. We are talking about someone who, dare I say, loves a checklist almost as much as I do (I know, can you believe it?). Zelda Moon is the co-host of the Death to Everyone podcast (and we've already met her co-host Lazy Susan in last week's episode), and she is also a huge lover of K-Pop and J-Pop music. And, so, she got the bright idea, early in her drag career, to throw a night celebrating this music, which she called Genki (and which was held at Melbourne's Hugs and Kisses). And that's when the fun began! Listen to the full episode to find out more. Do you have any memories of Genki at Hugs n Kisses, 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 Zelda by listening to her podcast with Lazy Susan (who was last week's guest!), Death to Everyone, or you can also follow her on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/zeldamoon/). Oooh, and if you want to get a better feel for what Genki was like check out the Genki Instagram page (https://www.instagram.com/genkiparty/) If you liked this episode I'd really appreciate if you subscribe, leave a review on your podcast platform, or just tell people that you think might be interested! I am K Anderson, and you've been listening to Lost Spaces

Who doesn't love a bit of competition? I'm rarely happier than when there are dreams to crush, plans to thwart and hearts to break. But, enough about me. Instead, let's talk about this week's guest, Australian drag queen and co-host of the Death to Everyone podcast, Lazy Susan, who found herself getting a bit competitive herself taking part in a drag competition at the Melbourne drag bar The Greyhound. And, it was through this that she fell in love with the space and the cast of characters who worked and socialised there. Do you have any memories of The Greyhound, 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 Lazy Susan by listening to her podcast with Zelda Moon, Death to Everyone, or you can also follow her on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/ms lazysusan/).

So, if you are a long time listener of this show you will probably know that I am on a bit of a quest to stamp out the use of the word 'normal', because it find it is just a really unhelpful descriptor, and it's so subjective - like, what's normal for me may not be normal for you. Anyway, I say all of this because I need to formally apologise to this week's guest for telling him off whenever he used that word in our conversation. My guest is Stephen Griffiths, co-host of the Are the Gays Ok? podcast, and he came on to talk about moving to Bangkok in his early 20s as a way of escaping his life... and it was here, at Telephone Bar and other clubs in the gay district, that he got the opportunity to try on being gay... and recognise that it, too, is normal. Do you have any memories of Telephone Bar, 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 Stephen by listening to his podcast Are The Gays Ok?, a show all about queer mental health. You can also find out more about him by visiting his website https://www.swgcounselling.co.uk/, where you can find out about his counselling services.

Picture it. It's an evening sometime in 2012. You've met up with a guy from one of the apps (Grindr or Scruff or something). He takes you to dinner, and then he takes you to a bar, and then in that bar you have your very first kiss. How does that feel? Well, we're going to find out from writer/director/filmmaker Corey Sherman, who got a little smoochy at lost LA space Faultline. And, that's where we start our conversation - finding out about how that first kiss felt. Do you have any memories of Faultline, 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 Corey by visiting his website (https://coreyshermanfilms.com/), and you can also find him on X (https://twitter.com/corsherm). And he's also just released a new film, Big Boys, a queer coming-of-age film about a teenage boy’s unexpected crush- find out more about it at https://www.bigboysfilm.com/

Sometimes being in a new location, surrounded by strangers and new-ness, is just the thing that you need to give you the bravery to embrace new things... And, that's exactly what happened for singer/songwriter Mya Byrne, who moved to San Francisco in 2015 to give herself a change of scenery. Along the way threw herself head first in to exciting new things (which we'll find out more about in this here very episode!). We got together to talk about The Stud, and we DID talk about The Stud - I promise you! - but, we also talked about much more than that. In particular, we talked a lot about the leather scene in San Fran, and how that's morphed and changed in the last decade. Do you have any memories of The Stud, 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 Mya why not follow her on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/myabyrne/), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/myabyrnemusic/) and X (https://twitter.com/MsMyaByrne).

I recognise that it's a total romanticisation, but I have a really soft spot for small-town gay bars. I love that they are inclusive (even if it is by necessity rather than design) and I love what they represent - a safe haven nestled in to a place that may not feel all that safe otherwise... This week we're headed to the lost small town gay bar Rumours, which was found in upstate New York. And our guest is singer/songwriter, teacher, facilitator, and Director of Marketing and Communications of the Easton Mountain Retreat Centre, Freddy Freeman. He shares what it's like growing up in a small town, the cliques that can sometimes form in bear communities, and one of my favourite topics ever - the process of figuring out where you fit in... Do you have any memories of Rumours, 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 Freddy by following him on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/goldenheartbear).