Lez Hang Out | A Lesbian Podcast

From Cock Ring Ken and his buddy™️ Allan to the fabulous rainbow manes of the genderless Troll dolls, queerness is woven throughout the shiny plastics of all our most iconic childhood toys.This week, Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out with TikTok and Instagram influencer Connor Clary (@connor.clary) to chat about all of the gayest toys from our childhoods. Whether you were aware of your queerness as a child or not, it’s likely that you interacted with your toys in ways that would have literally everyone highkey questioning your sexuality nowadays. And regardless of what your orientation is now, if you owned Barbies, you were absolutely scissoring them together any chance you got. Honestly that’s on Mattel for making Barbies so damn good at scissoring! But it is not just how we played with our toys that makes them scream homosexual. It’s truly just that the toys themselves are giving gay. Barbie was queer from the jump, arriving on the toy scene with one agenda in mind, to shake up the status quo for little girls. From their lack of genitals to their impressive scissoring skills, it’s a real wonder that anyone ever thought they were straight! Then of course there is Barbie’s beloved beard, Ken. There have been a lot of iterations of Ken, but there are perhaps none more gay than Earring Magic Ken and Sugar Daddy Ken. In fact, Earring Magic Ken (lovingly known as Cock Ring Ken by gay men everywhere) was so visibly queer that Dan Savage published an article about him titled Ken Comes Out, sending Mattel into a panic and causing them to discontinue the doll. Beyond Barbie, several other childhood favorites made our gayest toy lists including Bop It! (literally a handjob training machine), The Game of Life (you can put two little pink figures into the front of the car, no one is going to stop you), the Furby (essentially what the Babadook would keep as a pet), and Troll dolls (genderless slightly unsettling very naked rainbow creatures). We also bust out some deep cuts, looking into the inherent queerness of Pogs and Slap Bracelets (if you remember these, go take an Advil for your back). We know one thing for sure, our childhood toys Should’ve Been Gay. 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 Instagram (@lezhangoutpod). Find us individually on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok at Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida). We are planning another Trova Trip gaycation! Join Ellie, Leigh, and Mermaid Kristin Sparkle in Costa Rica in May 2024 for the queer vacay of a lifetime. For more information and to be among the first to book a spot (and snatch up that early bird discount!), fill out the quick survey at bit.ly/leztrip. You can support Lez Hang Out while unlocking a bunch of perks like access to our exclusive Discord, monthly full length bonus episodes (including our latest episode on The Miseducation of Cameron Post), 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

PSA: LHO will be taking a bit of a different direction with our SBGs this season in support of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. While this means you will be hearing a bit less about movies and TV shows for a while, don’t fret, because we can make anything gay.—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Gays of a certain age, prepare yourselves for a wave of very chaotic nostalgia.This week, Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out to chat about the early 2000s Russian music duo, t.A.T.u. This band rose to fame by making their entire identity revolve around their supposed lesbianism. The ‘All The Things She Said’ music video still lives rent free in the minds of so many queer people, including one Leigh Holmes Foster. It was groundbreaking at the time, debuting in 2002 and featuring the singers wearing schoolgirl outfits while making out with one another in the rain. With very little other queer content available (this was pre-Youtube days!), the music video was not initially considered exploitative but instead was a drop of fresh water in the desert of dehydrated baby gays.For those who are less familiar with the iconic but problematic Europop stars, t.A.T.u. consisted of two teenage girls, Lena Katina and Julia Volkova. It was created by the creepiest creeper to ever creep, Ivan Shapovalov. He had already decided on the lesbian angle for the band before even auditioning girls for it. The band name itself is an acronym meaning ‘this girl loves that girl’. When Ivan books Lena and Julia, they are just 14 years old. With them being so young, it is easy to see how their producer managed to exploit them into participating in his gay for pay scheme. Something like this would never work nowadays, because we have so many actually out and proud lesbian singers and bands. But back then, it was pretty much just Melissa Etheridge. So when ‘All The Things She Said’ came onto the scene, the sapphics were overjoyed to belt out the angsty teen lesbian lyrics while staring in awe at two girls kissing on TV.Everything was great and gay for about a year until in 2003 a documentary was released called The Anatomy of t.A.T.u. In this documentary, the girls admit to not actually being gay! This revelation sent queer people spiraling. t.A.T.u. was pretty much the only representation teen lesbians had at the time, and they were not even real! We’ve seen some intense queerbaiting before but nothing even comes close to this.We know one thing for sure, literally anyone involved with t.A.T.u. Should’ve Been Gay. 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 Instagram (@lezhangoutpod). Find us individually on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok at Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida). If you did not get in on our Croatian gaycation, we apologize in advance for the fomo you are about to experience. But don’t be sad, because we have another opportunity to travel with Ellie and Leigh (and Mermaid Kristin Sparkle) coming in May 2024! If you want to be among the first to know more about our next Trova Trip vagaycation, fill out the short 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 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

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

ICYMI, Lez Hang Out will be taking a bit of a different direction with our Should’ve Been Gays this season in support of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. While this means you will be hearing a bit less about movies and TV shows for a while, don’t fret, because we can make absolutely anything gay.—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Since September is essentially Halloween Eve, let’s get spooky in here!This week, Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) talk about Neil Gaiman’s Coraline, a dark fantasy children’s novel published in 2002 and later adapted into a film by the same name. You may be more familiar with the movie than the book, but trust us- the book is somehow even more queer! Coraline herself is an extremely queer-coded child. She is always scheming up some wild adventure. Her only friends are literally a talking cat and her super eccentric queer neighbors (Wybie does not exist in the book which is another reason it is queerer than the film). As Coraline explores more and gets to know her gay neighbors, the portal to the other world opens. When she crawls through everything is nearly the same, but different in the way that it is at least 20x gayer and much more appealing to Coraline than her usual world where her parents don’t have time for her and don’t seem to understand her. In this other world lives The Other Mother, also known as the Beldam (a drag queen name if we’ve ever seen one). Although The Other Mother is a terrifying nightmare monster, there is something very intriguing and appealing about her to all of the gays with mommy issues (so basically all of us). She gives Coraline everything that her own parents wouldn’t as a way to lure her deeper into her trap. Then, the Beldam throws Coraline into a closet that she has to escape from, the door to which is literally a mirror. The queer symbolism is just leaping off the pages at this point. As Coraline discovers more about the other world and about herself as a result, her real parents go missing, hidden away by The Other Mother. This other world has opened Coraline’s mind to so many wondrous and magical possibilities, but at the cost of her family. She has to learn to reconcile the two versions of her world to save her parents, free the souls of the other trapped children, and ultimately stop the Beldam. We know one thing for sure, Coraline Should’ve Been Gay. 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 Instagram (@lezhangoutpod). Find us individually on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok at Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida). We are so pumped for our upcoming vagaytion to Croatia! 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

This episode of the podcast explores the iconic Dolly Parton song, Jolene, and its impact within the gay community. The hosts discuss the lesbian subtext in the lyrics and the possibility of a gay version of the song. They delve into the themes of power and control in the song, as well as its significance as a gay anthem. Additionally, they highlight Dolly Parton's support for the LGBTQ+ community and her universal appeal as an artist.

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

We are officially coming up on the end of our summer hiatus! Before we dive into Season 7, we have one more LGBTQ+ podcast to share with you all, this time from our friend Leigh over at History Is Gay. It's time to go all the way back to the start and learn about the absolute legend that is Sappho!...At long last, hosts Gretchen and Leigh are going back to the beginning, to the OG lesbian: Sappho herself. Despite the dearth of information about her life and history, your hosts still find plenty to say about Sappho, her poetry, her legacy, and all the debate that’s circled around her for years. Find out what Leigh and Gretchen think about the many questions about Sappho and listen to fragmentary poetry filled with queer longing and other relatable feels like fire burning beneath flesh, wind crashing through mountain oaks, and…celery. Outline0:00 – Introduction4:57 – Main Topic: The OG Lesbian Sappho 5:08 – Socio-Historical Context13:02 – Who were they? Bio Time.23:42 – Sappho’s Poetry56:12 – Fun Segment: Word of the Week 1:16:40 – Why do we think they're gay? 1:30:12 – How Gay were They?1:33:48 – Closing and Where to Find us OnlineFind a full list of sources and bonus content at www.historyisgaypodcast.com. If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe to History Is Gay wherever you listen to podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lez Hang Out will be back with Season 7 quicker than you can say 'mycelium'. But in the meantime, put on your detective hat and get ready to solve a mystery! This week we are sharing the pilot episode from one of our favorite fiction podcasts, Arden. If you are a true crime and comedy fan, then you will love Arden.Forced into an unlikely partnership, Bea, a committed radio journalist, and Brenda, an unconventional private detective, team up for a new radio investigation into the 2007 disappearance of starlet, Julie Capsom. They'll unravel the mystery, or possibly unravel each other.CONTENT WARNING: Discussions of gore and severed limbs, discussion of stalking, missing people, drugs and alcoholEpisode credits and transcript at ardenpodcast.com.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We are officially midway through our summer hiatus leading up to Season 7 of Lez Hang Out! Today, we have a very special treat for our listeners as we release one of the full length bonus episodes from our Patreon exclusive series, Lez-tracurriculars. Today, Ellie and Leigh discuss Chasing Amy, a movie from 1997 that was considered very progressive at the time and that critics absolutely loved. It has an 86% on Rotten Tomatoes, and we can only assume these high ratings were given by men, seeing as the entire plot is basically male wish fulfillment. For anyone who remembers when there was so little truly gay media that this movie was constantly being recommended nearly the second you came out, we rewatched it so you wouldn’t have to be re-traumatized. We cannot imagine a more invalidating movie to watch after coming out, because it manages to be not only misogynistic and homophobic, but also very biphobic. Essentially the plot of this film is that a man (Holden) falls in love with a lesbian (Alyssa) and makes it everyone's problem. Instead of just appreciating his friendship as is, Holden constantly tries to make Alyssa feel bad for being gay. The whole plot reeks of male entitlement. Holden refuses to validate Alyssa’s sexuality, continually slut-shames her for actions in her past, and makes her responsible for his own emotional wellbeing instead of going to therapy like he so clearly needs. This would all be a relatively benign story if it was just boy loves girl, girl is gay, boy stays grumpy, the end. But instead the story is boy loves girl, girl is gay, boy makes girl feel like crap by shoving all his feelings at her, girl gives in and makes out with boy. This movie is literally the fantasy of every man who has ever dreamed of “turning” a lesbian and it is truly upsetting to watch Holden get everything he wants while Alyssa turns against everything she had so vocally stood for the entire movie.We want to hear your thoughts! Was this movie recommended to you by straight people after coming out? Did you like this movie and think we’re missing something? Let us know your experience with Chasing Amy on social media. Twitter: Lez Hang Out (@lezhangoutpod). Leigh Holmes Foster (@lshfoster) and Ellie Brigida (@elliebrigida). You can also join us on Facebook.com/lezhangoutpod and follow along on Instagram (@lezhangoutpod).Our Patrons are the lifeblood of LHO and we absolutely could not make this show without listeners like you! If you enjoyed this episode of Lez-tracurriculars, you're in luck because there's a lot more where this came from! Join us on Patreon at bit.ly/lezpatreon for access to all eleven exclusive full-length bonus episodes. As a Patron, you'll get a new bonus episode every month as well as exclusive merchandise, special Patreon-only event invites, mp3s of our original songs, ad-free weekly episodes, access to our exclusive Discord channel and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices