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.

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