Lez Hang Out | Lesbian Life & Queer Culture

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 wants you to check your harnesses!

This week, Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out with Reid Pope (@rpopegram), comedian and Head Writer and Executive Producer of Late Stage Live (@latestagelive), a trans-led monthly late-night comedy news show on Brooklyn public access, to talk about why the 2024 highly anticipated disaster sequel Twisters Should’ve Been Gay. 

Despite the severe underutilization of Katy O’Brian, we actually enjoyed Twisters and think the movie did a good job of showing the emotional impact and devastation of severe storms on the communities hit by them. The main character Kate, played by Daisy Edgar-Jones, is a traumatized soft-masc who spends the entire movie dodging debris, severe winds, and men while wearing a flannel over her Urban Outfitters tank top. She is literally all of us about a year before coming out and chopping off our hair. 

We can honestly interpret pretty much every character in this film as gay (including the tornados!). Even the male characters are shown embracing their emotions openly and having deep camaraderie with their bros, something not typically highlighted by action movies. We can’t help but ship Javi and Scott, Tyler and Boone, Dani and Lily and Kate with basically any character that isn’t a man. 

We know one thing for sure, Twisters Should’ve Been Gay.

Keep up with Reid by subscribing to their weekly newsletter.

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

This week, Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out with Silas Howard (@silash), award-winning trans filmmaker, to talk about why the 2024 horror-romcom Lisa Frankenstein Should’ve Been Gay. If you recall, we recently did an SBG episode on the 2022 series Darby and the Dead, which was directed by none other than Silas. So when we decided to do an episode on Lisa Frankenstein, we could not think of a more fitting guest for discussing this incredibly campy, queer-coded Halloweencore romcom.

As you all know by now, monsters are super queer-coded. They are often depicted on the fringes of society, hiding in literal closets, and transforming their bodies in unique ways. If you identified with the misunderstood monster in horror movies growing up, you’re probably some flavor of queer now. Lisa Frankenstein takes identifying with monsters a step further by making the transmasc-coded creature a love interest for the main character. 

The story follows Kathryn Newton’s character Lisa Swallows (the jokes basically write themselves) and her growing friendship with a reanimated corpse. She seems entirely unconcerned with his whole being dead thing and doesn’t mind one bit that he is missing certain body parts. Things get increasingly unhinged as Lisa begins helping her new friend get the body parts he needs to feel affirmed and comfortable in his newly reanimated skin. 

Everything in this film from the plot to the cast (Carla freaking Gugino is in this!) to the color palette to the over the top drag-influence on the costume design is too queer-coded to have been unintentional. Honestly even the morally ambiguous way that the characters approach killing is queer-coded. Even though the film doesn’t go all the way there or expressly state anyone’s sexuality, it’s basically leaping off the screen the entire time. 

We know one thing for sure, Lisa Frankenstein Should’ve Been Gay(er). 

You can support Lez Hang Out while unlocking a bunch of awesome perks like access to our exclusive Discord, 23 and counting full-length bonus episodes (including our brand new episode on the dark comedy/psychological thriller Saltburn), 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 (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 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

Strap on your fairy wings, because it is time to go save the monarchy!

This week, Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out with Iz Hesketh (@iz.hesketh), proud trans actor and drag performer known for her roles in British soap opera Hollyoakes and Disney’s Renegade Nell, to talk about why the Disney+ series Renegade Nell Should’ve Been Gay(er). Although we wish this series would have been renewed for a second season, the episodes we did get are jam-packed with racial diversity, gender nonconformity, and all-over queer energy; and we think it has true cult classic potential. If you have not watched it yet, we highly recommend doing so before listening to this episode as it contains quite a few spoilers. 

We were so excited to sit down with Iz and talk about her role as a canonically nonbinary character (one of only 4 trans/nonbinary characters in the Disney universe and the FIRST to be in a live-action series). Normally we can only speculate what creators and the folks behind the scenes were thinking when they make things that just seem SO gay to us, but this time we have firsthand accounts from someone who was actually there on set (and guess what, listeners? We were right!). Many of the people behind the scenes for Renegade Nell were queer themselves and fully open to incorporating that into the characters and story. Viewers can see this for themselves through little changes that make a big impact on representation such as changing Valerian’s (Iz Hesketh) pronouns and even incorporating the colors of the trans flag into one of Iz’s costumes. Whether the plan was for Valerian to be nonbinary all along, or if they changed it when Iz was cast, we are thrilled to see such inclusive, diverse representation on Disney+.

The queerness does not stop at Valerian, however, as the main character Nell is quite masc herself and can easily be interpreted as either a very butch lesbian or a trans man. We also have Leigh’s favorite, Polly Honeycombe, a femme who is absolutely besotted with Nell, Billy, a very gay fairy (as are all fairies), and Sofia, the “enemy” in our enemies-to-lovers ship with Nell. Gender nonconformity is woven throughout the show as a main theme. Even when something pretty darn gay does happen, like Polly kissing Nell, the characters are all very accepting and think nothing of it. 

We know one thing for sure, Renegade Nell Should’ve Been Gay(er). 

Iz is saving up for gender-affirming surgery and fundraising through Go Fund Me! Please consider donating to her fundraiser if you are able.

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 (with a brand new bonus episode dropping October 7th), 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

Thank you for being a friend…of the pod!

This week, Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out with Stacey Powell (@bookslovejoy), later-in-life lesbian and co-host of the Lez Go Travel Show! on Tello Films, to talk about why The Golden Girls Should’ve Been Gay. Let’s be honest, if this show were made today, at the very least Dorothy would be a lesbian.

Even though The Golden Girls was first released in 1985, it was quite progressive in its handling of many prominent social and political issues for the time. A ragtag group of single, older/middle-aged women live together and somehow it isn’t supposed to be the gay commune of our dreams?

Blanche may be the butt of a lot of sexist jokes for her “promiscuity”, but she’s also incredibly sex-positive for the 80s. We think Blanche has chaotic bisexual energy and if you don’t see it, you’re lying. Dorothy has all the hallmarks of a late-in-life lesbian, and Rose? That’s a closeted lesbian dealing with so much comphet that she can’t even see through it. Honestly, we think everyone in this show is gay (except for Sophia, our token straight). 

We know one thing for sure, The Golden Girls Should’ve Been Gay. 

Stacey and her fiancée Christin want you to heal your heartache and find your soulmate just like they did. Check out all their love course offerings to start your healing journey today. Their co-authored ebook Get Off the Dating Apps- Journal to Find Your Soulmate is available now.

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

Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that wants to make your heart go boom, boom, supernova girl (gender neutral). 

This week, Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out to talk about why the classic 1999 Disney Channel Original Movie, Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century, Should’ve Been Gay. This movie was queer MAJOR, and if you were a kid in the 90s like us, phrases like “Cetus lupeedus!” are most likely still living rent free in your head. 

For those of you who have not seen Zenon, the story follows a 13 year old girl living on a space station in the year 2049 (which seemed a lot farther off in 1999). She is a chaotic baby gay from the second she shows up on screen and cannot help but get into constant trouble with her BF Nebula, played by the one and only Raven-Symoné. When she gets into a little too much trouble, she is exiled to Earth to live with her Aunt Judy and forced to trade her space stay gay life for a boring one with way too much gravity and nowhere near enough pleather.

Between the space stay residents looking like they are perpetually at a gay nightclub, Proto Zoa’s genderfluid frosted tips, the bisexual color scheme of space, Zenon’s Earth boyfriend Greg’s whole horse-girl dyke aesthetic, and Zenon and Nebula’s totally lunarious love for one another, we are not sure how anyone ever thought this movie was for the str8s.

We know one thing for sure, Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century Should’ve Been Gay. 

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