Lez Hang Out | Lesbian Life & Queer Culture

Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) chat with Melanie Cristol (@melaniecristol), the founder of Lorals (@mylorals), a queer women owned company that creates single use latex panties designed to maximize pleasure for the wearer during sexual intimacy. In this episode, we dive into the taboo of trying to market anything related to sex or sexuality and how often queer creators and companies face censorship. Melanie talks about the difficulties she faced when getting funding for Lorals due to the product being marketed for pleasure of people with vulvas and for use during oral sex. There is a huge stigma around talking about pleasure and sex, especially female pleasure. It is much easier to get funding for a condom company or advertise erectile dysfunction medication, because our society views those as appropriate sexual activities, but thinks oral sex is taboo. We discuss how just using the word lesbian or LGBTQ in a post will often cause it to be censored on social media and the impact this has on queer businesses. We also talk about the wild workarounds we have used to try to get by the censors. Follow along on 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 along on Instagram (@lezhangoutpod).

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Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) sit down with actor Bethany Brown (@bethanybrown) to chat about why The Lion King Should’ve Been Gay. We are always talking about how important the concept of “found family” is to the gays, and what could be more “found family” than The Lion King? We all grew up watching this movie, and even though it was glaringly obvious the entire time that Timon and Pumbaa are gay, it was even more apparent when we rewatched it with a queer lens. Not only are Timon and Pumbaa gay, but there is a whole slew of queer characters from pansexual Rafiki with his “we are one” attitude to flamboyant gay uncle Scar and his unrealized twin flame Zazu. We analyze the Circle of Life, the implications of Timon and Pumbaa choosing to not only live together but also to adopt and raise a child together, and the queer-coding of Disney villains. We deep dive into Bethany’s notebook to learn about the same-sex relationships that lions participate in and are overjoyed to find out that 8% of lions engage in same-sex activities that would 100% be considered queer if they were humans. In our perfect gay Lion King, the great Drag Kings of the past are watching over Simba and his gay dads from above while they teach him the importance of accepting who you are and letting go of your past through the incredibly gay anthem, Hakuna Matata. One thing is for sure, The Lion King Should’ve Been Gay. Follow along on 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 along on Instagram (@lezhangoutpod).

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Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) sit down with actor Lyne Renée (@lynerenee) to talk about her iconic role as General Sarah Alder on Motherland: Fort Salem. Lyne talks about the process of being cast as the illustrious General and what it was like to tackle stepping into the shoes of such an untouchable and nuanced woman. We talk about why General Alder and the show in general have resonated so much within the queer community and what it’s been like to be on the receiving end of such a devoted fandom. We of course talk about Talder, Alder’s relationship with her Biddies, and the dynamic of being both mother to all and mother to none. Lyne talks about the experience of getting to tap into her imagination, especially in scenes with so many special effects where you have to act without being able to see what the shot will really look like. Lyne shares with us her hopes for General Alder in Season 3 of Motherland: Fort Salem; and we can’t wait to have our General back on our screens. Follow along on 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 along on Instagram (@lezhangoutpod).

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Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) sit down to talk about about why the movie Wild Child Should’ve Been Gay. This movie is the military-free, British version of Cadet Kelly that we never thought we needed. Somehow this movie combines Cadet Kelly, Clueless, and She’s The Man into one extremely confusing teen film. The main character Poppy is a virgin who can’t drive who immediately tries to convince all of her new friends that she has tons of previous sexual experience with boys. We all know that the precursor to the extremely gay sorority is the British all-girls boarding school. The longer we analyze this movie, the gayer it gets. The film makes zero effort to develop the one straight relationship between Poppy and the boy she’s dating and instead focuses entirely on the relationships between the girls. They all have very close, queer-coded friendships with one another, the kind of friendships where you hang out naked in side-by-side bathtubs. The storylines in the movie don’t make much sense, but they are overwhelmingly queer for a movie that was trying to be straight. We know one thing for sure, ‘Wild Child’ Should’ve Been Gay. Follow along on 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 along on Instagram (@lezhangoutpod).

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Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) chat with Cheyenne Lynn (@wolfgirl2525), the creator of queer supernatural podcast “Howl” (@hearushowl1895). We talk about the queer coding of creatures like witches and vampires and why the queer community is so drawn to the supernatural. We go into how “Howl” evolved from a concept for a movie to a webseries to finally finding its home as a fiction podcast. “Howl” follows the story of a lesbian werewolf and we talk about how few queer werewolves there are in mainstream media. There’s lots of queer witches and vampires, but for some reason barely any werewolves. We chat about our favorite queer supernatural movies and tv shows and why the themes of otherness, found family and transformation are inherently queer. We can’t wait to listen to “Howl”, and we hope you will tune in as well. Follow along on 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 along on Instagram (@lezhangoutpod).

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Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) sit down with Puerto Rican non-binary actor Vico Ortiz (@puertoricaninja) to chat about why Parks and Recreation Should’ve Been Gay. Parks and Rec is a comfort show for almost every queer person we know, and yet it’s somehow not actually gay? First off, parks are canonically gay. Lesbians own camping and hiking. Recreation? Also gay. The queer coding of chosen family is strong in this show. If you look up “bear” in the queer dictionary, you get a picture of Ron Swanson. Leslie is canonically head over heels for her best friend Ann. She would drop her husband in a second for a chance with Ann. Leslie and Ann are written so gay and we were robbed of them getting to be together. We could’ve had such a beautiful polycule with Ben and Leslie and Chris and Ann. Follow along on 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 along on Instagram (@lezhangoutpod).

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Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) talk about the Fear Street trilogy for this Lez-ssentials episode, a recurring segment on the essential movies and TV shows in the lesbian canon. Every main character in each of these movies is a lesbian and we think that’s beautiful. This series has everything a horror gay could ever want, but also is absolutely worth a watch even if you normally steer clear of scary movies. We discuss how the real curse was homophobia all along, Sarah Fier is an iconic lesbian who we would 100% die for, and Sam and Deena are the lesbian final girls we never knew we needed. We will never look at moss the same way again. At the end of the episode, stick around to hear our original song based on Fear Street titled “Run For Your Life” written by Leigh Holmes Foster and performed by Ellie Brigida and Leigh Holmes Foster. Follow along on 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 along on Instagram (@lezhangoutpod).

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Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) chat with author and self-proclaimed “lesbian Willie Nelson” Kristen Arnett (@kristen__arnett) about why the movie Clueless Should’ve Been Gay. Beyond the very obvious lesbianism of overalls clad, Doc Marten wearing Tai, Cher is a classic example of a closeted high femme lesbian. Lesbians canonically cannot drive, wear a lot of plaid, have an uncanny ability to find one another in the wild, say ew at least twenty times a day when they see a boy, and have extremely intense friendship breakups that are absolutely worse than actual breakups. All of these things describe Cher. She is so desperate to hide from her sexuality that when she sees Tai happily being her gay little self, she immediately tries to change her and push her back into her high tech closet. With the amount of plaid, Jeeps, and gay teachers we get, it’s almost surprising that Clueless isn’t gay. They can’t fool us though, we can spot gay activity from a mile away. Follow along on 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 along on Instagram (@lezhangoutpod).

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Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) sit down with Broadway actor and TikTok star, J.J. Niemann (@jjniemann) to talk about how he went from musical theatre gay to TikTok fame. From J.J.’s baby theatre days in Charlotte’s Web to his freshly post college Broadway debut with Book of Mormon, we chat about how musical theatre has always been a safe space for queer people and how he knew from an early age that acting was his calling. We also talk about how it led him to TikTok stardom with his videos that give folks a peek behind the curtain and resonate with the theatre kid that still sings within many of us. We dive into how unique TikTok is as a platform and why queer people tend to find positive community more easily on TikTok than they do on other platforms. We also discuss censorship of queer content creators by social media platforms and the issue of cyber bullying within the community. Follow along on 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 along on Instagram (@lezhangoutpod).

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Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) chat with author Charlie Jane Anders (@charliejaneanders) about why Gunpowder Milkshake Should’ve Been Gay. This movie was full of way too many kickass women in suits for us to believe that all of them are straight. We discuss the very clear poly relationship going on between all of the women in the library, the bisexual lighting following Sam around in every scene, and debate whether Madeleine's death counts toward Bury Your Gays. We talk about the lack of character development and how many missed opportunities there were for things to be so much gayer. Follow along on 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 along on Instagram (@lezhangoutpod).

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