Listen Up Girl

Alabama's Republican Party chair called two transgender state House candidates "mental disorders." Ally Montgomery and Terri Osborne answered with a question about groceries, gas, and rent. Today on Listen Up Girl: how two trans Democrats are turning anti-trans attacks into an affordability argument ahead of November 3.

Also today: St. Pete Pride, Florida's largest Pride celebration, launches a $289,000 fundraiser after its biggest drop in corporate sponsorship and a new state law targeting local diversity spending. A new report estimates Japan's lack of LGBTQ+ protections costs its economy $37 to $101 billion a year. A gay former GameStop employee in Brooklyn sues, saying he was fired the day after the coworker who threatened him was let go. And Hacks star Jean Smart officiates the wedding of co-star Mark Indelicato and David Watson.

Hosted by Zach Randles-Friedman

https://www.listenupgirl.com/

Follow me at https://www.instagram.com/therealzachre/

Podcast music: https://dillonderosa.com/ Thank you Dillion!!!

GayBFF: the app where making LGBTQ+ friends is finally as easy as swiping — no dating pressure, just your people.

https://gaybff.app/

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/gaybff-make-real-friends/id6795699619

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Elon Musk just put $158 million behind Ken Paxton's Senate campaign in Texas, and in the same week, someone texted Republican voters while posing as a trans rights group. On this Sunday episode of Listen Up Girl, Zach Randles-Friedman breaks down the money and the texts, plus NHS England's new rules for trans patients and staff, a protest at the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child gala in London, a conservative Catholic dad's message about his trans daughter, and a look back at Dragazine, the drag zine that came before drag TV.

Listen Up Girl is a daily LGBTQ+ news podcast. New episodes every day.

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Hosted by Zach Randles-Friedman

https://www.listenupgirl.com/

Follow me at https://www.instagram.com/therealzachre/

Podcast music: https://dillonderosa.com/ Thank you Dillion!!!

GayBFF: the app where making LGBTQ+ friends is finally as easy as swiping — no dating pressure, just your people.

https://gaybff.app/

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/gaybff-make-real-friends/id6795699619

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today on Listen Up Girl: two anti-trans measures on Colorado's November ballot that opponents say could reach every kid in the state, a former Texas House speaker admitting his party's anti-trans ads aren't working, Ukraine naming LGBTQ+ people in its new National Human Rights Strategy, the fight over painted-over rainbow crosswalks in Swampscott, Massachusetts, a Florida drag queen turning Miami Beach's removed crosswalk into Pride funding, a FIFA report on homophobic abuse at the World Cup, and a goodbye to Argentine trans trailblazer Ana Lupez.

New episodes every day. Follow, subscribe, rate, and review. listenupgirl.com | @TheRealZachRE

Hosted by Zach Randles-Friedman

https://www.listenupgirl.com/

Follow me at https://www.instagram.com/therealzachre/

Podcast music: https://dillonderosa.com/ Thank you Dillion!!!

GayBFF: the app where making LGBTQ+ friends is finally as easy as swiping — no dating pressure, just your people.

https://gaybff.app/

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/gaybff-make-real-friends/id6795699619

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today on Listen Up Girl: A federal judge orders Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to answer questions under oath about his anti-trans statements in the lawsuit challenging the trans military ban, and warns a deposition is next if he dodges. Former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, the first openly bisexual senator, is reportedly backing Republican Jay Feely, who's campaigning on anti-trans sports politics in Arizona. Hungary's parliament repeals the anti-LGBTQ+ provisions of Viktor Orbán's 2021 "child protection" law. A Texas school district cancels Little Shop of Horrors after a girl is cast as Seymour. An investigation finds Meta is paying at least 29 anti-LGBTQ+ creators through its monetization program. And Chick-fil-A's CEO is asked about the company's record and talks about hospitality instead.

Hosted by Zach Randles-Friedman

https://www.listenupgirl.com/

Follow me at https://www.instagram.com/therealzachre/

Podcast music: https://dillonderosa.com/ Thank you Dillion!!!

GayBFF: the app where making LGBTQ+ friends is finally as easy as swiping — no dating pressure, just your people.

https://gaybff.app/

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/gaybff-make-real-friends/id6795699619

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Vote for my podcast for the Listeners Choice Award: Everything and Anything and a bit gay: https://vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting#/2026/shows/genre/lgbtq 

James Talarico took nine days off the campaign trail with the flu. A senior administration adviser responded by suggesting he'd had bottom surgery, and the vice president followed with a gay joke at a Texas airport. Today on Listen Up Girl: what the smear campaign against Texas's Democratic Senate candidate says about who it's really aimed at.

Also today: Broward County denies the Stonewall National Museum, Archives & Library an operating grant ahead of Florida's anti-DEI law. Human Rights Watch documents hundreds of arrests, forced HIV testing, and frightened lawyers in Senegal. A Michigan jury awards more than $4 million to two TV news managers fired over a "both sides" Pride coverage memo. Sonoma Valley High School students walk out after their board takes down a Pride flag that flew since 2019. And we remember Lucian Piane, the producer behind the early sound of RuPaul's Drag Race.

Today is Spirit Day. Wear purple. If you're a young person who's struggling, call or text 988.

Hosted by Zach Randles-Friedman

https://www.listenupgirl.com/

Follow me at https://www.instagram.com/therealzachre/

Podcast music: https://dillonderosa.com/ Thank you Dillion!!!

GayBFF: the app where making LGBTQ+ friends is finally as easy as swiping — no dating pressure, just your people.

https://gaybff.app/

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/gaybff-make-real-friends/id6795699619

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Two trans members of the Ohio Democratic Party's Pride Caucus resign within 24 hours, saying party leaders blocked them from sharing a statement supporting the party's own candidate for governor. Today on Listen Up Girl: what happens when a party asks its Pride Caucus to stay quiet.

Also today: Army Reserve Lt. Nic Talbott, lead plaintiff against the trans military ban, receives his separation paperwork even though he won in the appeals court. Daniela Fuentes, a trans woman who built a life in Miami, is deported to the Central African Republic and says she now hides to survive. A new HRC Foundation survey finds 85% of LGBTQ+ adults living openly despite the political climate. A data analysis shows this summer's WNBA trans debate was driven by a handful of accounts chasing engagement. And a new biography restores 17th-century poet Katherine Philips, the Welsh Sappho, to the lesbian literary canon.

Hosted by Zach Randles-Friedman

https://www.listenupgirl.com/

Follow me at https://www.instagram.com/therealzachre/

Podcast music: https://dillonderosa.com/ Thank you Dillion!!!

GayBFF: the app where making LGBTQ+ friends is finally as easy as swiping — no dating pressure, just your people.

https://gaybff.app/

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/gaybff-make-real-friends/id6795699619

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Three weeks before the midterms, some Democrats are running ads that echo Republican attacks on trans people. Today on Listen Up Girl, Zach breaks down why HRC president Kelley Robinson says that strategy is "doing too much and getting too little," and what she says candidates should do instead.

Also today: the president mocks a New York parentage bill with "hi, gestating." A Tennessee appeals court orders a new trial in the 2022 killing of Paris Lee, a Black trans woman in Memphis, because jurors weren't told she was trans. A federal judge dismisses a Pennsylvania spa worker's religious discrimination suit over a trans guest. Sandi Toksvig reveals her family went into hiding after she came out in 1994. And dating app HER puts the word "lesbian" on London buses for the first time.

Hosted by Zach Randles-Friedman

https://www.listenupgirl.com/

Follow me at https://www.instagram.com/therealzachre/

Podcast music: https://dillonderosa.com/ Thank you Dillion!!!

GayBFF: the app where making LGBTQ+ friends is finally as easy as swiping — no dating pressure, just your people.

https://gaybff.app/

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/gaybff-make-real-friends/id6795699619

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today on Listen Up Girl: Sunday was National Coming Out Day, and we look back at how it started and why it still matters. The new White House press secretary holds her first briefing as her old posts pushing Pizzagate and false claims about trans people resurface. A Republican running for California governor airs an AI-generated anti-trans ad that puts words in his opponent's mouth. The BBC blurs out a "Protect the Dolls" T-shirt on Strictly Come Dancing. Doctors in India pull back from trans care under a new law. And a new documentary describes what happened after Vivian Wilson came out to her father.

Your daily dose of LGBTQ+ news, grounded and direct.

Hosted by Zach Randles-Friedman

https://www.listenupgirl.com/

Follow me at https://www.instagram.com/therealzachre/

Podcast music: https://dillonderosa.com/ Thank you Dillion!!!

GayBFF: the app where making LGBTQ+ friends is finally as easy as swiping — no dating pressure, just your people.

https://gaybff.app/

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/gaybff-make-real-friends/id6795699619

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On Tuesday, a federal rule cuts off Medicaid and CHIP funding for gender-affirming care for minors. California, Maine, and Illinois are stepping in with state money. Virginia and Arizona, both led by Democratic governors, are not. Today on Listen Up Girl, Zach breaks down what that means for families and what Gov. Abigail Spanberger said Friday.

Also today: Ohio Democrat Sherrod Brown calls a super PAC ad featuring detransitioner Soren Aldaco "a complete lie" and turns the focus to Sen. Jon Husted's Epstein files vote. Britain's public broadcaster apologizes in the High Court to Benjamin Cohen and Anthony James over false allegations. PEN America reports a record 11,982 school book bans. Researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University link anti-trans politics to higher psychological distress. And Virginia Del. Tim Griffin attacks Loudoun County's LGBTQ+ History Month proclamation, one day before National Coming Out Day.

Hosted by Zach Randles-Friedman

https://www.listenupgirl.com/

Follow me at https://www.instagram.com/therealzachre/

Podcast music: https://dillonderosa.com/ Thank you Dillion!!!

GayBFF: the app where making LGBTQ+ friends is finally as easy as swiping — no dating pressure, just your people.

https://gaybff.app/

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/gaybff-make-real-friends/id6795699619

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A gay man who grew up in Arizona was deported to Equatorial Guinea, a country he had never been to, and held in a hotel where he says he was beaten. Today on Listen Up Girl: a federal judge orders the government to bring Ahmed Soliman home, and why dozens of others are still waiting.

Also today: the Republican National Committee attacks Texas Senate candidate James Talarico and New Hampshire's Chris Pappas for saying they admire Pete Buttigieg. The Ninth Circuit rules Arizona can't require surgery for trans people to update their birth certificates. New York City plans $8.9 million for trans youth care after Mount Sinai, NYU Langone, and NewYork-Presbyterian ended their programs. Bentley Hudgins and Bella Bautista run to become the first trans members of the Georgia House. And D.C. lesbian bar A League of Her Own gets a new partner to stay open.

⏱️ CHAPTERS 00:00 Cold open 00:26 Intro 01:09 "I came here as a ghost" 03:23 The Buttigieg attack 04:41 Arizona drops the surgery rule 06:04 New York steps in 07:07 Two firsts on the Georgia ballot 08:45 A lifeline for A League of Her Own 09:59 Outro

Listen Up Girl is a daily LGBTQ+ news podcast hosted by Zach Randles-Friedman. New episodes every day. 🌐 listenupgirl.com 📲 @TheRealZachRE

#LGBTQ #LGBTQNews #TransRights #ListenUpGirl #QueerNews

Hosted by Zach Randles-Friedman

https://www.listenupgirl.com/

Follow me at https://www.instagram.com/therealzachre/

Podcast music: https://dillonderosa.com/ Thank you Dillion!!!

GayBFF: the app where making LGBTQ+ friends is finally as easy as swiping — no dating pressure, just your people.

https://gaybff.app/

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/gaybff-make-real-friends/id6795699619

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.