Today on Listen Up Girl: Australia's census includes a sexual orientation and gender identity question for the first time ever. Senegal's anti-LGBTQ+ crackdown hits 71 arrests. British tennis announces a full ban on trans women in competitive matches. Ofcom finally investigates GB News after a guest linked Pride to pedophilia. And a MAGA-linked bot campaign gets caught faking support for an anti-trans gun rule.

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Hosted by Zach Randles-Friedman

https://www.listenupgirl.com/

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

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Monday, August 10th on Listen Up Girl: a trans New Hampshire state rep says a fellow Democrat pressured her out of a congressional race, a children's hospital caves to DOJ pressure and ends trans youth care, two New York lawmakers try to repeal a 40-year-old bathhouse ban, the internet has thoughts about a certain someone's suspiciously fuller hair, a new women's baseball league puts queer athletes front and center, and Jeopardy's Ken Jennings sets the record straight on where he stands. New episodes every day. Follow, subscribe, and leave a review — it helps more than you know. Find us everywhere @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.

Broadway Bounces Actor After Transphobic Videos Resurface — Geno Segers was set to play Hades in Hadestown until old videos surfaced of him comparing trans people's fight for equal rights to people impersonating animals for discounted airfare, and mocking the idea of stating pronouns. Producers "mutually agreed" to part ways days after his casting was announced; his apology was criticized for not naming who was harmed.

Canada Ends Decades of Discrimination Against Gay Sperm Donors — Health Canada eliminated sexual-behavior screening questions that specifically targeted gay and bisexual donors, following a years-long legal challenge from a donor named Aziz. Medical experts testified that modern HIV testing carries effectively zero residual risk. Advocates called it a precedent-setting win.

Anti-Gay Congressman Loses His Seat — Tennessee Rep. Andy Ogles, known for saying "homosexuality has no place in America" and calling last year's Super Bowl halftime show "gay pornography," lost his Republican primary to a better-funded challenger who picked up a late endorsement from the state's own governor. He's the second Trump-endorsed House candidate to lose a primary this week.

Chef Accuses Anti-LGBTQ+ Senator of Kissing a Male Escort — Chef and content creator Joe Gera posted a series of unverified allegations claiming Sen. Josh Hawley kissed a male escort and separately accused Sen. Bernie Moreno of being closeted. Neither senator has responded. Both allegations remain unproven.

UK Parents of Trans Kids Say They Were Ignored — An advocacy group says it sent the UK government a detailed report on the harm of a new school policy targeting trans students and received no response, as families describe declining mental health under policies that out kids to classmates and leave teachers without guidance.

Out Olympian Gus Kenworthy Is Engaged — Four-time Olympic skier Gus Kenworthy proposed to boyfriend Andrew Rigby on a clifftop off Mallorca, Spain, complete with a picnic and a surprise boat of friends. Kenworthy came out in 2015 and made history kissing his boyfriend on live TV during the 2018 Games.

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.

Progressive Abdul El-Sayed pulls off a razor-thin, AIPAC-defying upset in Michigan's Democratic Senate primary. Missouri voters crush two GOP-backed constitutional amendments by lopsided margins. A federal appeals court upholds Florida's ban on minors attending "obscene" drag performances. Plus a Washington roundup, a rocket that crashed into the moon, and the internet's new favorite sinkhole serenade.

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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.

In today's episode of Listen Up Girl, Zach Randles-Friedman covers six stories shaping LGBTQ+ life this week. First, reporting on closed-door separation hearings for transgender service members who refuse to voluntarily leave the military, with attorneys describing the process as predetermined and dehumanizing — the latest fallout from a policy the Supreme Court has allowed to proceed even as legal challenges continue. Next, a new JAMA Pediatrics study undercuts a common argument against gender-affirming care, finding that puberty blockers cause only modest, largely reversible effects on bone density in trans minors. The episode then turns to a widely mocked comment from the administration about women's basketball and puberty blockers, followed by news that Brittney and Cherelle Griner have filed for divorce after eight years of marriage. On a more hopeful note, Xavier Becerra's California gubernatorial campaign is spotlighted for its explicit LGBTQ+ platform, including protections for trans youth and expanded PrEP access. The show closes with a "quote of the week" segment on Fox host Laura Ingraham's much-mocked comments about authoritarianism and scarcity.

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: Arkansas can now criminally charge librarians over "harmful materials," a GLAD Law attorney breaks down what the Supreme Court actually said about trans athletes and Title IX, a Michigan salon gets ordered into anti-discrimination training, James Dale — who lost his own discrimination case at the Supreme Court in 2000 — forces the Pentagon to reveal its Scouting America agreement, a congressional candidate gets caught saying the quiet part out loud twice in one interview, and WorldPride Amsterdam gives us the "Kissing Couple" float we didn't know we needed.

Subscribe for daily LGBTQ+ news, no fluff, no repeats, just what you need to know.

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's episode covers six major LGBTQ+ stories:

A federal judge signed a permanent order blocking Michigan from enforcing its conversion therapy ban against counselors who say their treatment is talk-only, after Catholic Charities affiliates sued the state. The ruling follows the Supreme Court's March decision in Chiles v. Salazar and puts more than 20 other states with similar bans on notice.

Massachusetts Senate candidate Seth Moulton has apologized for comments he made in November 2024 about not wanting his daughters to compete against a "male or formerly male athlete." LGBTQ+ advocates asked him for an apology back then and didn't get one — he's offering it now, with a Senate campaign underway.

A neo-Nazi group, NSC-131, has formally admitted in court to violating New Hampshire's civil rights law after surrounding a cafe hosting a drag queen story hour in 2023 and shouting slurs at families. The group's leader must pay a $10,000 penalty, complete 250 hours of community service, and the group has ceased operating in the state.

Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve wore a "Trans Kids Belong" t-shirt during a nationally televised game against Indiana Fever player Sophie Cunningham, who has publicly opposed trans athletes in women's sports. The Lynx won the game 108-100.

Disgraced former congressman George Santos now owes $35,000 stemming from an online gambling scandal — his lawyer says it isn't an admission of wrongdoing.

And trans singer and Stonewall veteran Christy Henderson Jenkins shares, for the first time, the full love story of her "chosen parents" — Stonewall icon Stormé DeLarverie and her longtime partner Diana, whose relationship began at a Harlem nightclub in 1943.

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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: a new political candidate's transphobic ad campaign is getting a surprisingly cold reception from her own party, a tangled scandal involving a closeted threat between two Republican lawmakers, a heartbreaking story about a school being held accountable after a bullied teen's death, a hidden piece of trans history from a secret Catskills refuge decades before Stonewall, a viral TikTok about lesbian hosting culture that has the internet delighted, and a genuinely joyful engagement to send you off with a smile.

Content note: Today's episode discusses teen suicide and bullying. If you or someone you love is struggling, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is available 24/7 by call or text. The Trevor Project also offers LGBTQ youth-specific support at 1-866-488-7386.

New episodes every day. Subscribe, rate, and share to help more people find the show.

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 today's episode of Listen Up Girl, we're breaking down six stories shaping LGBTQ+ life and politics right now — starting with the fallout from Ohio gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton's disastrous meeting with LGBTQ+ advocates after she called transgender girls "boys." We cover Scouting America eliminating its inclusion spaces for gay youth, women, and scouts of color under pressure from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and a new report from the Center for American Progress that's reshaping how Democrats talk about trans athletics.

We're also covering a West Virginia food bank whose freezers sit empty after its pastor refused donations tied to LGBTQ+-supportive organizations, new UK guidance restricting trans people from single-sex spaces that takes effect this week, and we close with something to celebrate: "Noah's Arc: The Movie" just earned the franchise's first-ever Emmy nomination.

Listen Up Girl is your daily LGBTQ+ news podcast — keeping you informed, engaged, and connected to the stories that matter most to our community.

🎙️ Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.

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.

with a restroom encounter, South Dakota moves to become the 11th state blocking trans ID updates, a UCLA study confirms trans Californians are searched and arrested at far higher rates, UK right-wingers manufacture outrage over an LGBTQ+ parent breastfeeding support group, Russian LGBTQ+ journalists describe being forced into exile with 24 hours' notice, and an anti-LGBTQ+ Ohio congressman faces disturbing new abuse allegations.

🔔 Subscribe for daily LGBTQ+ news

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.