Not a Straight Podcast

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Episode 4 of Not a Straight Podcast explores World Pride 2026, allyship, migration, and what safety and visibility really mean for LGBTQ+ communities today.

After a Fun Fact on World Pride, Marvy & Eric reflect on allyship and whether things have genuinely improved since earlier milestones such as the Gay Games and the introduction of marriage equality. That discussion leads into a conversation about migration, prompted by two trans women Marvy met who recently moved from the United States to the Netherlands after no longer feeling safe living openly at home. While relocation offered safety for them, many others simply do not have the opportunity or financial means to make the same move.

In the LGBTQIA+ Icons segment, a randomly drawn card introduces U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin. Eric recalls possibly having seen her at the 2024 AIDS Conference in Munich, though later clarification reveals the politician in question was in fact Barbara Lee, now Mayor of Oakland.

Closer to home, the conversation turns to Amsterdam’s upcoming Walk of Pride: a permanent walking route connecting Dam Square to the Homomonument, marked by pathway stones honouring LGBTQIA+ community icons and history.

Support Amsterdam’s Walk of Pride:
👉 https://www.voordekunst.nl/projecten/20036-monument-de-walk-of-pride-amsterdam-1

The episode closes by returning to World Pride Amsterdam 2026 and the activists travelling to the city from around the world.

Activists visiting Amsterdam during World Pride 2026 are welcome to connect:
📩 [email protected]  
🌈 [email protected]

Prefer listening on your favourite podcast app? https://www.buzzsprout.com/2368980/episodes/18645658

CHAPTERS
00:00 Intro
00:03 Fun Fact on World Pride
01:14 Looking amazing
02:20 2026 World Pride
05:38 Allies to the Community
11:38 Gay Games to World Pride – Did it get better?
13:00 25 Years of Marriage Equality
16:37 Moving to The Netherlands
20:00 LGBT+ Icons – Tammy Baldwin
20:58 Eric Was VERY Wrong…
22:33 Amsterdam’s Walk of Pride

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Episode 3 of Not a Straight Podcast starts light, but quickly becomes more personal. After a Fun Fact about the Rainbow Flag, Marvy & Eric settle back into familiar territory: reflecting on identity, aspiration, and the things we hold on to long after they’ve stopped fitting. Stories about visibility, performance, and borrowed icons follow — including why wanting to be Liza made perfect sense at the time.

As the conversation moves into questions of politics, community, and whether coming out is ever really mandatory, Marvy draws a clear line: it’s called my life. That boundary opens the door to a very funny — and very telling — story about performing, being openly trans, and how strangely people can respond. Including being flirted with… while someone’s girlfriend is standing right there.

The episode ends where many of these conversations do: with the quiet conclusion that people are, in fact, weird.

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Episode 2 of 'Not a Straight Podcast' goes off the rails fast. When, after the Fun Fact, Marvy & Eric start talking about the extent to which the community needs our allies and politicians to obtain equal rights, the conversation quickly derails to the fact that the world responds differently to women than it does to men. Marvy has experienced both! This topic, in turn, derails into different aspects of transitioning and lessons learned by Marvy. This episode's Funny Story is not at the end of the podcast, but comes in between at 17:45, just over halfway, and is about Marvy in the musical Cabaret. The episode ends with Marvy asking Eric about his experience when dating a trans man. Was that different?

00:00 Intro
00:10 Did You Know?
00:55 Second Episode!
01:30 Intended topic: To what extent does our community rely on allies and politicians
05:49 The world responds differently to men than to women, experiences of a trans woman
14:20 Why would anyone transition?
16:33 Why did you not transition before your 50s
17:45 The Funny Story: Marvy in Cabaret, the Musical
19:06 Starting to do Drag
20:21 The same person
21:35 Marvy’s Message: Take the world with you on your journey
24:29 A question for Eric: Is dating a trans person different?

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In this first episode of Not a Straight Podcast, your hosts Marvy & Eric introduce themselves and why they started this podcast.

Starting with a fun fact, your hosts talk about major community gatherings like the Gay Games and World Pride.

The conversation that follows covers various topics like the importance of equal rights, community safety and safe police reporting.

The episode is completed by a fun story by Marvy, about an experience living as a trans woman in the Red Light District in Amsterdam.