Queer Ear

Rory tries to establish what has led to gay saunas going down the drain by speaking with Southampton's Pink Broadway owner Nick Batt, Nottingham Trent University's Professor of Psychology, Rusi Jaspal and former sauna employee and customer, Antonio Blanche.

Rory delves into the fear and anxiety many Queer people face when getting a haircut by speaking to non-binary barber C.J. Hernández, who was kicked out of a barbershop at age 14 for not being male and community organiser Dez Marshall, who sought a barbering licence to protect other LGBTQ people from facing her negative experiences.

Rory highlights the positive effects of education for Queer prisoners by speaking with former art teacher and author of Inside & Out and Released Inside, Phil Forder. He also chats to writer and Trans rights in prison advocate Dalton Harrison.

Rory and Nic Desborough chat with Seyan Sarvan of Channel 4’s hit show It’s a Sin and Human Rights Campaigner Ceri Hutton about the forgotten Queer history of the HIV and Aids crisis of the 1980s, exploring themes brought to light by the show. This episode was recorded for Roundhouse's celebration of LGBT+ History Month.

Rory analyses the rapid decline of what was once a queer rite of passage by speaking to writers Jeff Leavell and James Greig - both of whom have written about their experiences of cruising in different eras.

Rory looks at the negative effects that shadow banning and algorithms have had on the online presence of the queer community. He speaks to sex workers Livia Roth and Jack Hunter, as well as portrait artist JBG, all of whom have been hidden, silenced or removed from social media.

Rory questions whether many queer people's problematic behaviour with fitness stems from their experiences of PE. He speaks to University of California Santa Cruz student Ash Whipple as well as writers Jordan Page and Rosie Hewitson to get their respective views on exercise as a trans person, gay man and queer woman.

Rory examines the harsh reality of Poland's LGBT-Free Zones by speaking to activist Bart Staszewski and Polish Drag Queen collective Slav 4 U, who recount their experiences of growing up queer in an overtly homophobic country.

Rory explores the huge lack of black-owned queer businesses by speaking to RuPaul’s Drag Race star Honey Davenport, historian and California State University professor Eric Gonzaba, and one of New York City’s only black gay bar owners, Alexi Minko.

Rory discusses J.K. Rowling’s recent transphobic tweets and the controversial content of her new novel with trans writers Sarah Savage and Julia Serano. He also chats to Rabble Books & Games owner Nat Latter, who has stopped stocking Rowling’s books.