Happy Holly Gays! As a special gift, we are throwing it back all the way to our very first season! Whether you're a long time listener or new to the show, we hope you will enjoy taking a little trip back through time to the early days of Lez Hang Out. This is the episode that started it all. That's right, this is the episode that features our very first ever original song written by Leigh Holmes Foster! If you've been enjoying all our original songs for our Lez-ssential episodes and our musical The Flame, you will not want to miss the song that started it all, a Carol spoof of My Favorite Things from The Sound of Music. In case it still isn't obvious, this week Leigh and Ellie dive into Carol for this Lez-ssentials episode, a recurring segment on the essential movies and TV shows in the lesbian canon. They're here, they're queer and full of Christmas cheer! They have quite a bit to say about the fate of Carol (Cate Blanchett), Therese (Rooney Mara) and the true star of the movie Abby (Sarah Paulson). Lez-ssentials comes complete with a Carol drinking game because every lesbian movie should be accompanied by heavy drinking. 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 Instagram (@lezhangoutpod).
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Rewind: Lez-ssentials Carol

Hang out with Ellie Brigida and Leigh Holmes Foster, the lesbians you'd want at your potluck! Covering topics on lesbian experiences, representation, culture, life, love, etc. for some sapphic socialization!

Personal Journals

Society & Culture

History

Philosophy

Places & Travel

TV & Film

Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that wants to know if you wear Docs, Crocs, or Birkenstocks. 
This week Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out with Eleanor Medhurst (@dressingdykes), lesbian fashion historian and author of both the blog Dressing Dykes and the soon-to-be-released book, Unsuitable: A History of Lesbian Fashion, to talk about lesbian, and more broadly, queer, fashion throughout the ages. Although often subtle to the heterosexual observer, the decision to dress in a way that pushes the envelope on what is considered acceptable is one that queer people have made time and time again, often at great risk to their personal safety. As times and laws regarding acceptable dress have changed, queer fashion has followed suit, making it possible for historians like Eleanor to track these changes through recorded history. 
Fashion provides a rather useful historical record of queerness, shifting over time to reflect the ever-moving needle of societal acceptability. The modern lesbian uniform of “Docs, Crocs, and Birkenstocks”, flannels, beanies, and carabiners did not just crop up one day out of nowhere, but instead developed out of a necessity for queer people to both flag themselves as outside of the norm and to find one another in an otherwise heteronormative world. Nowadays, lesbians in many areas of the world have the opportunity to dress however they would like, whether that be more masculine, androgynous, feminine or all over the spectrum. Sadly, not very long ago, that was simply not the case. Due to laws like New York’s 3-piece Clothing Law ( which required people to wear at minimum 3 pieces of “correctly-gendered” clothing), queer people of the past had to be extremely cautious of their fashion choices or risk being arrested. This can make it a little more difficult to track queer people through history, as of course, the ones who make more risky fashion choices are often the ones who make it into the history books. Those who fell in line with the laws of the time, typically femmes, were mostly invisible outside of the lens of a more masculine-presenting partner. 
In addition to providing a way for queer people to look back and see ourselves represented throughout all of time, fashion is still used in modern media to express things about the characters to the audience. Take Gentleman Jack, for instance. While the show was based on the very real person, Anne Lister, some things were changed about Anne’s fashion to make her more understandable as “outside of society’s norms” to a modern audience. The real Anne Lister never would have worn a top hat on the regular and likely would have worn a more typical bonnet like other women of the time. However, the showrunners did not feel that this look would make Anne stand out quite enough and chose to give her a top hat to more strongly emphasize her masculinity and power.
Eleanor’s book, Unsuitable: A History of Lesbian Fashion, will be available beginning June 1st and is available for pre-order now.
Follow us on Twitter: Lez Hang Out (@lezhangoutpod) and answer our Q & Gay questions at the end of every episode. You can join us on Facebook.com/lezhangoutpod and follow us on Instagram (@lezhangoutpod). Find us individually on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok at Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida). 
You can support Lez Hang Out while unlocking a bunch of perks including access to our exclusive Discord channel, monthly full-length bonus episodes, weekly ad-free episodes, and more by joining us on Patreon at bit.ly/lezpatreon. You can also support the podcast by buying our original merch at bit.ly/lezshop and purchasing our original Lez-ssentials songs for as little as $1 each on Bandcamp!
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719: Below the Belt with Eleanor Medhurst

Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that will now be brought to you with a Transylvanian accent. 
This week, Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out with Alix Markman (@markwoman), television and video game writer and returning podcast guest, to talk about why the 2004 campy, spooky action masterpiece Van Helsing Should’ve Been Gay. 
If you are like Leigh and somehow managed not to see the chaotic bisexual fever dream that is Van Helsing 2004, the movie is essentially The Avengers for classic monsters like Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, and the good ol’ fashion werewolf. This monster hodgepodge is incredibly queer throughout, with Dracula’s wives in a sexy polycule, Dracula himself having an intriguing lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers vibe with monster slayer “GAY-briel” Van Helsing, and a beautiful bond developing between Van Helsing and Frankenstein’s Monster (and beloved himbo Carl) throughout the film. Of course, because it is 2004, literally every queer-coded woman ends up dead in the end, and we will not stand for this injustice! 
In our better, gayer version of Van Helsing, we honestly do not even have to change that many things. There was every reason for Anna to either get bitten by her brother to become the werewolf that ultimately ends Dracula or to get turned by seductive vampire Aleera and join the power polycule. She 100% did not have to die before ever getting revenge for her family, but of course, Van Helsing gets the glory instead. Along with talking about how we would change the movie to be even gayer, we also discuss the inherent queerness of monsters (there is no such thing as a heterosexual vampire and you cannot convince us otherwise) and briefly touch on the trans allegory of Frankenstein’s Monster. 
We know one thing for sure, Van Helsing Should’ve Been Gay. 
Follow us on Twitter: (@lezhangoutpod) and answer our Q & Gay questions at the end of every episode. You can also join us on Facebook.com/lezhangoutpod and Instagram (@lezhangoutpod). Find us individually on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok at Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida).
You can support Lez Hang Out while unlocking a bunch of awesome perks like access to our exclusive Discord, monthly full-length bonus episodes, weekly ad-free episodes, and more by joining us on Patreon at bit.ly/lezpatreon. You can also support the podcast by buying our original merch at bit.ly/lezshop and purchasing our original Lez-ssentials songs for as little as $1 each on Bandcamp!
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SBG 125: Van Helsing with Alix Markman

Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast where you could qualify for reward points every time you get your gay card stamped.
This week Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out to talk about the absolute PR disaster that is JoJo Siwa’s pivot into so-called “Gay Pop” (which apparently didn’t exist before her). If you’ve been a listener for a while, you’re likely aware of how much Leigh in particular was really rooting for JoJo Siwa. But even Leigh can’t excuse the complete mess that JoJo has created for herself. Honestly, every mistake JoJo has made in her press appearances should have been so easy to avoid that we are convinced her PR team must actually consist of 6 dopey dogs in a trench coat rather than actual trained media professionals (and certainly zero queer elders). Whether you think JoJo’s team is simply failing her or you believe the disappointing PR around her career pivot and latest song, Karma, is a very intentionally done psyop (as Ellie does), it is very clear that regardless of the intentions, it’s just not working for the gay community. 
If you are not chronically online like we are you may be surprised to find out that 20 year old JoJo Siwa has gone from being a beloved icon for queer youth to a laughing stock in a really short amount of time for reasons that just seem so completely unnecessary. She maybe could have walked back a few concerning statements like being the creator of a “brand new genre” of music (gay pop), if she wasn’t made to look like a complete fool in every subsequent interview. Yet, she just keeps doubling down on being massively uninformed about queer history and music in general. Between her team choosing to dress her up as Gene Simmons (while actively teaching her exactly zero facts about KISS), creating a bizarrely sanitized ‘bad girl’ music video that feels more straight pageant than gay camp, and failing to broaden her exposure to actual pre-existing gay pop (aside from 40-year-old songs by Madonna), we can’t quite wrap our heads around what her PR team is thinking. 
We currently live in a golden era of gay music and there is honestly zero excuse to not at least be aware of what is going on within the industry, especially if you are literally trying to pivot into that genre. As someone who grew up super-sheltered and always in the spotlight, we aren’t that surprised about JoJo’s overall lack of experience with queer history and the community as a whole. The problem is that someone at her level of fame should really have a more well-informed PR team supporting her through this. If she had spoken to literally any older gay people beforehand, JoJo could have avoided putting her foot in her mouth so many times. 
Follow us on Twitter: Lez Hang Out (@lezhangoutpod) and answer our Q & Gay questions at the end of every episode. You can also join us on Facebook.com/lezhangoutpod and follow on Instagram (@lezhangoutpod). Find us individually on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok at Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida). 
You can support Lez Hang Out while unlocking a bunch of perks including access to our exclusive Discord channel, monthly full-length bonus episodes (including our latest episode on Red, White & Royal Blue), weekly ad-free episodes, and more by joining us on Patreon at bit.ly/lezpatreon. You can also support the podcast by buying our original merch at bit.ly/lezshop and purchasing our original Lez-ssentials songs for as little as $1 each on Bandcamp!
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718: Zero Gay PR

Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that would risk it all for Linda Cardellini to paint us like one of her French girls. 
This week, Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out to talk about why the 2018 crime comedy A Simple Favor Should’ve Been Gay(er). This movie is honestly a masterpiece. It stars Blake Lively, Anna Kendrick, Henry Golding (Crazy Rich Asians), and queer icon Linda Cardellini. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this movie somehow, it follows the story of two moms, Stephanie and Emily, who meet at their kids’ school and quickly become unlikely besties with benefits. When Emily suddenly goes missing after asking for ‘a simple favor’, Stephanie leaps into action to unravel the mystery of her best friend’s disappearance (but not without fucking Emily’s husband, wearing all her clothes, and playing mommy to Emily’s son).
Every gay remembers where they were when they first saw Blake Lively kiss Anna Kendrick on the mouth after calling her baby approximately 69 times. Nothing is more frustrating than eating up 2 hours of chart-topping chemistry and glaringly obvious foreplay to then watch Stephanie (Anna Kendrick) and Emily (Blake Lively) betray one another in the end. Even with the disappointing ending, this is a movie we can’t help loving wholeheartedly for being just so incredibly gay and bonkers unhinged. Emily is canonically bisexual from the jump, quick to tell Stephanie all about her hot painter ex (Linda Cardellini) and threesome with her husband’s TA. After all, what straight woman has a life-size portrait of their full bush just hanging in the main room of their house for all to see? In addition to the dating and sexual experiences that she is absolutely not shy about, Emily exudes bisexual confidence from the second she appears on screen in slow-mo in the pouring rain wearing the hottest suit ever made. From the moment we watch Stephanie become a mess of gay panic in front of Emily, we are hooked on them as a couple. The two U-Haul faster than anything we’ve ever seen before; sharing martinis, secrets, husbands, houses and spit while loudly declaring themselves to be “best friends” after knowing one another for approximately 2 weeks.
While Emily may be the most open about her queerness, there is no question in our minds about Stephanie’s sexuality. This girl is down bad for Emily, oscillating between the classic “Do I want to be her or be with her” that many a sapphic can relate to. Sure, she sleeps with Emily’s husband, but you cannot convince us that she actually cares about that man. Emily doesn’t even care about that man. It still makes zero sense to us that Stephanie and Emily do not take the 4 million dollars and run away together into the sunset after toasting with martinis over Emily’s gravestone. 
We know one thing for sure, A Simple Favor Should’ve Been Gay(er). 
Follow us on Twitter: (@lezhangoutpod) and answer our Q & Gay questions at the end of every episode. You can also join us on Facebook.com/lezhangoutpod and Instagram (@lezhangoutpod). Find us individually on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok at Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida). 
You can support Lez Hang Out while unlocking a bunch of awesome perks like access to our exclusive Discord, monthly full-length bonus episodes (including a brand new one dropping today on Red, White, and Royal Blue), weekly ad-free episodes, and more by joining us on Patreon at bit.ly/lezpatreon. You can also support the podcast by buying our original merch at bit.ly/lezshop and purchasing our original Lez-ssentials songs for as little as $1 each on Bandcamp!
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SBG 124: A Simple Favor

Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that googled “Am I Gay” before it was cool. 
This week Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out to talk about one of the most controversial and widely read pieces of modern lesbian “literature” on the internet, the Lesbian Masterdoc. The 31-page document titled “Am I a lesbian?” first appeared in 2018 and experienced a rather large resurgence during the pandemic shutdowns of 2020 (when people actually had enough time to read a 31-page document). 
For those of you who somehow managed to avoid reading the Masterdoc, it is essentially every “Am I gay” quiz from 2002 onward condensed into a 31-page pdf. The main issues that we have with the Masterdoc are that it greatly oversimplifies the experience of compulsory heterosexuality, completely ignores all nuance involved with sexuality (to an almost comical degree), and uses exclusionary language when the doc absolutely can apply to anyone who experiences attraction to women. It also somewhat reads like an attempt by the writer to get her straight best friend to sleep with her. However, we still want to give some props for the Masterdoc being very purposefully inclusive of trans and nonbinary lesbians and at the very least not giving off terfy vibes. 
Even though the Masterdoc should certainly be taken with many grains of salt, some of the experiences listed really hit home (a little too hard if you ask Leigh). We’ve said it before, but comp het is a doozy! We dive into our own experiences with navigating comp het back in our ‘straight’ days and lament about why straight women have to speak so negatively about their male partners all the time (be less confusing, straight women!). If you are looking for a fun activity to bust out at your next shindig, we absolutely recommend pulling out this bad boi (fun for the whole family!) and seeing how many of your straight friends get clocked by the Masterdoc. 
Follow us on Twitter: Lez Hang Out (@lezhangoutpod) and answer our Q & Gay questions at the end of every episode. You can also join us on Facebook.com/lezhangoutpod and follow on Instagram (@lezhangoutpod). Find us individually on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok at Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida). 
You can support Lez Hang Out while unlocking a bunch of perks including access to our exclusive Discord channel, monthly full-length bonus episodes (Currently at 19 and counting!), weekly ad-free episodes, and more by joining us on Patreon at bit.ly/lezpatreon. You can also support the podcast by buying our original merch at bit.ly/lezshop and purchasing our original Lez-ssentials songs for as little as $1 each on Bandcamp!
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Rewind: Lez-ssentials Carol

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