Lez Hang Out | A Lesbian Podcast

Join our Patreon [http://bit.ly/lezpatreon] family to unlock 25+ full-length bonus episodes, ad-free weekly episodes, mp3 downloads of our original songs, exclusive Discord access, and more! You can also support the podcast by buying our original merch at bit.ly/lezmerch [http://bit.ly/lezmerch].  Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that is “back in black-and-white”.  This week, Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out to talk about the 2025 Black Mirror episode: Hotel Reverie, for this Lez-ssentials episode, a recurring segment on the essential movies and TV shows in the lesbian canon.  Hotel Reverie stars Issa Rae, Emma Corrin, and Awkwafina in a bittersweet sapphic story that centers around a sci-fi style high-tech simulation of an old 1940’s classic film, “Hotel Reverie”. The premise is that Hollywood A-lister Brandy Friday (Issa Rae) will be playing the lead role of Dr. Alex Palmer (in spite of the original actor being a white man) in the remake; and to do so, she will be sent inside a fully immersive simulation of the film complete with “people” who think they are real, but are they?  Of course as soon as Brandy enters the simulation, she begins to fall for Clara, Dr. Palmer’s love interest in the original. Initially, Clara sticks to the script, but as the movie progresses, she begins to completely break the plot with her uncontainable gayness. The explanation is that the actor who played Clara, Dorothy Chambers, put so much of herself into the performance that “echoes” of Dorothy exist now in the simulated version of Clara. With the influence of Dorothy’s memories and a growing attraction to Brandy, Clara begins to be more and more openly gay and that is actually bad for Brandy– if she doesn’t manage to stick the landing and say the final line of the movie, she could be trapped forever in Hotel Reverie. Plus there’s that sticky little feature that if Brandy were to be killed in the simulation, she would die in real life. But for all the danger, Brandy cares about only one thing, Clara, their love, and the little simulated life they build while the movie is “frozen”.  We talk about the unavoidable comparisons to San Junipero, the many, many glaring plot holes throughout the episode, and the implications of Black Mirror consistently burying their gays and also only allowing gay characters to exist in simulations, video games, computers, etc. Additionally, we discuss the unsatisfying ending and why it didn’t feel as resolved or happy as it did for our lesbians in San Junipero.  At the end of the episode, stick around to hear our original song based on Hotel Reverie, titled “A Time You Don’t Remember”, written by Leigh Holmes Foster and produced by Ellie Brigida. Join us on Patreon at bit.ly/lezpatreon [http://bit.ly/lezpatreon] for instant access to mp3 downloads of all our original songs or find us on Bandcamp [https://lezhangoutpod.bandcamp.com/] to purchase songs individually.  Remember, you can give us your own answers to our Q & Gay on Instagram and follow along on Facebook, TikTok, Youtube and BlueSky @lezhangoutpod. Find your fav tol and smol hosts Ellie & Leigh at @elliebrigida and @lshfoster. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Join our Patreon [http://bit.ly/lezpatreon] family to unlock 25+ full-length bonus episodes, ad-free weekly episodes, mp3 downloads of our original songs, exclusive Discord access, and more! Right now, we’re retiring our lower tiers– so all new patrons who join at $5/month or higher (or upgrade!) by July 1st will be entered into a raffle to guest star on a bonus Patreon episode. You can also support the show by grabbing some #pride gear at bit.ly/lezmerch [http://bit.ly/lezmerch] or picking up Lez-ssentials songs on Bandcamp. ********* Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that is having a rough night.  This week, Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out and talk about why the 2017 dark comedy Rough Night Should’ve Been Gay(er). Rough Night stars Zoë Kravitz, Scarlett Johansson, Kate McKinnon, Ilana Glazer, and Jillian Bell in a Bridesmaids meets The Hangover-style romp around Miami. If you’ve seen Rough Night, you’re probably thinking– but that movie already IS gay. The lesbian couple, Blair and Frankie (#Blankie!), should qualify it for a Lez-ssential! And you’re right, the movie is already pretty gay and we do love #Blankie; but it is honestly impossible for us to ignore Alice’s BIG LESBIAN CRUSH on her best friend Jess. Alice literally murders the first guy we see try to touch Jess. And Jess choosing to marry a straight up diaper man isn’t exactly a strong endorsement for her heterosexuality either.  We talk about gay magnetism a lot, and it is inconceivable to us that this friend group only has 2 gay girls in it. We’re not sure why the movie is trying so hard to pretend that the whole group is mostly straight women, but we’re not buying it.  We know one thing for sure, Rough Night Should’ve Been Gay(er). Don’t forget to give us your Q & Gay answers on Instagram and follow along on TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, and BlueSky @lezhangoutpod. You can find your favorite smol and tol hosts at @lshfoster and @elliebrigida. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Join our Patreon [http://bit.ly/lezpatreon] to unlock 30 full-length bonus episodes, ad-free weekly episodes, mp3 downloads of our original songs, exclusive Discord access, and more! Right now, we’re retiring our lower tiers– so all new patrons who join at $5/month or higher (or upgrade!) by July 1st, 2025 will be entered into a raffle to guest star on a bonus Patreon episode.  You can also support the show by grabbing your #pride gear at bit.ly/lezmerch [http://bit.ly/lezmerch] & picking up Lez-ssentials songs on Bandcamp. Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that still pledges allegiance to Heda Lexa. This week, Leigh (@lshfoster) hangs out solo with Regan Latimer (@thereganlatimer), director of the documentary Bulletproof: A Lesbian’s Guide to Surviving the Plot (@bulletproofdoc). We’ve talked a lot on this podcast about the longstanding BYG (bury your gays) trope in media and the “cancel your gays” version of today. The absolute slaughter of 2016 is what ultimately led us down the path of creating our own queer musicals with guaranteed happy endings and zero dead gays. Regan was inspired in a similar way, after one straw too many– the brutal killing of Denise on The Walking Dead. She decided to turn that outrage and pain into fuel for exploring the BYG trope, learning why these plot decisions are made, and even exploring the psychology behind why lesbian character deaths impact LGBTQ+ viewers so strongly.  For Bulletproof, Regan spoke with filmmakers, screenwriters, passionate fans, showrunners, and television industry professionals about their experiences and perceptions on lesbian representation in the media. They wanted to look not only at where representation stands now, but at where it started and where it may be headed. When the pendulum for LGBTQ+ rights and societal acceptance swings in either direction, the media landscape reflects those changes. The few positive examples of queer representation we have on screen right now are as a result of projects greenlit before the pendulum began its broad backswing. Regan reminds us to enjoy the representation we have right now, to cherish the precious happy moments of Ellie and Dina while we still can.  After all, the pendulum swings as society does; and we are at a particularly scary time for queer rights and acceptance, especially here in the United States. The real worry is about what types of projects may be getting greenlit right now, whose voices and stories are allowed to be told and amplified, and whether that push we saw after 2016 for more diversity in writer’s rooms continues or is abandoned. We’re already seeing more and more shows with prominent queer characters get unceremoniously cancelled– but it is not all doom and gloom. Even with queer rights and representation sliding backward, there remains more lesbian representation than we ever had growing up. With any luck, younger gays will never have to know what its like to not see themselves on their screens, even if the only representation left is, to Regan’s dismay and Leigh’s chaotic delight, problematic queer people on reality television shows.  Canadian listeners, you’re in luck (for so many reasons). Bulletproof: A Lesbian’s Guide to Surviving the Plot is streaming [https://bulletproofdoc.ca/] now. Not in Canada? Follow @bulletproofdoc on Instagram for release updates in your country.  Give us your own answers to our Q & Gay on Instagram and follow along on Facebook, TikTok, and BlueSky @lezhangoutpod. Find your fav tol and smol hosts Ellie & Leigh at @elliebrigida and @lshfoster. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Join our Patreon [http://bit.ly/lezpatreon] family to unlock 25+ full-length bonus episodes, ad-free weekly episodes, mp3 downloads of our original songs, exclusive Discord access, and more! Right now, we’re retiring our lower tiers– so all new patrons who join at $5/month or higher (or upgrade!) by July 1st will be entered into a raffle to guest star on a bonus Patreon episode. You can also support the show by grabbing some #pride gear at bit.ly/lezmerch [http://bit.ly/lezmerch] or picking up Lez-ssentials songs on Bandcamp. Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that is brought to you by BIG SHARK. This week, Leigh (@lshfoster) hangs out with queer screenwriter, returning guest and friend of the pod, Alix Markman (@markwoman), to talk about why The Meg Should’ve Been Gay. Alix has been waiting to talk about this incredibly queer shark movie for years and we are so excited to fin-ally dive in. Self-aware, comedic monster movies are the best monster movies and The Meg does not disappoint.  From the gay shark girlfriends (who were roommates!) to the marine biology commune and their shared child (And the sheer presence of Ruby Rose), everything about this movie feels queer. Alix whips out an L Word-style “Alice board” to break down the relationship dynamics of the commune before adding even more research to the mix with unquestionable proof of The Meg’s gayness– a 2016 Autostraddle article titled “The 100 Most Lesbianish First Names, Ranked By Lesbianism”, in which “Meg” is number 16.  We know one thing for sure, The Meg Should’ve Been Gay. Don’t forget to give us your Q & Gay answers on Instagram and follow along on TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, and BlueSky @lezhangoutpod. You can find your favorite smol and tol hosts at @lshfoster and @elliebrigida. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Lez Hang Out is proud to be sponsored by Olivia [https://www.olivia.com/], the travel company for lesbians and all LGBTQ+ women! Join our Patreon [http://bit.ly/lezpatreon] to unlock 25+ full-length bonus episodes (including our brand new one on Bros), ad-free weekly episodes, mp3 downloads of our original songs, exclusive Discord access, and more! Right now, we’re retiring our lower tiers– so all new patrons who join at $5/month or higher (or upgrade!) by July 1st, 2025 will be entered into a raffle to guest star on a bonus Patreon episode. You can also support the show by grabbing your #pride gear at bit.ly/lezmerch [http://bit.ly/lezmerch] & picking up Lez-ssentials songs on Bandcamp. Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that wants to wish everyone a Happy Pride Month, because queer joy is resistance.  This week, Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out with Jennie Wetter, the Director of rePROS Fight Back (@reprosfb), an initiative that fights for sexual and reproductive health rights and justice issues. Jennie is also the creator and host of the rePROs Fight Back [https://www.reprosfightback.com/] podcast. Among the many things that rePROS does to fight back is to grade each of the 50 states on access to reproductive and sexual health rights and care (including access to gender-affirming care). They have recently released their 13th annual (fully interactive!) 50-state Report Card [https://reportcard.reprosfightback.com/] and spoiler alert: The United States as a whole gets an F. Fair warning, looking up your state’s grade might make your heart hurt (unless you’re like Leigh and live in one of the 5 states that actually got an A).  We talk with Jennie about what things have been like for rePROS since the reversal of Roe and whether our Gilead robes absolutely have to be red (it’s just not our color). Although it can be really easy to become overwhelmed by how bad things are, Jennie explains that there’s actually a lot to be hopeful about. Between the abortion funds and local clinics there are quite a lot of resources on the ground to help people access care, even in states with strict legislation. Medication abortion remains available and is a fully safe option. With the recent attacks on trans rights, initiatives like rePROS are fighting even harder to ensure access to gender affirming care for all who need it, including minors. Even though at the federal level, things are bleak (that report card is a real eye-opener), there are ways to fight back at the state-level and getting involved locally can really help keep that feeling of doom at bay.  Jennie reminds us that no one person can do or know everything (even if Ellie’s ADHD really wants her to try). Figure out which one cause you want to put your energy toward and focus solely on that. Even Jennie doesn’t know everything, but she makes herself a trusted resource by knowing what direction to point people in when they come to her for help. Take a deep breath and remember, you don’t have to take on everything yourself! Find your lane and follow it and know that others are doing the same in the lanes you didn’t choose. Burning yourself out trying to do it all won’t help anyone and certainly won’t help you feel any better. We see you, we appreciate you, and we want you to remember: no act of resistance is too small.  Give us your own answers to our Q & Gay on Instagram and follow along on Facebook, TikTok, and BlueSky @lezhangoutpod. Find your fav tol and smol hosts Ellie & Leigh at @elliebrigida and @lshfoster. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]