Ep. 316: UK's New PM Is a Queer Ally, Uganda Women Freed & WTA's Trans Test | Listen Up Girl

Ep. 316: UK's New PM Is a Queer Ally, Uganda Women Freed & WTA's Trans Test | Listen Up Girl

Listen Up Girl — your daily LGBTQ+ news podcast, hosted by Zach Randles-Friedman. Today on Listen Up Girl: The UK has a new Prime Minister — Andy Burnham, a decades-long LGBTQ+ ally who marched against Section 28 at 18, now faces a critical moment for trans rights as EHRC guidance looms in August. Two women in Uganda arrested for kissing under the brutal Anti-Homosexuality Act have finally had all charges dropped after months of imprisonment and international outcry. The Women's Tennis Association has implemented a new genetic sex-testing policy requiring a one-time SRY gene cheek swab for all players — effective yesterday — and queer tennis fans are furious while Martina Navratilova celebrates. The administration's World Cup Task Force is pressuring FIFA to ban transgender women from the 2031 Women's World Cup, and FIFA's own anti-discrimination partner is pushing back. Soccer legend Megan Rapinoe reveals she was dropped from a major World Cup brand campaign after AI software flagged her trans allyship as a "risk." And Botswana, which just repealed its colonial anti-sodomy law in April, is now fighting fierce religious opposition in its push for equal marriage. Six stories. All new. All yours. 🎙️ New episodes every day 📍 Available wherever you listen to podcasts 📲 Instagram & YouTube: @TheRealZachRE 🌐 listenupgirl.com 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!!!  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Ep. 315: Gay Cabinet Member Blames the Left, England Bans Trans Kids' Bathrooms | Listen Up Girl

Listen Up Girl — your daily LGBTQ+ news podcast, hosted by Zach Randles-Friedman. Today on Listen Up Girl: A Sydney drag venue called Divine Playhouse is fighting to survive after Catholic groups protested its opening week in a former deconsecrated church and the landlord issued a notice of breach threatening eviction. The orange convicted felon's out gay Treasury Secretary used an international counterterrorism summit to invoke his own assassination attempt — and blame the left. England's government has officially mandated that trans students cannot use bathrooms matching their gender identity starting September 1st, 2026, with no exceptions. A well-funded coalition of 47 anti-LGBTQ+ organizations called "Greater Than" is actively working to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges using a 14-year-old discredited study. LGBTQ+ children's book authors in the UK are being shut out of schools at an alarming rate due to homophobic parent complaints. And a bronze statue of Charlie Kirk is headed for Times Square — and the sculptor is making it bulletproof. Six stories. All new. All things you need to know. 🎙️ New episodes every day 📍 Available wherever you listen to podcasts 📲 Instagram: @TheRealZachRE 🌐 listenupgirl.com 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!!!  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Ep. 314: Elliot Page Silences Haters, NH Bathroom Bill Vetoed Again & Gay Bar Shooting | Listen Up Girl

Listen Up Girl — your daily LGBTQ+ news podcast, hosted by Zach Randles-Friedman. Today on Listen Up Girl: Trans actor Elliot Page is receiving some of the strongest reviews of his career for his role in Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey — and months of right-wing backlash have been thoroughly embarrassed by the film's reception. New Hampshire Republican Governor Kelly Ayotte has vetoed a trans bathroom bill for the fourth time, telling lawmakers that sending the same bill repeatedly won't change her answer. A gunman opened fire outside gay bar Shakey's in Asheville, North Carolina — staff locked down the venue and kept every single person inside safe. Out lesbian Congresswoman Becca Balint called out the administration for what she described as "weird, intense, homoerotic feelings towards men while also being incredibly homophobic." A trans person was killed and another injured in a shooting in Pakistan. And an educator has been awarded $265,000 after his school district fired him for being gay. Six stories. All new. All yours. 🎙️ New episodes every day 📍 Find us wherever you listen to podcasts 📲 Instagram: @TheRealZachRE 🌐 listenupgirl.com 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!!!  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Ep. 313: White House Backs Off Trans Care Ban, Kansas Bathroom Nightmare & Rowling's Upskirt Photo | Listen Up Girl

Listen Up Girl — your daily LGBTQ+ news podcast, hosted by Zach Randles-Friedman. Today on Listen Up Girl: The administration has quietly shelved a rule that would have stripped Medicare and Medicaid funding from any hospital providing gender-affirming care to trans youth. A trans janitor at the University of Kansas has been formally threatened with fines and potential arrest after being reported for using the women's restroom under Kansas's aggressive new bathroom law. Indonesia's president has classified LGBTQ+ culture as a national security threat, and attacks on queer university students are escalating. A Phoenix gay leather bar beat a U-Haul heir in an eight-hour liquor board battle and won its license. Germany's gay parliamentary leader Jens Spahn resigned after fathering a child through a surrogate despite years of publicly opposing the practice. J.K. Rowling posted an upskirt photo of a trans woman who declined to debate her. And Madonna headlined the first-ever FIFA World Cup Final halftime show at MetLife Stadium. Seven stories. All new. All things you need to know. 🎙️ New episodes every day 📍 Find us wherever you listen to podcasts 📲 Instagram: @TheRealZachRE 🌐 listenupgirl.com 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!!!  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Ep. 312: Trump Kills LGBTQ Foster Protections, Hegseth's Hormone Hypocrisy & More

It's July 17, 2026, and Listen Up Girl has six stories you need to hear. The orange convicted felon officially erased the Biden-era rule protecting LGBTQ+ youth in foster care — with no replacement plan. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is now offering hormone replacement therapy to male soldiers while trans service members remain banned from the military. The Heritage Foundation, fresh off the Supreme Court's anti-trans sports ruling, is now going after Title IX and women's sports protections entirely. The Rubi Girls — a Texas drag activist group that raised over $3 million for charity — fought the administration's attempt to block their historical marker and won. Mexico's first openly gay mayor, Benjamín Medrano Quezada, was assassinated outside a Guadalajara ice cream shop. And gay progressive Jordan Wood is back in the Maine Senate race after the Graham Platner campaign collapsed. Listen Up Girl is a daily LGBTQ+ news podcast hosted by Zach Randles-Friedman. New episodes every weekday. Subscribe, leave a five-star review, and follow @TheRealZachRE on Instagram. 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!!!  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.