5 brand new LGBTQ+ podcasts you should listen to this May

From a queer folk fairytale to the new series of Pantisocracy, we round up the five best LGBTQ+ podcasts from this month.

Podcast . Written by Ian Smith.

Headphones surrounded by multicoloured confetti

May has blessed us with a whole host of new LGBTQ+ podcasts to get our teeth into and to get us in the mood for the upcoming Pride month. Have a look at our top five picks below!

Ed Roche – Our Unique Tales

At the age of 31, radio presenter Ed Roche came out to his family and close friends as a gay man. Such a long time of living in the closet finally came to an end after years of shame, embarrassment and fear.

Now at the age of 33, he will present a brand new LGBTQ+ podcast series for Pride month. The series will be broadcast by Spin1038 and Spin South-West and it will look into the lives of Irish LGBTQ+ people, the difficulties they faced growing up in Ireland and where they are today. 

“I’ve never actually said I’m gay on the radio, I guess this series is a whole new coming out story for me,” said Roche. “I’ve no doubt that some of my family, friends and the listeners will only figure this out about me for the first time when they tune in! I am nervous about the reaction it will get! I just hope people are accepting to it, to me and to the LGBTQIA+ community.”

A special episode of the series will be broadcast on Saturday May 22nd to celebrate six years since Ireland voted Yes in the same-sex marriage referendum. It will feature Rory O’Neill aka Queen of Ireland, Panti Bliss.

The Panti Personals

Not to be relegated to simply being a podcast guest, Panti is also back with the new series of her own podcast. Following the success of RTÉ Radio 1’s Pantisocracy, Panti is breaking out of lockdown with a new podcast, The Panti Personals, where she gets up close – up to two metres, anyway – and personal for intimate conversations and musical performances.

The first episode features Niall Breslin, better known as Bressie. In a powerful and revealing conversation, the pair talk love, life, anxiety and resilience, and swap stories on how physical and sexual abuse, witnessed during their school years, has stayed with them, and haunted them.

Invisible Threads

This series gives a voice to those whose input is often missing from LGBTQ+ podcasts and media. We meet eight older members of the LGBTQ+ community to reflect on the journey of finding your identity and the courage it takes to be yourself. Invisible Threads is an eight-part series and one of the initiatives of LGBT Ireland’s LGBT Champions Programme. The aim of the LGBT Champions Programme is to increase the visibility, respect, awareness and knowledge of the issues facing LGBTQ+ older people, specifically in health and social care settings.

Poz Vibez

Robbie Lawlor captured our hearts when he spoke so eloquently on the Tommy Tiernan Show last month about living with HIV and the stigma that surrounds it in Ireland. Now he and the iconic Irish drag queen Veda are launching their own podcast. Poz Vibez is for HIV positive people, their friends, family and allies. It is a place to tell their stories. 

“I want to be the person that I wish I had when I was first diagnosed with HIV,” Lawlor said in a sneak peek of the first episode which comes out Friday 21st May. “I just want people to know that it’s OK to live with HIV. Something needs to change in Ireland, change needs to happen. Why not be that person, why not use your voice, why not use your story?”

The Wanderer 

One of the most unique LGBTQ+ podcasts on this list, The Wanderer is a predominantly single-narrator LGBTQ+ fantasy folk tale podcast drama.

It follows the journey of The Wanderer who has made a bargain with the Forest: wander the natural pathways of those ancient woods and he might just find his lost love, Andrew. Aided only by his wits and the magic of his guitar, The Wanderer must face the challenges the Forest and his mind put before him and get Andrew home safe.

Each episode also features an original folk song and score. You can listen to the first two episodes here.

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