ShoutOut LGBT+ Radio

Happy New Year!! "Oh no it's not..." Oh yes it is, and what better way to kick the new year off than with the traditional ShoutOut Panto. This year, we're getting a bit horror like, bad acting, silly jokes, and a haunted castle - what more oculd you want!

It's CHRISTMAS!!! Oh yes it is! And we love an excuse to let our hair down and have a bit of Christmas fun. This week, Andy takes the helm, as is tradition, and brings you the ShoutOut Christmas Cracker - a show full of quizes and festive fun. Grab yourself a pen and paper, or a tablet if you are modern, and play along with the team.

Panto Season is in full swing; we chat to Texan Drag Queen, Patti Boo Rae about her latest production in London. PLUS: In the studio; Ryan...The creator behind Knits by Ryan based in Bristol, where he handcrafts chunky knit blankets using either high-quality acrylic yarn or luxurious merino mammoth wool.

Internationally acclaimed dance artist Sadiq Ali is retelling his personal experience of being HIV positive through circus and movement. Ali’s Tell Me is a physical embodiment and celebration of resistance and the need to confront the stigma of HIV. Using activism as a queer man alongside his technical agility to direct and perform in Tell Me, Ali’s performance is an explicit force for social change, while challenging audience expectations. Produced by Turtle Key Arts and fusing circus, theatre and dance, Tell Me will tour the UK from 16th January – 10th February 2026. It follows the international success of The Chosen Haram and major world-wide festivals including Sydney Festival, Auckland Arts Festival and Gay Pride Europe, Malta. And Vicky Lane returns. You may remember we spoke to her a few weeks ago about a new stand up night she was hosting. Well, she's not been in Bristol for more than a few months and now she joins us, live, to talk about Queer Stories - a new evening where you can go and, well, tell a story.

This week we chat to Simon Haines from Rings of Power (how long does it take to become an Elf?) and The Running Man (Did you Meet Arnie?) And Christmas books recommendations from "News From Nowhere" in Liverpool, plus news and views from our highly talented team. Christmas Book List 1. A Short History of Queer Parenting, by Kirsty Loehr Queer families have always existed. Even Sappho, the OG lesbian, had a daughter named Cleis, in honour of vaginas everywhere! For centuries, the women of ‘The Golden Orchid Society’ in Qing-dynasty China were getting married and raising daughters together – platonically, obviously... And Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson’s fabulously bisexual open marriage proved women really can have it all – a husband, two kids, a writing career and Virginia Woolf. Maybe you’re exploring your options. Maybe you don’t want kids but you have questions. Either way, Kirsty Loehr provides another rollicking guide to the ups and downs of queer parenthood through the ages. £8.99, paperback 2. Thank You for Calling the Lesbian Line, by Elizabeth Lovatt With warmth and humour, Elizabeth Lovatt reimagines the women who both called and volunteered for the Lesbian Line in the 1990s while also tracing her own journey from accidentally coming out to disastrous dates to finding her chosen family. With callers and agents alike dealing with first crushes and breakups, sex and marriage, loneliness and illness (or simply the need to know the name of a gay bar on a night out), this is a celebration of the ordinary lives of queer women. Thank You for Calling the Lesbian Line is a timely and vital exploration of how lesbian identity continues to remake and redefine itself in the 21st century and where it might lead us in the future. £20.00, hardback 3. Nova Scotia House, by Charlie Porter SHORTLISTED FOR THE GOLDSMITHS PRIZE 2025 SHORTLISTED FOR FOYLES BOOK OF THE YEAR When they met, nearly thirty years ago, Johnny was 19, Jerry was 45. They fell in love and made a life on their own terms in Jerry’s flat: 1, Nova Scotia House. Johnny is still there today – but Jerry is gone, and so is the world they knew. As Johnny’s mind travels between then and now, he begins to remember stories of Jerry’s youth: of experiments in living; of radical philosophies; of the many possibilities of love, sex and friendship before the AIDS crisis devastated the queer community. Slowly, he realizes what he must do next—and attempts to restore ways of being that could be lost forever. Nova Scotia House takes us to the heart of a relationship, a community and an era. It is both a love story and a lament; bearing witness to the enduring pain of the AIDS pandemic and honouring the joys and creativity of queer life. £18.99, hardback 4. Love in Exile, by Shon Faye Shon Faye grew up quietly obsessed with the feeling that love was not for her. Not just romantic love: the secret fear of her own unworthiness penetrated every aspect and corner of her life. Faye’s experience of the world as a trans woman, who grew up visibly queer, exacerbated her fears. But, as she confronted her damaging ideas about love and lovelessness, she came to realize that this sense of exclusion is symptomatic of a much larger problem in our culture. In this highly politicized terrain, boundaries are purposefully drawn to keep some in and to keep others out. Those who exist outside them are ignored, denigrated, exiled. In Love in Exile, Shon Faye shows love is much greater than the narrow ideals we have been taught to crave so desperately that we are willing to bend and break ourselves to fit them. Wise, funny, unsparing, and suffused with a radical clarity, this is a book of and for our times: for seeing and knowing love, in whatever form it takes, is the meaning of life itself. £20.00, hardback 5. Queer Georgians, by Anthony Delaney History Hit podcast presenter Dr Anthony Delaney reveals the real people that inspired Gentleman Jack and the gay romances in...

Neve Francis is starring as Billie in Possum Trot, the brand-new play from award-winning American playwright Kathy Rucker, coming to Theatre At The Tabard this November. Inspired by the ongoing battles faced by family farms across America’s heartland, Possum Trot seamlessly blends poignancy with laughter for a timely exploration of pervasive issues affecting small-town communities. Set in Possum Trot, Nebraska, the play follows Maxine, a resilient diner owner on a one-woman mission to preserve the spirit of her town while wrangling with her chaotic family. Frantic but hilarious, Possum Trot showcases the universal insight that even in the toughest circumstances, humour and community can overcome adversity. Also, with World Aids Day approaching, we talk to some of the team from Brigstowe about the latest treatments and their hopes going forward.

Grab your friends and family and follow the Yellow Brick (Caledonian) Road this Christmas for an unforgettable panto mash-up of Wickedand The Wizard of Oz! OH NO IT ISN'T... Twenty years after Dor first tumbled over the rainbow, a surprise snowstorm drags them back to the Borough of Oz-lington, where Christmas is on thin ice. Teaming up once more with Scarecrow, Lion and the shiny new Tin 2.0, Dor sets out on a feel-good adventure full of courage, individuality and acceptance. It's the classic characters you know and love, reunited for a brand new festive quest! PLUS: We chat to Tim from the Diversity Trust... The Diversity Trust CIC is a Community Interest Company, established in 2012, in the UK. Their mission is to ‘influence social change to create a fairer and safer society’. The Diversity Trust has undertaken large scale auditing, consultancy projects, research, training and strategic projects across the corporate, public, private, voluntary, community and social enterprise sectors across the UK, as well as internationally. They are specialists in equality, diversity, equity and inclusion. As an equalities-led organisation, our Leadership and Governance; our staff, volunteers and consultants are all members of a wide range of protected characteristic groups including: Racially Marginalised Communities, Refugee and Asylum Seekers, LGBTQ+ people, Disabled People, Neurodivergent People and Gender Diverse People and Communities. The Diversity Trust supports all minoritised and marginalised communities, in our society, and is especially supportive of the Black Lives Matter, Trans Lives Matter, Refugee Rights and Women’s Rights Movements, thinking and acting intersectionally. We use our voice, and our platforms, to amplify the voices of minoritised and marginalised people and communities. Our broad network of staff, volunteers and consultants brings rich, lived experience critical to helping us and our clients understand the issues of bias and how it helps create structures of institutional and systemic discrimination e.g., ageism, ableism, racism and sexism – across society and within institutions and organisations.

Gender Criminal is a drag(ish) artist, host, and director whose work blurs the lines between performance, resistance, and joy. Known affectionately as the Bristol Hypeman and South West Scoundrel, they bring a mix of wit, warmth, and subversion to every stage. As the proud dad of the House of Boussé and TRANS/FORM, Gender Criminal cultivates creative spaces where trans and queer expression can thrive, much like their self-described mycelial networks—interconnected, ever-growing, and impossible to uproot. PLUS: The Cube Cinema here in Bristol is about to bring us the fourth instalment of Gay Sex Tuesday on Tuesday 18th November. Bruce Guthrie has been talking to Cube volunteer, Ed Jack, and L A based film archivist, Frank Jaffe from Altered Innocence films.

Our Earth Week runs from 10th-16th Nov 2025. Steffi chats to Katie from Dean Council and Amie from Queering The Wye... During Our Earth Week, community stations from all across the UK come together to talk about the climate crisis, and to celebrate life on earth. Throughout the week (which takes place in the week of the COP talks), as many shows as possible take part, and there are conversations going on all over the country about how the climate crisis is affecting our communities, and what we can do to try and stop it – or at least slow it down – and how we can adapt to it, and make ourselves more resilient. And we celebrate the very thing we’re trying to save: nature, and all of life within it, and ask ourselves: how can we help nature and wildlife to survive, and thrive? If you want to take part, please email crenuk1@gmail.com ALSO; Lucy gets to grips with Comedy Nights.

Testicular cancer really isn't a nice subject to talk about, but there are some lovely people out there doing their best to raise awareness as well as money for charity. One such person is the ShoutOut Listeners' Award winning Jordan who speaks to Andy about the calendar he's launching to do just that. They talk everything from balls to ribbons to 0-30. It was also the huge LGBT+ Iris Film Festival recently. The winners have been announced and Andy caught up with festival director Berwyn to get his take on how things went this year. Don't worry, if you are a film lover, ShoutOut got many interviews while we were there which will be available soon on the show.

There's been a huge focus on the trans community in recent months. WIth that comes lots of information and, sadly, mis information. It would appear that even the government can't get things right. To combat that, this week we are joined by three profressionals - Dr Jo Hartland, Dr Sinead English and Dr Dunx Shrewsbury. In the show we will explore myth-busting around sex, gender, and trans healthcare, with discussions on definitions, education, healthcare misconceptions, and gender euphoria. It's a hot topic and we welcome your comments and views. Reach out to us on our socials or email studio@shoutoutradio.lgbt

Steffi chats to Katie Neeves of Cool 2B Trans; "I was assigned male at birth, based purely on my sex characteristics (as is still the established practice) and I was given the name of Martin. However, from my earliest memories at the age of around 3 or 4, my head and my heart were telling me something different to the label I had been given, as I felt the need to crossdress and this continued throughout my life. It always felt so right wearing girl’s and women’s clothes. I felt right. But then I would feel guilty about it as I knew it was socially unacceptable and afterwards, I would be consumed by feelings of guilt, disgust and self-loathing. It was a vicious cycle. I only accepted myself as a crossdresser in my mid-twenties and as soon as I accepted it, the problem disappeared. I was happy as a man who needed to crossdress for many years. I realised I had a condition called gender dysphoria which is a feeling of great unease about your head and your heart telling you are the opposite gender to the sex you were assigned at birth, however my gender dysphoria was satisfied by regular crossdressing". And the team discuss the Iris FIlm Festival which is taking place this week. The team have been there, and will be for the rest of the festival, catching interviews and reviewing the films. Say yes if youare there, we'd love to talk to you!

Singer songwriter Ngaio, chats to Lara about their music and career, plus Bath Operatic are performing their new production, Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens, Steffi chats to Director, Richard Pugh.