The 9 Best LGBT Podcasts of 2023

Pride for your ears... the best transgender, bisexual, lesbian, and gay podcasts

LGBTQ podcasts are as diverse as the colors in the pride rainbow and it can often be hard to find one that you like out of the numerous shows within the podcast listings on Spotify, iTunes, Stitcher, and other podcasting platforms. Here are our favorite podcasts that represent the diversity within the LGBT podcasting community from gay news podcasts and queer travel shows to lesbian interviews and gaymer podcasts, there’s something here for everyone no matter which flag you fly.

01
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Gay Pulp: Best Gay Fiction Podcast for Gay People

Summer of Sodom gay pulp book cover.

Gay Pulp is arguably one of the most important gay podcasts around and is definitely the gay fiction podcast that everyone should be listening to, especially those with an interest in gay history and gay literature.

The aim of Gay Pulp is to preserve classic, out-of-print, gay pulp novels by converting them into free audiobooks. Each episode is expertly narrated and typically runs for around 20 minutes, containing a single chapter, or a part of a longer chapter, and a photo of the actual book cover for that episode’s cover artwork. A brilliant look, or listen, at a time in gay history most modern gay men would have very little exposure to.

02
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Lesbian Dinner Party: Best Lesbian Podcast

Lesbian Dinner Party podcast coverart.

Lesbian Dinner Party

Lesbian Dinner Party is a phenomenal podcast that offers a much-needed outlet for lesbians to share their experiences with other lesbians. Each episode features a casual interview with a new individual or couple and the conversations that result provide some truly unique insights into different coming out experiences across generations, gay travel, online dating, and running a business with your same-sex partner.

Highly recommended for those in search of more lesbian stories and those who are disappointed by the unfortunate lack of lesbian content in LGBT websites and magazines.

03
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Outward: Best Gay News Podcast

Outward: Slate's LGBTQ podcast

 Slate

Outward is one of the best gay podcasts available when it comes to sheer variety of gay, bi, lesbian, trans, and queer topics discussed. The male and female hosts cover almost everything from recent political happenings and sexuality-related scientific discoveries to sexual advice and any LGBTQ TV shows or movies they may have seen since the last episode of recorded.

New podcast episodes of Outward come out once a month and usually run for around an hour or so. The monthly release schedule may frustrate some but it’s important to realize that there’s only so much LGBT news that can break at a time. Being a Slate product, Outward does have a very strong progressive angle to its news coverage and gears itself more to the teen and 20-something age demographic. While this does mean that those who are older or consider themselves politically center or conservative may not feel like this podcast is for them, those in the target demographic will find a lot to like.

04
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Attitudes: Best Queer Humor Podcast

Throwing Shade podcast artwork.

Throwing Shade

Attitudes (formerly Throwing Shade) is a thoroughly entertaining weekly podcast that explores the latest pop culture, political, lifestyle news with emphasis on fun and an equal focus on LGBT issues and feminism.

The podcast is hosted by Erin Gibson & Bryan Safi, who each bring their own unique energetic selves to each topic discussed, and there’s fantastic chemistry between the two which is a joy to listen to and is likely one of the many reasons they’ve continued to record episodes since the show’s launch way back in 2011.

05
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Bad Gays: Best Gay History Podcast

Bad Gays podcast.

There are a number of gay history podcasts available to listen to on Spotify, iTunes, Anchor, and the numerous other podcasting platforms but none are as creative as Bad Gays which focuses entirely on exploring gay and queer historical figures with bad reputations. This unique take on a history podcast sets it apart from its rivals and also provides a spotlight to people and groups not usually given much attention.

Both of Bad Gays’ two hosts are incredibly well-suited to their roles, both are published authors with one also being a researcher who teaches queer history, literature, and visual cultures. This means that, unlike similar podcasts who usually just read off Wikipedia articles, these two know what they’re talking about and can discuss certain themes with accuracy and certainty. You won’t hear any sassy gossip on Bad Gays, which is actually rather refreshing, but you will get high quality weekly easy-to-listen one hour episodes that feel like a free audiobook downloaded right to your podcast app.

06
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Gay Travel Today With Sagitravel: Best LGBT Travel Podcast

Gay Travel Today With Sagitravel podcast.

Sagitravel

Gay Travel Today is a daily gay podcast that covers the latest in travel news and gay-friendly destinations. Each podcast episode is easily digestible, running at around one and half minutes long, and typically focuses on a single topic such as a cool activity to try or location to explore during your next trip, a recent travel ban announcement, or general advice for the average LGBT traveler.

Being a daily podcast, Gay Travel Today boasts a lot of variety in subject matter and its episode list has become a pretty good resource that you can browse through to find a location or topic to learn more about. Curious about Northern England or Asia? There are podcast episodes about them. Looking for some travel inspiration? Check out the episode about art locations in Melbourne, Australia or the one about adventure films with fantastic locations. There’s a lot to enjoy here.

07
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Rainbow Road: Best LGBT Gaming Podcast

Rainbow Road podcast artwork.

Rainbow Road

By far one of the largest categories of podcasts is gaming but there remain very few shows hosted exclusively by LGBT gamers (or gaymers) and with a focus on representation within the medium. Travis and Mike are attempting to fill that gap with Rainbow Road, a gay gaming podcast named after the iconic final course in each Super Mario Kart video game.

New episodes of Rainbow Road go live around three times a month, usually run for around 40 to 50 minutes, and typically focus on a single topic such as LGBT characters in Overwatch, impressions on The Last of Us, and queer romance options in modern games. The singular focus means that episodes can be listened to at your leisure and make a solid companion to your favorite gaming news podcast.

08
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Dragon’s Reign: A Gay Fantasy Serial Story: Best Gay Fiction Podcast for Straight People

Dragon's Reign podcast artwork featuring two gay men about to kiss.

Raythe

Dragon’s Reign is a weekly fantasy podcast series where the host reads a new chapter from her story of the same name. The podcast recording and acting are surprisingly really good and could easily stand up against many of the professionally recorded fantasy audiobooks on Audible if a comparison were to be made.

The story itself is a gay romance, though as you may have guessed by now, it’s not an erotic gay story intended for gay male listeners but rather a fiction for others who aren’t gay who enjoy listening to such stories. As a result, the main protagonists act more like idealized portrayals of gay men as seen by straight women instead of actual gay men but this is part of the parcel when it comes to this genre and fans of such tales will find a lot to like here, especially those who enjoy their gay romance with a touch of dragons and magic.

09
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Let’s Be Legendary: Best LGBTQ+ Role-playing Game Podcast

Let's Be Legendary Dungeons and Dragons podcast.

Let's Be Legendary

Let’s Be Legendary is one of many Dungeons & Dragons podcasts available online which essentially revolves around a group of gamers playing the role-playing game for their listeners and continuing the previous episode’s storyline and character progress each week. The podcast sets itself apart from the others by consistently having LGBTQ+ characters in each game though it’s worth noting that the stories themselves aren’t necessarily LGBTQ+ focused.

In addition to being within the LGBT sub-genre of role-playing podcasts, Let’s Be Legendary also falls into the actual play category which means that the podcast recording includes in-character and story dialog in addition to out-of-character discussion and joking between the players. On one hand, this approach can break the immersion of the story though many people do also enjoy the relatively more authentic role-playing experience and getting to know the players. Your personal preference will decide whether you enjoy Let’s Be Legendary or not.

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