The Views Room

Our Founder and host, Raga D'silva sits with Dr Paul Taylor Pitt to talk about everything Queer. In this powerful episode of Older Queer Voices, Dr. Paul (an organizational development consultant, coach, researcher, activist, and podcaster) joins Raga to unpack the journey of queer midlife and aging. Together, they explore what it means to belong to ourselves, challenge heteronormative relati...

Our host, Raga D'silva sat down with Claire Harvey, Founder of Not in our Name (NION), and Hilary Stephenson, Digital leader with a focus on social impact and inclusion. In this insightful conversation, Claire Harvey and Hilary Stephenson discuss the origins and purpose of the "Not in our Name" movement. They dive into why cisgender women across the UK are coming together to reject...

Our host, Raga D'silva, sat down with Kat Parsons, CEO of Diversity Umbrella, for a candid conversation about coming out, finding her voice and building a life on her own terms. Kat shares how changing her surname and career became a fresh start, why being handed a paternity policy as a mum pushed her to challenge workplace practices, and what it took for her and her wife Fiona to renovate th...

Our host and Co-founder of Older Queer Voices, Raga D’Silva, spoke with HIV activist, campaigner and actor Matthew Hodson about a life shaped by activism, survival, visibility and extraordinary change. Born just days after the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality in England and Wales, Matthew takes us from discovering London’s gay scene at just 15, through the fear of the AIDS crisis and the...

Raga D'Silva, host of Older Queer Voices, sat down with Matthew Page for a deeply moving conversation about identity, belonging and what it means to finally feel whole. Growing up in foster care from the age of three, Matthew shares his journey through rejection, discovering he was gay in 1970s Britain, becoming a foster carer himself, and later finding his birth family through DNA testing. T...

Raga D'Silva talks to Heather Paterson in a brilliantly powerful conversation on tattoos, identity, visibility and the stories we carry on our skin in this episode of The Human Scrapbook. Heather describes herself as a "human scrapbook". With more than 100 tattoos and a life dedicated to LGBTQIA+ activism and community leadership, she shares what it means to carry memories, meaning...

Bridging Generations | Older Queer Voices Festival Special What happens when queer generations come together? In this special live edition of Older Queer Voices, host Raga D'silva is joined by four remarkable guests for an inspiring conversation about visibility, resilience, allyship, representation and the power of shared stories across generations. Guests include: Professor Sue Sanders;  Ed...

Host, Raga D'silva, sits down with activist, writer and lifelong campaigner Savitri Hensman for a powerful conversation on identity, faith, race, ageing and LGBTQ+ inclusion. From growing up as a queer woman of colour in 1970s Britain to co-founding the Black Lesbian and Gay Centre and advocating for justice across communities, Savitri reflects on decades of activism, resilience and hope. Tog...

Sridhar Rangayan shares his coming out story with Raga D'silva Coming Out Stories from India Series one  Episode  Six  A Views Room Presentation Curated and produced by Nicola Fenton Hosted by Raga D’silva Follow us on You Tube  https://www.youtube.com/@theviewsroom Instagram @theviewsroom emailtheviewsroom@gmail.com

Raga D’silva, host of the Older Queer Voices Podcast, sits down with trailblazing activist Femi Otitoju, current Chair of Queerwell, the UK’s community-led LGBTQ+ mental health and wellness charity focused on providing accessible, affirming support including therapy, coaching and wellbeing services for LGBTQ+ people. Femi is also one of the UK’s most influential Black LGBTQ+ voices, a diversity sp...

In this episode of Older Queer Voices, host Raga D’silva is in conversation with Rosanna Flamer-Caldera, a pioneering lesbian activist from Sri Lanka and founder of Equal Ground. Rosanna shares her powerful journey from a young girl in Sri Lanka struggling with her identity, to finding freedom and belonging in San Francisco, and ultimately returning home to  Sri Lanka to challenge injustice. Her s...

Trigger Warning: In this powerful episode of Older Queer Voices, host Raga D’silva brings an urgent and deeply moving conversation into the open; domestic abuse within LGBTQ+ communities. With honesty and care, Raga is joined by Debbie Cannon, a specialist in trans and non-binary domestic abuse, and Michelle Weltman, who shares her lived experience of surviving abuse in a same sex relationship. To...

In this episode of Older Queer Voices Podcast, host Raga D’silva sits down with Jo Rzymowska MBE, a trailblazer in global travel and one of the UK’s most visible LGBTQ+ business leaders. With a career spanning over four decades across brands like Disney, Thomas Cook and Celebrity Cruises, Jo shares her extraordinary journey from a young overseas rep navigating life-changing experiences, to leading...

In this episode host Raga D'silva is joined by Lisa Power, one of the most influential LGBTQ activists in the UK.  From volunteering on the Lesbian and Gay Switchboard during the early HIV AIDS crisis to co-founding Stonewall, shaping sexual health policy, and preserving LGBTQ history through projects like Queer Tours and Queer Britain Museum, Lisa has dedicated her life to queer rights. They...

In this episode of Older Queer Voices Podcast, host Raga D’silva interacts with Jennifer Jeffries, speaker, author, and wellness advocate from the Gold Coast, Australia. Jennifer’s work celebrates women’s power, wisdom, and sovereignty, especially for older women, through her Present Day Wise Woman philosophy and podcast. We explore Jennifer’s extraordinary journey, from growing up in a conservati...

Content Warning  This episode of Older Queer Voices is not just about history. It is about memory, protest, grief, and survival. Host Raga D'silva is in conversation with Jonathan Blake, one of the first people in the UK to survive an AIDS diagnosis. Diagnosed in 1982 and told he had just months to live, Jonathan’s life became an act of resistance in a time when fear travelled faster than fac...

Older Queer Voices stands in solidarity with our Trans and Non-binary community in India. This powerful episode discusses the current situation in India for transgender and non-binary communities, in the context of the proposed Transgender Persons Protection of Rights Amendment Bill 2026 and its potential impact on the right to self-identification, dignity, and protection from discrimination. The...

In this episode of Older Queer Voices with Raga D’silva, we explore how community, advocacy, and practical support come together to improve the lives of LGBTQ+ people as we grow older. Our guests are Dr. Paul Martin OBE, founder and CEO of the LGBT Foundation, and Tina Wadden, Head of Education at the Foundation.  The LGBT Foundation, based in Greater Manchester, is one of the UK’s leading LGBTQ+...

In this episode of Older Queer Voices, host Raga D’silva explores the powerful history and legacy of the butch–femme dynamic within lesbian communities. Joining the conversation are partners, acclaimed writer and poet Joelle Taylor and artist Emily Witham. Together they share personal journeys of discovering and embracing their identities as butch and femme, while reflecting on the cultural, histo...

Serving in Silence is a powerful conversation about the hidden history of LGBTQ service in the UK Armed Forces. In this episode of the Older Queer Voices podcast, host Raga D’silva speaks with Sharon Pickering, former member of the Women’s Royal Naval Service whose career ended after she was outed as a lesbian, and retired Commander Roly Woods, who served more than 20 years while hiding his identi...

What Does Six Decades of Courage Look Like? In this powerful episode of Older Queer Voices, Raga D'silva speaks with legendary human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell to reflect on a lifetime of activism, protest and love. From helping organise the first UK Pride march in 1972 to facing 104 arrests, violent attacks and ongoing threats, Peter shares the untold stories behind the headlines. We t...

Franco Stevens, founder of *Curve* magazine, joins Older Queer Voices with her wife Jen Rainin, filmmaker and co founder of Frankly Speaking Films, to talk about visibility, partnership, storytelling, ageing and queer legacy across generations. In this deeply personal and timely conversation they also discuss the current backlash against LGBTQ rights in the United States, including how long fought...

Creative Ageing in the Queer Community In this episode of Older Queer Voices, we explore the power of creative ageing;  how theatre, storytelling, and artistic collaboration can enrich later life for older LGBTQ+ communities. We are joined by two incredible voices in this space, Dr Georgia Bowers, a theatre-maker and researcher, and Professor Andrew King, an expert on ageing and queer lives. Toget...

Coming out Stories from India’ with Harish Iyer. Watch this episode as we delve into the various sides to Harish and his coming out journey. “I told my Mom, ‘I love you. If you want me to marry a woman, I will. But suggest that to me only if you had a daughter and you would get your daughter married off to a gay man” and … how did Harish Iyer’s mom respond? “I was not confident to come out as Hari...

Coming out stories from India - Raga Olga D'silva talks with Winnie Chopra about her journey of coming out in, India. You would think this gorgeous, confident, butch Lesbian woman would have it easy in life. Watch as she slowly 'comes out with her truth. The vulnerability is endearing.  Coming Out Stories from India. Series 1 Episode 4 A Views Room Presentation Curated and produced by Ni...