The Out Crowd

Proud Rovers, as it says in the name, are proud to represent LGBTQ fans of Blackburn Rovers Football Club. Formed in 2019, the supporters group is both an advocacy and social group for the community and its allies. Their chair, Chris Lofthouse, joins fellow Rovers fan Daniel J. McLaughlin to chat about the experience of queer fans on match days, what needs to improve in football, and whether campa...

Max Macmillan is a man of many talents. On screen, he has played Timothy Turner on Call the Midwife for the past decade; and off the screen, you can see Max play brilliant, epic songs in music venues. He’s an actor, musician, photographer, and filmmaker. Whether he’s in front or behind the camera, on or off stage, Max is insightful, fascinating, and an amazing storyteller. In recent months, he cam...

Five years ago, the government, under the premiership of Theresa May, pledged to ban conversion therapy - the insidious and psychologically damaging practice of trying to suppress a person’s sexuality or gender identity. Half a decade later, the LGBTQ community is still waiting. Back in 2021, the then-minister for women and equalities Liz Truss reiterated that the government would ban conversion t...

'Coming out of the closet' - or telling someone about your sexuality and gender identity for the first time - can be a scary experience for those in the LGBTQ community. Opening up about your identity to family and friends is a massive step in your journey as a queer person, and sometimes you can feel very alone. But this is a path well trodden by many before you, and some of those stories have be...

Hello there. You’re looking very well - I love what you’ve done with your hair. Oh yes, thanks for noticing - yes, indeed, we have had a makeover too. Welcome back to The Out Crowd - the podcast from Reach that speaks to members from the queer community about their experiences in the past and the present, and their hopes for the future. We are FINALLY back for a second series - just in time for Pr...

Alexander Pemberton, aka Elta Avelon, is a 24-year-old drag artist and resident queen at the Creative Arts Gallery in Burnley, Lancashire. Since playing the part of young drag queen Angel Dumott Schunard in Rent the Musical as a teenager, and discovering RuPaul's Drag Race, Alex developed the character of Eltariel Avelorn, part-elf, part-kink, part-femme fatale. Now in the third generation of the...

Daniel J. McLaughlin is an award-winning podcast producer for Laudable, working behind the scenes on The Out Crowd, Alone Together, The Menopod, and many more. He also performs about his bisexuality as a stand-up poet on the music scene in Manchester and Salford. In the latest episode of our LGBTQ+ podcast, Dan describes his experiences as an out bisexual man, discussing the biphobia and bi-erasur...

Andrew Moffat is a teacher and author of the No Outsiders curriculum, a teaching resource that educates students about the characteristics protected by the Equality Act 2010. It teaches children about all types of equality covered by the Act - such as protecting people from discrimination about age, race, disability, gender, sexuality. It includes inclusive education about LGBT+ families through t...

Baroness Debbie Wilcox of Newport was a teacher throughout Section 28, and continuously challenged the anti-LGBT+ legislation during her time in the classroom. From hiding her girlfriend upstairs from colleagues when they came to visit to being openly lesbian in her school, Debbie discusses her experiences of being an LGBT+ person during her 30 years in education. In a two-parter dedicated to LGBT...

In the first episode of The Out Crowd, Joe Ali looks back at LGBTQ history with activist and campaigner Lisa Power. Lisa, who co-founded LGBTQ charity Stonewall, discusses her activism over the years, the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, and how she consulted on Channel 4's hit drama 'It's A Sin'. She also tells Joe that the fight for equality is far from over for the LGBTQ community. The Out Crowd - An...

“The LGBTQ community is not just for Pride – it’s for life.”The Out Crowd is the new LGBTQ podcast from Reach. Launched during Pride Month in June, our podcast will hear from activists, artists, drag queens, writers, educators, journalists, family, friends, and colleagues about what it means to be LGBTQ in 2021. The Out Crowd speaks to members of the LGBTQ community about their experiences in the...