A new Liverpool podcast is aiming to create a new space for LGBTQ+ voices

At a time when LGBTQ+ voices are under increasing scrutiny, a new video podcast is creating space for stories that deserve to be heard – truthfully and unapologetically.

Launching Thursday 5th June, Proudly Said is the latest project from Liverpool LGBTQ+ advocate John Hyland. Timed to mark the beginning of Pride Month, the podcast hopes to bring personal storytelling, community activism and queer joy to the forefront, with a focus on voices that are not often heard outside of their safe spaces.

John began making LGBTQ+ content at 20 years old, under the pseudonym ‘John Bird’, of JohnBirdMedia – adding his to the chorus of queer voices that tried to say ‘it gets better’.

This eventually led to him becoming closely involved with Liverpool Pride between 2016 and 2018 – as a volunteer, trustee, and eventually co-chair – before co-founding LCR Pride Foundation in 2019. Now 34, and following a period living in Northern Ireland, where he was the first openly gay elected councillor in Ballymena, John felt called back to this creative outlet.

He was particularly inspired when he witnessed the production of Belfast podcast, Best of Belfast, which set out to
provide a platform for ordinary day-to-day people to tell their stories.

John said:

“Proudly Said is really about returning to why I started in the first place,”

“I’m an advocate at heart. I want to create a space where people can speak freely and be heard especially now, when it feels like LGBTQ+ voices are being increasingly withdrawn.”

Each episode of the Proudly Said podcast features LGBTQ+ individuals and allies from Liverpool and beyond, sharing stories of identity, protest, creativity, and queer joy. The tone of the podcast is warm and unpolished, reflecting the honesty and messiness of real lives being lived with pride.

While the podcast is firmly set in Liverpool, it reaches out to any listener who believes in the power of community and the importance of being seen.

Find out more about the Proudly Said podcast here.

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