#12 Alex Leon on racism within the gay community & the urgent need for specialised LGBTQ+ mental health services

I'm Coming Out

Alex is an Australian writer & campaigner and it was one of his tweets earlier this year on growing up gay which initially piqued my interest in him (it’s featured on the podcast). A whole lot of people clearly connected with said tweet as it went viral, garnering over 200,000 likes & 50,000 retweets.

Alex is a prominent queer activist in London and works for an LGBTQ+ charity. He’s also a really talented writer & has written for the Guardian and the BBC. I think his writing is incredible so if you have time, do check it out.

The interview was recorded during lockdown so it was recorded remotely of course. Alex was in London and I was in my makeshift studio at home outside Dublin. There is a bit of delay on the recording but it should still be pretty decent audio.

We chatted about;

• how he struggled to accept his sexuality,
• being bullied by boys at school who he fancied,
• his early crushes on male school teachers,
• coming out to his parents & why it took some time for his father to be accepting,
• finding his place within the community,
• his honest thoughts on racism within the gay community,
• why Drag Race does a great job of representing gay people of colour,
• we also bonded over our many crushes on Australian soapstars

and lots of other things.

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Hope you enjoy this episode :)