Liverpool-based LGBTQ+ video podcast Proudly Said marks its first birthday on 5 June 2026, reaching the milestone with 53 episodes released, a content pipeline scheduled through to August, and a growing audience across the country.
Launched in June 2025 by activist and advocate John Hyland, Proudly Said set out to give everyday LGBTQ+ people a platform to share their stories, alongside occasional recognisable faces drawn to the show’s honest, conversational format. In its first year, the platform accumulated over two million views across Instagram and TikTok, with guests both seeking out the show and being approached by John, reflecting the genuine appetite for the kind of authentic community storytelling Proudly Said was built around.
Why it matters
The show arrives at a moment when LGBTQ+ visibility in mainstream media is under real pressure. The BBC recently cancelled I Kissed a Boy and I Kissed a Girl, the UK’s first LGBTQ+ dating shows, citing funding challenges, bringing to an end the only mainstream franchises of their kind on British television. The political climate, particularly in the US, has seen a significant rollback of hard-won rights that has reverberated internationally. Closer to home, Home Office statistics show more than 18,000 hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation and over 3,000 trans-related hate crimes were recorded between March 2024 and March 2025. Over the last five years, hate crimes based on sexual orientation have risen by 20%, and those based on trans identity by 50%.
Against that backdrop, Proudly Said represents something deliberate: a space where LGBTQ+ people tell their own stories, in their own words, without a mainstream filter. If those stories are not told from within the community, the risk is they simply go untold.
Recognition
The show’s first year has not gone unnoticed. Proudly Said was nominated for LGBTQ+ Podcast of the Year at the 2026 Gaydio Awards. John himself was recognised as Diversity Champion at the 2025 LGBTQ+ Flowers Awards and has been nominated for a BBC Radio Merseyside Make a Difference Award 2026, with finalists to be announced later this summer.
John Hyland, founder and host, said:
“Back when I made the decision to pursue a new podcast, I wasn’t sure how it would go, as it had been ten years since I dipped my toe in that world. But I’ve been so appreciative of the interest, both from audiences and guests alike. Which absolutely demonstrates why queer storytelling is incredibly important in this day and age, when the world feels so dark and bleak for the LGBTQ+ community.
This is my passion, and no story will go untold if I have anything to say about it.”
Proudly Said releases new episodes weekly at proudlysaid.co.uk and across all major podcast platforms, and is always looking out for new guests to tell their story.