About Proudly Said
Proudly Said started with a simple question: what happens when you give everyday people in the LGBTQ+ community the space to actually tell their story?
The answer, it turns out, is something pretty special.
Since launching in June 2025, the show has grown into one of the most distinctive LGBTQ+ voices in the UK podcast space – simply because of the people at the heart of it. Real conversations and real experiences. Recorded wherever guests feel most comfortable, with no agenda other than to listen.
One year in, Proudly Said has accumulated over two million organic views across Instagram and TikTok, and been nominated for a Gaydio LGBTQ+ Podcast of the Year award. But what matters most are the people who get in touch to say they heard themselves in someone else’s story for the first time.
About John
John Hyland has spent fifteen years at the heart of Liverpool’s LGBTQ+ community, as a volunteer, organiser, advocate, and now as a storyteller.
He first got involved with Liverpool Pride in 2016, went on to co-chair it, and co-founded LCR Pride Foundation in 2019. He served as a councillor in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, bringing visible LGBTQ+ representation to a place that hadn’t seen it before. He later led community partnerships at Sahir House, Liverpool’s oldest LGBTQ+ and HIV charity, before launching Proudly Said.
The podcast continues to grow that wider community.
Got a story to tell? Get in touch at hey@proudlysaid.co.uk
