Tom Goss brings the room to a hush before he makes it sing. We caught him with the band for a full live set and a wide-ranging interview that cuts under the surface of a queer music career, the songs that make crowds cheer, the parts of gay life only other gay men sing about, and why a single track like Bears can mean more than a chorus. Tom’s been turning honest storytelling into sing-along anthems for years; he’s toured, headlined pride stages, and built a quiet, fierce audience by telling simple truths. This episode moves between performance and conversation: acoustic confessions, band arrangements, and a talk about community; from the bear subculture to how queer musicians carve space on and off stage. If you want notes on how to find queer music near me, Tom Goss live set, or what it’s like to be a gay musician touring, listen for the full performance and the moments where Tom explains why visibility and joy matter. We also dig into practical bits for listeners: where to catch Tom on tour, what tracks to start with if you’re new to his music, and why live queer music scenes still feel like the best kind of resistance. If you searched gay singer songwriter, Tom Goss full set, queer artists live performance, or LGBTQ music podcast, this is the episode that answers those searches with songs and stories from within both the Rugby and Bear communities.

Lelo Adult Toys - Black Friday Sale | Save an additional 20% off already amazing deals by using code GRP20 at checkouthttps://www.lelo.com/Kevyn Fong doesn’t do small talk. The LA comedian came by the Gay Rugby Podcast and immediately started asking the questions everyone avoids — what actually happens when you join a gay rugby team, and what’s it like living inside that community once you’re in it?This episode sits somewhere between a locker room and a group therapy session. We talk about identity, masculinity, hookup culture, and how an inclusive rugby club becomes more than just a place to play. It’s a raw look at what it means to show up queer in a sport that still wears toughness like armor.Kevyn pushes us into uncomfortable territory — the gay rugby confessions we don’t always say out loud: dating within the team, the tension between competition and community, and the weird beauty of finding family on the field. If you’ve ever searched how to join gay rugby, LGBTQ rugby podcast, queer rugby stories, or just gay sports community LA, you’ll get why this conversation hits different.We also talk about the scene in Los Angeles gay rugby, from local clubs like Rebellion Rugby to the underground crossover between comedy and rugby LA. It’s funny, honest, and a little unhinged; the way good conversations should be.Subscribe to the Gay Rugby Podcast for more stories from inside the queer rugby community. Try Popstar today and use the code RUGBY for 20% off your first orderhttps://www.popstarlabs.com/rugby

On this week’s Halloween-themed episode of The Gay Rugby Podcast, we’re diving into the ridiculous, creative, and occasionally questionable world of rugby sevens fan costumes. From diehards who commit fully to a theme to those who look like they got dressed in the dark before kickoff, we’re ranking them all; not out of judgment, but appreciation for the spectacle that happens when sport collides with personality.This episode isn’t about who wore it best; it’s about how expression shows up in the stands. Rugby has always been about grit and teamwork, but there’s something special about seeing fans bring humor, camp, and individuality to the sidelines. Whether it’s a full-blown character transformation or a last-minute prop situation, each look tells a story about confidence, identity, and the culture that’s grown within inclusive rugby.We break down how costume can turn a tournament into a performance, how fans use it to subvert expectations, and how the queer rugby community finds joy and freedom in moments that might seem ridiculous to outsiders. This is the kind of episode that reminds you why sport can be more than a game; it’s a stage, a celebration, and sometimes, a drag show with a whistle.Subscribe to The Gay Rugby Podcast for new episodes every week!

Downtown Los Angeles was pulsing with color when we set up our mics at DTLA Proud Festival. The air was thick with basslines, drag queens strutted past the fountains at Pershing Square, and somewhere between the main stage and a churro stand, we spoke with actor and activist Milton Darnell Smith, a man who carries pride in his bones. This is Episode 24 of The Gay Rugby Podcast, and it’s all about diversity, visibility, and what it means to belong.Milton’s energy is magnetic. He talks about his roots in the church, the grind of becoming an actor in Hollywood, and the urgency of creating space for queer joy, not just on stage, but in everyday life. Sitting with him, it felt like we were talking to someone who’s lived a dozen lives and somehow managed to stay open-hearted through them all. He embodies what inclusive sports and queer culture both aim for: a world where authenticity doesn’t have to be negotiated.DTLA Proud, now a staple of Los Angeles Pride season, has become more than just a festival, it’s a mirror for what queer LA looks like right now. There’s sweat, laughter, flirtation, activism, and art happening all at once. It’s a love letter to the city’s LGBTQ+ heartbeat, where the rugby field and the dance floor somehow share the same rhythm. Standing there with Milton, surrounded by thousands of people celebrating who they are, we couldn’t help but feel like this is exactly what we’ve been talking about all season: inclusion that moves from words to action.We talk about inclusive sports culture, the gay rugby community, LGBTQ pride in Los Angeles, and how events like DTLA Proud push conversations forward. Milton opens up about his creative journey, his advocacy work, and the ways he’s seen representation shift in Hollywood. It’s an interview that feels both intimate and electric; part festival recap, part cultural checkpoint, part love letter to the people who show up as themselves, no matter the space.DTLA Proud isn’t just another Pride festival; it’s a reminder that inclusion isn’t something we talk about once a year; it’s something we live. From the rugby pitch to downtown LA’s streets, from athlete activism to queer storytelling, this episode is a snapshot of a movement in motion.

Rugby has its own language. Every scrum, ruck, and knock-on carries meaning, rhythm, and history. In this episode of The Gay Rugby Podcast, hosts Jack Higgins and Ozzie Luna from Los Angeles Rebellion Rugby unpack the slang that runs through the sport — and what it says about identity, culture, and belonging.It’s part translation guide, part cultural study. The guys break down how rugby’s coded vocabulary connects players across continents while still leaving outsiders guessing. They look at how queer players make that language their own, and how inclusive rugby communities flip tradition into something more open, and a little more honest.The Gay Rugby Podcast is born from the scrums and sidelines of the Los Angeles Rebellion, an LGBTQ+ team that’s rewriting what toughness and teamwork look like. Each week, Jack and Ozzie talk rugby, queerness, and everything that happens in between; no filters, no PR polish.Stream the full episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen. Subscribe if you’re into rugby, language, or just good conversation that doesn’t pull its punches.

His decision didn’t just ripple, it detonated. In Episode 22 of The Gay Rugby Podcast, we sit down with R.K. Russell, the NFL player who, in a moment of courage and clarity, became one of the first active players to publicly identify as bisexual. What follows is equal parts locker-room confession, cultural reckoning, and hard-won tenderness: a story about leaving silence behind, about masculinity and vulnerability on the field, and about what it means to be bisexual in the NFL while still loving the game.R.K. brings the kind of candor that rewrites the playbook. He talks about the pressure cooker of professional sport, the complicated dance between team loyalty and personal truth, and why he believes representation matters for LGBTQ athletes who are still figuring out how to balance identity with ambition. This is essential listening for anyone searching “bisexual NFL player interview,” “coming out in pro sports,” or “what it’s like being queer in the NFL.”There’s a symmetry here we can’t ignore: rugby and football are cousins - collision sports that prize toughness, camaraderie, and ritual. On our show (born from the Los Angeles Rebellion Rugby community) we explore that overlap: how locker room culture shapes men, how inclusive sports can heal, and why queer players in both codes wrestle with similar stakes. If you care about inclusive rugby stories, bisexual athlete stories, or the future of LGBTQ representation in pro sports, turn this up.R.K. Russell tells his full story in his powerful memoir The Yards Between Us: A Memoir of Life, Love, and Football. It’s more than a sports book — it’s about identity, family, love, and what it costs to live authentically on the biggest stage in American sports. If you want to go deeper into his journey as the first openly bisexual NFL player, you can pick up The Yards Between Us wherever books are sold, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and independent bookstores.In this conversation you’ll hear R.K. Russell on mental health, activism, and the moment he decided to be public, plus practical messages for young athletes: how to come out as an athlete, how to navigate team dynamics, and how to find allies in sport. Subscribe to The Gay Rugby Podcast for more interviews that sit at the intersection of sport, identity, and community.

Episode 21 of The Gay Rugby Podcast - “When Did Pool Parties Become Boring? | Andrés Rigal & Summertramp” - finds us sitting down with longtime nightlife & event-producer Andrés Rigal, founder of SummerTramp and a co-organizer of DTLA Proud, to talk about the arc of queer pool parties in Los Angeles. Rigal reflects on the early days of SummerTramp, the gaps he saw in Los Angeles’s summer event landscape, and how those ideas shaped what SummerTramp was trying to build. We explore what has changed, crowd expectations, venue availability, creative ambition, and whether pool parties have lost their luster. We also dig into how SummerTramp has responded: its vibe, its message, and how authenticity and community stay central even as the scene evolves.You’ll hear about the history of SummerTramp parties: how in 2010 Andrés Rigal noticed that pool events in DTLA weren’t delivering the joy or inclusivity he wanted, and how that prompted him to create something different. The landscape of queer nights, poolside spectacles, and summer culture has shifted since then, and this episode asks: do we need to do more than resurrect nostalgia—do we need to reshape what a queer summer party can be in 2025?

Episode 20 of The Gay Rugby Podcast drops us right into the middle of DTLA Proud Festival 2025, recorded on August 24 at Placita Olvera in downtown Los Angeles. The episode features Richard Suarez-Tascon of Rebellion Rugby, where he helps lead alumni and RugBAE engagement, and the conversation zeroes in on the rivalry and shared DNA between rugby culture in New York City and Los Angeles.With the festival celebrating its tenth year of LGBTQ+ community and pride in Los Angeles, the setting underscores the larger conversation: why inclusive rugby matters, how grassroots clubs in LA have taken shape, and what lessons can be learned from New York’s long-standing tradition of gay rugby. Richard speaks from his perspective with Rebellion Rugby about the challenges of building visibility in sports and the opportunities for connection across cities and communities.The episode captures the energy of two different rugby worlds colliding, one built in the intensity of New York, the other shaped by the laid-back sprawl of Los Angeles, while tying it back to the bigger picture of representation and belonging in the game.