Xtra Gay Pod: The Ultra Queer Podcast the Pandemic Made
What started as a means to compensate for boredom during the lockdown and for finding inspiration during bleak times has morphed into Xtra Gay Pod, a recently launched podcast available on all major streaming platforms. Starring Ria Demiri, Amber Demiri, Tori Franco, and Xhejlan Demiri, this group of queer friends marries together a fun mixture of life coaching, relationship advice, personal reflection, and advocacy into Xtra Gay Pod.
Part intimate confessional, part laidback game night with friends, Xtra Gay Pod brings together the magic of these four influencers on the rise. Through the power of social media and the internet, these four found their way into one another’s orbit, and when certain planets collide, it just works. The synergy between Ria, Amber, Xhejlan, and Tori is palpable, and one cannot help but be endeared to them.
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During our interview, the foursome graciously shared about their personal and professional backgrounds prior to meeting one another and some of the challenges they’ve faced as queer people.
Tori was on track to go into nursing, while Amber was a makeup consultant. Xhejlan had just emerged from a 15-year marriage prior to recently coming out and divorcing. Ria and Xhejlan, who are sisters, shared extensively about how their own conservative families struggled with acceptance of them both being gay. All have expressed similar exposure to compulsory heterosexuality and how this molded a great deal of their early life experiences.
“I came out first to my parents. They didn’t like it, obviously. My sister has come out too and (they) invalidate her now. They treat us like we’re kids, like we don’t get to make our own choice… It was not easy, but here we are,” says Ria when addressing the challenges she and her sister had when coming out.
When asked about the inspiration behind Xtra Gay Pod, Tori credits Ria and Xhejlan. An afternoon of chatting in Ria’s living room developed into the concept of what the podcast is today. Expressing a sincere desire to not only provide visibility for queer relationships and queer representation in general, the group hopes to impact lives in a meaningful way.
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“I didn’t realize how impactful we are as a group until people started DM’ing me personally. It’s amazing,” says Xhejlan.
Citing an earnest dedication to self-development and personal empowerment, the group shares a common spiritual connection with each other which illuminates the content that they create. When asked to describe the future of the podcast, everyone immediately looks to Amber.
“We’re manifesters. We’re very spiritual, so we trust that what’s meant to be is going to be. So we’re just doing what feels good for us. We are impacting people, and we’re just going to continue to keep doing that. We would love to do panel interviews. Maybe tour a little bit,” Amber says when speaking about the future.
Xtra Gay Pod, “a really gay weekly podcast talking about real stuff” drops new episodes every week, with early access and behind-the-scenes footage available to top-tier Patreon patrons. For more information on Xtra Gay Pod and the fab quartet of humans behind the production, get started here.
Feature image credit Xtra Gay Pod
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