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.

Episode 19 of The Gay Rugby Podcast features Lauren Doyle, a former USA Women’s Rugby Sevens star and three-time Olympian who represented Team USA in Rio, Tokyo, and Paris. Doyle opens up about what happens when the Olympic dream ends, the adrenaline fades, the medals go into storage, and suddenly you’re left facing the world outside of sport. She speaks openly about the post-Olympic blues, the mental health struggles athletes face after retirement, and the disorienting shift of entering the workforce with no experience beyond the game.But this is also the story of Doyle’s life beyond rugby. She reflects on coming out as a lesbian athlete, how she told her family, and what it meant to compete as a gay woman in rugby at the highest level. Doyle shares her connection with teammate Ilona Maher, the power of LGBTQ+ visibility in sport, and the way identity off the field can be just as defining as performance on it.This conversation isn’t just about rugby, it’s about resilience, identity, and the cost of chasing greatness. If you’ve ever wondered what life after the Olympics really looks like, or how athletes navigate the intersection of mental health, sexuality, and elite sport, Lauren Doyle offers a rare, unfiltered look.

Pride as a Form of Protest” isn’t just a rallying cry - it’s the reason DTLA Proud exists. Formed as a more diverse, grassroots response to the mainstream West Hollywood Pride, the festival brings queer culture back to the center of Los Angeles with intention and bite.In this episode of The Gay Rugby Podcast, filmed live at DTLA Proud festival 2025, we talk with Eric Solis and his husband Dennis Caasi about why Pride still matters as activism. Eric - a longtime organizer and creative producer - traces the roots of LGBTQ activism in Los Angeles, while Dennis dives into the behind-the-scenes work of building an event that’s equal parts joy and queer protest tactics.From the history of Pride protests to the tension between Pride visibility and gentrification, this conversation shows how DTLA Proud has become more than just another festival | it’s a stage for culture, politics, and radical visibility. Recorded near Olvera Street, the birthplace of the city, the episode connects past and present: Stonewall to Silver Lake, marches to music, rugby to resistance.

In Episode 17 of The Gay Rugby Podcast, we pull charts, pull no punches, and let LA stand-up Kevin Sullivan read the scrum like it’s written in the stars. From Aries flankers who live for collision to dreamy Pisces fullbacks who can’t stop chasing the offload, we map out rugby zodiac signs with a wink, a whistle, and a little queer magic. Kevin (an openly gay comic you’ve seen around the Hollywood Improv and on the Two Broke Gays pod) drops into our locker room to talk astrology, identity, and why inclusive rugby keeps rewriting the playbook. If you’re here for LGBTQ sports stories, queer athletes, and the wild overlap between astrology and rugby culture, this one’s your new north star.

We talk inclusive rugby, how clubs like LA Rebellion turn game day into community, and why astrology somehow explains everything from World Rugby news to the weirdly accurate rugby memes clogging your feed. Along the way, Sullivan drops stories that make the huddle feel more like a late-night set at the Hollywood Improv.

If you’re here for LGBTQ sports, queer athletes, and the overlap between comedy, rugby, and astrology-you’ve found the right podcast. Episode 17 isn’t just a conversation, it’s a reminder that the game’s always been bigger than the scoreboard.

From dating app dopamine to locker room breakdowns, the messy overlap of rugby and mental health. Episode 16 of The Gay Rugby Podcast is less polished highlight reel and more raw post-match debrief. We dig into using dating apps for validation and rugby and mental health, pulling no punches on how those late-night swipes blur into dating app addiction, how the highs of a “like” hit feel like a dopamine loop, and why those same patterns leave players limping emotionally by Monday practice.We ask the uncomfortable question: is this toxic behavior? The answer takes us back to the childhood, where trauma first wired us to chase approval and into the present, where we mask it with locker room jokes and humor as a coping mechanism.The conversation sprawls out like an open pitch: seeking validation online, online dating burnout, the weight of hookup culture burnout, and how gay men’s mental health too often gets hidden behind “I’m fine, mate.” We talk queer masculinity, body image in the gay community, and the uneasy marriage between sports culture and toxic masculinity. Rugby is supposed to be an escape, but the algorithm follows you onto the field, whispering about abs, likes, and worth.But this isn’t just a therapy session in boots. It’s strategy talk: carving out space for LGBTQ athletes’ mental health, building mental fitness for rugby players, and exploring what it looks like to attempt a dating app dopamine detox or rewire toxic dating patterns. We’re finding scrums of support in the queer rugby community-proof that identity runs deeper than algorithms, and recovery can be a team sport.

An Olympic rugby prop eats like it’s a full-time job. For Episode 15, Elliot Norris joins us on The Gay Rugby Podcast to find out what it really takes to get through a day on that kind of fuel.We hand him the daily meal plan built for an elite front-rower: thousands of calories spread across precision-timed meals, heavy carb loads before training, protein spikes after, and recovery shakes that taste like ambition mixed with chalk dust. It’s a diet designed to keep a body anchored at the heart of an Olympic scrum.Elliot approaches it with equal parts curiosity and skepticism. He’s no stranger to eating on camera, his own audience knows him for high-energy food content and an unfiltered personality, but this is another level. We set the table, roll the mics, and watch as the lines blur between mukbang spectacle and candid conversation.In between bites, Elliot talks about his life as a content creator with a massive online following: the balancing act between being “on” for the camera and staying grounded, the grind of turning creativity into a career, and the surprising ways food bridges the gap between his world and ours. There are moments of laughter, deadpan honesty, and a few long silences when the sheer volume of food demands all his focus.The Gay Rugby Podcast has always been about more than the sport-it’s about the people who make it what it is, and the stories that unfold where sport collides with real life. This time, the backdrop just happens to be a mountain of food and a guest willing to take on a completely different kind of challenge.If you’ve ever wondered what an Olympic rugby prop eats in a day, or wanted a front-row seat to the intersection of elite athletic routines and internet-era storytelling, this episode serves it up-messy, human, and honest.

The Gay Rugby Podcast dives headfirst into the chaos surrounding the Run It Straight Challenge reaction, peeling back the layers of a viral trend that’s become as controversial as it is captivating. Episode 14 doesn’t hold back-we talk about the brutal clips flooding feeds, the adrenaline‑hungry crowds, and the moment it all turned dark in New Zealand after a young man’s death.The conversation moves from laughter to unease as we ask the question no one in rugby wants to touch: has New Zealand, the sport’s spiritual home, turned rugby into a sideshow? Watching those run it straight rugby reaction videos feels like scrolling through modern gladiator games-raw hits, bone‑jarring collisions, fans egging it on like it’s entertainment. And then there’s the fallout: the run it straight challenge controversy, the whispers of blame, and the headlines that made the world wonder what went too far.We talk about the ugly beauty of the game, the way Kiwi rugby culture has always flirted with danger, and how this viral craze-these run it straight challenge highlights-pushes the boundary between passion and recklessness. We break down footage, swap stories from the LGBTQ+ rugby scene, and wrestle with the uncomfortable reality of watching young players throw themselves into each other with no padding, no plan, and too often, no way back.It’s messy. It’s emotional. It’s the kind of rugby reaction video that won’t leave you with easy answers-and maybe that’s the point.

Jack Higgins and Ozzie Luna just got back from Boston with bruises, stories, and a hangover or two, and they’re spilling it all on Episode 13 of the Gay Rugby Podcast. The NORAM Cup isn’t just another weekend of rugby - it’s the beating heart of the gay and inclusive rugby community, a mash‑up of bone‑crunching tackles, sideline laughter, and late‑night socials that feel more like a family reunion than a sporting event.In this episode, they unpack exactly what happens at a rugby tournament when you throw together teams from across North America under the banner of International Gay Rugby. From pool play battles and knockout rounds to the electric buzz of the all‑trans match - only the third of its kind in history - the weekend pulsed with milestones. The Fog’s A‑side steamrolled through pool play and knock‑out rounds, ultimately defeating the Washington Renegades in the final to become North American champions-an achievement they proudly crowned on their website as “2025 North America (NORAM) Cup Champions”Jack and Ozzie paint the full picture - the pre‑match nerves, the post‑match beers, the camaraderie that lingers long after the final whistle. It’s a ground‑level look at the NORAM Cup that goes beyond scores and stats, showing why gay rugby tournaments have become some of the most welcoming, chaotic, and unforgettable weekends in sports.Whether you’ve laced up for a match yourself or just want to know what really goes down when hundreds of players and fans converge on one city, this episode gives you the inside story of an LGBTQ rugby tournament that proves the game is as much about community as it is about contact.