In our second episode with Peter Tatchell, we trace the founding of OutRage!, explore the chilling effect of Section 28 and the culture-war that shaped a generation. Peter breaks down why media moments mattered and shocked the evening news, unpacks the campaigns that equalised the age of consent, and the many years of work that helped to unlock the UK’s immense progress on LGBTQ+ rights from 1999–2013.

Peter explains why legal change is not the finishing line, pushing us into the harder terrain of culture, music, religion and sport.

Peter offers a clear warning about backsliding. Progress can vanish quickly, as Berlin’s queer golden age did in the 1930s, highlighting that the price of freedom is vigilance.

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This is the final episode of series 1 of The View From Here. We’re already working on series 2, which we hope to launch later in 2026.

This episode was hosted by Jonathan Chambers and James Alexander

Editing by Hannah Stewart

Music: Mystify created by AlterEgo

Visit our website, https://tvfh.co.uk

Follow us on Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/theviewfromherepodcast

As LGBTQ+ history month begins, we are thrilled to share the final episodes of our first season.

We sit down with Peter for the first of two episodes. Starting in 1960s Melbourne and the impossible choice between prison and the Vietnam war, which ultimately saw him move to London. On his second day in the UK he discovered the Gay Liberation Front, a movement that aimed to achieve cultural change, challenging the church, media, police and education.

Peter walks us through the first London Pride in 1972 and the challenges faced by the GLF as its flame dimmed. Peter reflects on the personal costs of taking action, including arrests, assaults, PTSD and the fuel that keeps him going: love of people, freedom, equality and justice.

If this story moved you, tap follow, leave a review, and share it with a friend. Your support helps these stories travel further.

This episode was hosted by Jonathan Chambers and James Alexander

Editing by Hannah Stewart

Music: Mystify created by AlterEgo

Visit our website, https://tvfh.co.uk

Follow us on Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/theviewfromherepodcast

We sit with Nettie Pollard as she relives the early 1970s Gay Liberation Front, a movement that built a culture of collective courage, mutual care, and playful defiance. From secret ‘zaps’ at the Festival of Light to linking arms outside the Albert Hall, she reveals how the GLF protected one another, challenged the police, and made joy a tactic.

Nettie takes us inside the Counter‑Psychiatry Group working to overcome the label of homosexuality as an “illness” and shares her experiences volunteering for Icebreakers, one of the first LGBTQ+ helplines.

Nettie’s warning is clear: rights can be rolled back when hearts aren’t won. This conversation shows how culture, community, and care can move faster than laws and last longer than headlines.

Since recording this episode, Nettie Pollard sadly died on Christmas Day, 2025

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This episode was hosted by Jonathan Chambers and James Alexander

Editing by Hannah Stewart

Music: Mystify created by AlterEgo

Visit our website, https://tvfh.co.uk

Follow us on Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/theviewfromherepodcast

When Lord Chris Smith stood in a crowded hall in Rugby and said, “My name is Chris Smith... and I’m gay,” British politics took a giant leap forward. In this episode, we trace the path from coming out to the Blair-era equality reforms that reshaped life for LGBTQ people in the UK.

Chris discusses tabloid hostility, the response of his constituents, and the small moments that mark a cultural shift. He walks us through some of his defining achievements in government: equalising the age of consent, repealing Section 28, ending bans in the armed forces, securing goods and services equality, and the arrival of civil partnerships. He shows how ordinary people coming out moved public opinion faster than politicians or headlines.

Chris also shares how he chose to reveal his HIV status years later, inspired by a speech from Nelson Mandela.

If this podcast was inspiring, follow us on social media, share the episode with a friend, and leave a review.

This episode was hosted by Jonathan Chambers and James Alexander

Editing by Hannah Stewart

Music: Mystify created by AlterEgo

Visit our website, https://tvfh.co.uk

Follow us on Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/theviewfromherepodcast

We sit down with Stuart Feather, Paul Shaw, and Lavinia Co‑op to trace the raw and often outrageous path from the Gay Liberation Front’s early meetings at the LSE to the Bloolips’ radical drag that rattled London, conquered Amsterdam, and charmed New York.

We revisit the infamous Festival of Light action at Methodist Central Hall, featuring slow handclaps, boxed mice under pews, can‑canning “nuns,” a balcony banner crowning “Cliff for Queen”, and a drag confession of being “saved” that froze an entire audience.

This is queer theatre as a weapon - light, frothy, and full of tap‑dancing, but carrying the punch that keeps movements alive.

Subscribe, share with a friend and leave a review telling us the boldest act of creative resistance you’ve ever witnessed.

This episode was hosted by Jonathan Chambers and James Alexander

Editing by Hannah Stewart

Music: Mystify created by AlterEgo

Visit our website, https://tvfh.co.uk

Follow us on Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/theviewfromherepodcast

Following our main interview with Adèle Anderson, recorded before the April 2025 Supreme Court ruling on trans rights in the UK, we sit down with Adèle for a live recording at The View From Here's launch event in London.

Adèle shares her thoughts on the negative progress we're seeing in trans rights in the UK, the impact of culture wars and the chilling effect this is having.

If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing and leaving a review, as well as sharing the word on social media

This episode was hosted by Jonathan Chambers and James Alexander

Editing by Hannah Stewart

Music: Mystify created by AlterEgo

Visit our website, https://tvfh.co.uk

Follow us on Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/theviewfromherepodcast

Adèle Anderson, a key voice of cabaret group, Fascinating Aida, takes us behind the spotlight to Britain in the 1970s, where a radical queen went on to face aversion therapy and a medical playbook that demanded a “ladylike” life before providing basic care.

We explore how a newspaper headline threatened to push Adèle out of Fascinating Aida, GLF fractures, the politics of trans inclusion, and the echoes of the past in today's trans debate. Adele’s story offers both tears and joy.

Note, this episode was recorded before the April 2025 UK Supreme Court ruling on trans rights in the UK. To hear Adèle's reaction to this case, tune in to our special bonus episode to be released on 9 January 2025.

Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs to hear it, and leave a review to help more listeners discover this history.

This episode was hosted by Jonathan Chambers and James Alexander

Editing by Hannah Stewart

Music: Mystify created by AlterEgo

Visit our website, https://tvfh.co.uk

Follow us on Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/theviewfromherepodcast

We sit down with the activist and actor, Jill Nalder, whose real life shaped the TV series It’s a Sin, to uncover how a makeshift home in London became a blueprint for chosen family, mutual aid, and relentless care during the HIV crisis. From youth theatre in Wales to drama school in the city, Jill shows how safe spaces grow courage and how that courage fuelled nights of laughter, emergency phone calls, and the kind of honesty that saves lives.

Jill opens up about the disorienting early days of HIV: rumours framed as “gay flu,” weeks-long waits for test results, and government messaging that stoked fear instead of clarity. She explains the grassroots network that filled the gap—helplines, the gay press, hospital leaflets, and blunt, shame-free sex education. Then the West End stepped in. Drawing inspiration from Broadway Cares, Jill and friends launched West End Cares, transforming late-night cabarets and bucket collections into hardship grants and research support. Actor, curtain calls, and queues at venues raised cash and delivered real change.

Jill’s reflections on “going home,” chosen family, and the ethics of care show what happens when art becomes activism, bringing with it compassion, courage and hope.

Subscribe, share this episode with a friend, and leave a review to help more listeners find these stories.

This episode was hosted by Jonathan Chambers and James Alexander

Editing by Hannah Stewart

Music: Mystify created by AlterEgo

Visit our website, https://tvfh.co.uk

Follow us on Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/theviewfromherepodcast