Most people still meet their partners offline. 66% of people between 25-34 found their partners offline, compared to only 21% of those who met online, according to YouGov research in the UK in 2019. Gays, Lesbians & Bisexuals are more likely to meet their partners online, but it appears to be the minority. This is not unlike our guests today, Monique and Ellie. They met when Ellie was going to the toilet at London pride 🏳️‍🌈 and saw Monique with her friends across the bar. (Tip: they had...

Before meeting Angel, Nicole said her dating life was "non-existent". However, their lives changed completely after meeting each other online. After 3 months of dating, Nicole proposed to Angel. 💍 Fast forward to now, they've been together for 6 years, married for 5. They are also raising 6 children together while working full time in New Jersey 🇺🇸! If you’re having tough luck with dating apps, in this episode, Nicole shares a few tips on how she made dating apps work for her. Nicole's...

Kylie and Sophia’s relationship made it into international newspapers when they were forced out of the Christian sorority in UC Berkeley where they had first met. Before they met, neither had ever envisioned themselves in a same-gender relationship. However, when their friendship deepened into a romantic relationship, they were removed from the organisation. Sophia is the daughter of 🇨🇱Chilean immigrant parents and was raised Roman Catholic in the 🇺🇸US, while Kylie is originally from...

Did you realize that many LGBTQ couples get married without telling their parents? Jason & Rich, a gay couple of 17 years, shares in depth how the relationship with his homophobic parents "dictated" everything in their relationship, how he dealt with it and why he eventually decided to go full "no contact" with his parents. Despite the difficulties, the couple offer hope and optimism on how they nurture the relationship for 17 years. Both identified as introverts with social anxiety,...

🇺🇦 We interviewed a 20-year-old Ukrainian bisexual woman, who's now hiding in a bomb shelter in Kharkiv. She talks about her last date with her girlfriend, her life before the invasion and how the 🏳️‍🌈 queer community in Kharkiv is defending the country. To LGBTQ Ukrainians, the Russian invasion not only means a breach of sovereignty, but also a threat to their freedom of expression and love. It is crucial for us to document the living history of people in this crisis and let the...

Doug & Brian met in 1989 at university when the U.S. society was still very homophobic. When they met, there were no gay role models or representation in the media, and gay people were most commonly associated with the AIDS epidemic. In this episode, they talk about how their deep conviction helped them come to terms with their sexuality, live authentically and achieve the American dream in an environment that wasn’t queer friendly. The gay dads of two daughters also share tips on how...

The 🇦🇺Australian gay couple Ed & Alex met in a very unique way in the changing room of their local swimming pool, with neither of them knowing whether the other was gay. (Disclaimer: it was not a promiscuous encounter). As well as talking about the benefit of pushing your comfort zone to meet dates organically, the couple discuss how they saved money by house sitting in Sydney and manage finances as a couple. Ed, a personal coach focused on helping gay men, also shares his thoughts on...

After their respective divorces, Tessa, Sam and Thierry eventually found themselves the happiest and the most authentic in their current pansexual triad relationship. The triad in Canada 🇨🇦, who have a 36-year age gap, openly discuss how their friendship gradually turned into a romantic polyamorous relationship, what's necessary to make a triad work, how to manage jealousy (if at all) and keep a healthy distance from family and people who may not be supportive of their...

Jon & Patrick are husbands based in a 🇮🇪 small town in Donegal, Ireland and fathers to their 6-month-old daughter Wren. After many bad experiences with dating apps, they eventually met each other on Grindr. In this episode, they share the special tricks they used to go from chatting on the popular app to becoming one of the first gay male couples to have a child through surrogacy in Ireland. From couple expectations, egg donation drama, legal difficulties, surrogacy costs to walking in...

Emily and her partner L spoke to each other online for 10 years before they ever met. Now after dating for 7 years, they bought a property together using a special legal arrangement, as Singapore does not allow same-sex marriage. As well as dealing with their own relationship problems, such as having different religious beliefs, they have had to deal with their conservative families - at one time, L's mother even referred to Emily as "that ugly person" and asked her daughter to stop hanging...

Stefan and David met during their ☀️summer jobs in Greece when they were 19 & 21 respectively. The now married couple has since moved to the Czech Republic, Ireland and now Singapore. Their enviable relationship hasn't always been easy – with long distance, language barriers, youth, and different personalities sometimes getting in the way – learn how the couple make it work in this episode of Rainbow Pajamas. (Bonus: they mention how couple therapy helps them through their challenges.)

Listen to this episode to learn why we're launching 🏳️‍🌈 Rainbow Pajamas and what you can expect in the future episodes. Rainbow Pajamas is a podcast sharing stories from around the world of long-term LGBTQ+ relationships from 5 years to more than 50 years. You’ll hear personal details from our guests about how they met, what they fight about, their sex lives, to practical matters such as having kids, financial planning and retirement, and we’ll also discuss controversial topics like...