Episode Details

Greg Palmer, known in the community as BabyArm, joins Zach to talk about Gathry, the app he built to help LGBTQ+ people find real events happening around them instead of just defaulting to the same bars every weekend. Greg walks through the origin story, from a themed drag night in London to a game night poster outside his New York apartment, and how those moments revealed corners of queer community he'd never encountered before.

The conversation covers Gathry's rapid growth to 26 cities across North America, with distinct plans to expand into London next. Greg and Zach discuss how LGBTQ+ culture shifts dramatically from city to city; Atlanta's strong drag king scene, Montreal's bar culture without a real events calendar, and Berlin's uniquely open, diverse nightlife. They also talk candidly about the app's approach to listing the full range of community spaces, including bathhouses amid renewed conversation about legalizing them in New York City, and why Greg wanted Gathry to reflect the totality of LGBTQ+ life rather than function as another dating or hookup app.

Zach and Greg touch on the app's community feature for meeting other members, Greg's plans to add in-app messaging, and a shared frustration with AI-generated profiles cluttering dating apps. They also shine a spotlight on the QT Library, a queer and trans community library opening in Boston, and talk about what it means to build spaces, digital and physical, where every part of the community can find their people.

Download Gathry at gathryapp.com.

Download the app on Apple:

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/gathry-lgbtq-events-groups/id6749548071

Podcast song by SIXFOOT 5: https://www.sixfoot5prod.com

Apple: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/sixfoot-5/1551774977

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5rHMzoU0G0fLhaBsrQiOOY?si=laSZ5hiKTYubJJyhrzf2JQ

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