Russell T Davies's drama Tip Toe imagined a Britain where prejudice curdles into violence between neighbours. Comedians Mark T Cox and Denis Len, of Your Internet Boyfriends, couldn't stop thinking about it, and built a new mini-series around one question: could this actually happen?

Leslie Clarke sits down with Mark and Denis to talk about breaking format for something serious, the political mood for LGBTQ+ people in the UK right now, Reform-run councils quietly pulling Pride displays, the friends who think Pride isn't needed any more, and the uneasy splits opening up within their own community. Funny, candid, and more urgent than either of them expected it to be.

About the pod

Political by Design is a Scene Magazine production that looks at politics through an LGBTQ+ lens. Hosted by Leslie Clarke, publisher of Scene.

Follow Political by Design

Instagram: @politicalbydesign.pod

TikTok: @politicalbydesign

Follow Scene Magazine

Instagram: @scenemagazineuk

Facebook: @GScene.Brighton

YouTube: @scenemagazineuk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this second conversation with Siân Berry, Green Party MP for Brighton Pavilion, Leslie Clarke turns to the issues that matter most to Scene Magazine's readership: the state of LGBTQ+ rights in the UK in 2026, and what to do about the decline.

They cover the Supreme Court ruling and its real-world impact on trans people's daily lives, the EHRC interim guidance and why Berry believes it should be withdrawn, the organised international campaign she argues is driving the rollback of rights across the world, hate crimes up more than 100 per cent in five years, and what a Green government would actually do differently.

Recorded ahead of Pride Month 2026. Part of Scene Magazine's Pride Edition.

About the pod

Political by Design is a Scene Magazine production that looks at politics through an LGBTQ+ lens. Hosted by Leslie Clarke, publisher of Scene.

Follow Political by Design

Instagram: @politicalbydesign.pod

TikTok: @politicalbydesign

Follow Scene Magazine

Instagram: @scenemagazineuk

Facebook: @GScene.Brighton

YouTube: @scenemagazineuk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dian Cathal is an award-winning trans comedian, writer, and performer who has spent the last decade doing what most people wouldn't dare: turning the politics of his own existence into a night out. Born in New York, living in London by medical necessity rather than choice (corn syrup, of all things, is the villain), he has built a body of work that uses sharp, personal comedy to pull apart identity, migration, and what it actually means to belong somewhere.

His current touring show Trans*Atlantic asks one beautifully blunt question: if you are a trans man and a US expat living in Britain right now, which identity makes you the bigger villain? The show has already picked up a five-star review from Reviews Hub, which recommended it be watched by Starmer's cabinet, JK Rowling, and assorted Guardian columnists.

In this episode of Political by Design, Dian joins Leslie Clarke for an hour of comedy, politics, and some genuinely unexpected tangents, including what the Irish changeling myth has to do with transphobic parenting, why Northern Ireland is functionally a trans country, Labour's revealing response to being asked whether they hate Americans, and what Dian was thinking when he heard Luigi Mangione had been shot.

They also get into the Supreme Court ruling on gender recognition, the difference between free speech and freedom of expression, why art can change government policy when it is good enough to be undeniable, and what Dian makes of queer people who stand against the trans community.

It is one of those conversations that keeps turning corners.

What's in this episode

• Why Dian had to leave the US and what corn syrup has to do with it

• Trans*Atlantic: the show, the question, and the five-star coalition of intended viewers

• Deadnamed, Irish mythology, and why nobody is actually dead

• The attention economy, hate comments, and getting paid either way

• TERF Island as seen from the outside, and why Britain's trans debate looks different to the US

• The Supreme Court ruling: sitting in a theatre doing final edits when it landed

• Free speech versus freedom of expression, and why Brits have confused the two

• Why Is That So Funny? by John Wright, the book Dian recommends on how and why comedy works

• Art as a force for political change, from 1980s East Germany to queer comedy nights

• Labour's accidental admission, and what Dian's planning to do with it

• Time Bomb: his next show, about cancer, family history, and healthcare

Trans*Atlantic tour dates

• Brighton: 2 May, Komedia Studio (Brighton Fringe)

• London: 18 May, Queer Comedy Club

• Cambridge: 29 May, Blue Moon

• Dublin: 4 to 9 May, Wild Stages Festival (Deadnamed)

Find Dian Cathal

• diancathal.com

• Instagram: @diancathal

About the pod

Political by Design is a Scene Magazine production that looks at politics through an LGBTQ+ lens. Hosted by Leslie Clarke, publisher of Scene.

Follow Political by Design

Instagram: @politicalbydesign.pod

TikTok: @politicalbydesign

Follow Scene Magazine

Instagram: @scenemagazineuk

Facebook: @GScene.Brighton

YouTube: @scenemagazineuk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.