People We Love: Kathy Tu & Tobin Low Push Podcast Boundaries with “Nancy”

They took risks, defied expectations, spoke out, redefined cool and made us proud to call them members and allies of our community.

Kathy Tu & Tobin Low

In April of this year, our community got a gift: “Nancy,” an amazing podcast from WNYC Studios with two hosts who talk to each other and their listeners like you’d talk to a best friend over the phone. At the same time, they are creating a continuing wide-ranging conversation about sexual orientation and gender expression in a world where we still need safe spaces to talk about who we are, even as who we are is an increasingly fluid thing. They’re not afraid to take on their fears: Tu nervously headed off to Queer Camp (and ended up having a transformative experience); Low discussed his own body image issues with someone he long thought of as having a perfect body. They take on pop culture, from Dumbledore’s sexuality in the Harry Potter series to the relevance of The L Word for modern lesbian audiences. They explore what it means to exist somewhere in the middle of the gender spectrum, what it feels like to be out at work, and what voices in the community are being underrepresented. And they do it all with amazing grace and good humor — even as they navigate subject matter where the rules about how to respectfully address and refer to people seem to be in constant flux. If Kathy Tu and Tobin Low represent where LGBTQ media is headed, then we have plenty to look forward to.

Check out our last honoree, Matt Tumminello

Want more inspiration? Check out our People We Love section to learn about past year’s People We Love. Also from our archives, read Looking Back on the Heroes of Marriage Equality.