EPISODE · Aug 20, 2026 · 46 MIN
Ep. 293: Building Gathry: The App Connecting LGBTQ+ Communities Worldwide with Greg Palmer
from Everything & Anything...and a bit gay Podcast · host Zach Randes-Friedman
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 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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In this episode of Everything & Anything...and a Bit Gay, Zach welcomes his longtime friend Greg Palmer to talk about Gathry, an app designed to help LGBTQ+ people discover events, venues, and community spaces wherever they are. Greg shares how his own travels, spotting a themed drag night in London and a game night flyer in New York, inspired him to build a tool that surfaces the parts of queer culture that don't always show up on a bar's front door. The two dig into how differently LGBTQ+ nightlife and community life show up across cities, comparing Boston, Atlanta, Montreal, Berlin, and Puerto Vallarta, and discuss Gathry's approach to including everything from drag brunches to community centers to bathhouses, aiming to represent the full range of the community rather than narrowing it down. Greg also opens up about the challenges of scaling a global product as a solo founder with a day job in software, and his hope that Gathry helps people feel like they belong no matter where in the world they land. The episode closes with a shared plug for the QT Library, a new queer and trans community library in Boston, and a call for listeners to download Gathry (gathryapp.com), get off their phones, and get back to meeting people in real life. Download the app on Apple: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/gathry-lgbtq-events-groups/id6749548071
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Ep. 293: Building Gathry: The App Connecting LGBTQ+ Communities Worldwide with Greg Palmer
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