> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.gtv.blue/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Naked Men Talking: Justin Elizabeth Sayre - URL: https://www.gtv.blue/fringe-preview-justin-elizabeth-sayre-is-a-40-year-old-woman/ - Published: 2026-07-16T23:04:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-07-17T05:49:36.000Z - Description: We talk ageing, empowerment, and the allure of a caftan. - Author: Gareth Johnson - Tags: Naked Men Talking Justin Elizabeth Sayre is taking their solo show, [Justin Elizabeth Sayre Is a 40-Year-Old Woman](https://www.underbellyedinburgh.co.uk/events/event/justin-elizabeth-sayre-is-a-40-year-old-woman?ref=gtv.blue) to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. For our podcast, Naked Men Talking, I caught up with Justin Elizabeth for a behind-the-scenes look at the show. In the conversation, we talk ageing, empowerment, and the allure of a caftan. [Listen to the episode](https://open.spotify.com/episode/0jHCIAFLkpNxnSjA3pqaK5?si=VkiE1Y2BRKyqZMyOfMYIWg&ref=gtv.blue) **On today's episode, we're joined by Justin Elizabeth Sayre, who is taking their solo show to the Edinburgh Fringe. It's called Justin Elizabeth Sayre is a 40-year-old woman. Justin Elizabeth, welcome!** Hello, so nice to be here - and clothed! I was terribly nervous! **Naked was an option, but it's not essential. It's not compulsory.** I once went to an underwear party and called ahead and asked if I could wear a caftan, and they allowed me in. **I've got so many questions about that, but that's probably not the point of this podcast. Let's start with the show. Why was the age of forty a milestone that you were focused on?** Growing up when I did - I was a child during the AIDS crisis - it just seemed kind of ominous. I moved to New York in 1999 - there was a sparsity of 40-year-old people. I think there's always been an enormous amount of ageism within gay circles, but I think it was compounded by the fact that we had lost so many people and that death had become such a part of our identity. Upon reaching forty myself, I was really like - what the hell do you do now? **Roll that forward into the development of this show - you talk about a forty-year-old woman as being not a demographic but more of a state-of-mind. How would you describe the state-of-mind of a forty-year-old woman?** For me, it's really about self possession. That you can walk into any room and you're always yourself. I feel that people should feel empowered to be who they are - especially as a gay person. **You talk about the state of mind of a forty-year-old woman as being self-assured and confident and knowing who they are - is that not accessible to us when we're younger? Why do we have to wait until we're forty?** I don't think you do have to wait until you're forty. You just really have to decide for yourself what are the important things for you? What are the non-negotiables? You can be expansive and know who you are. You can be curious about the world and know who you are, but it comes from a sense of - I am sure of this. This is my experience, and I bring that to whatever the next chapter may be. Being a 40-year-old woman doesn't mean that I'm stuck in this thing and I'm always going to have the same response. It means that at the end of the day, I always know who I am. **It sounds simple when you say - you just need to know who you are - that's a bit of a journey in itself? You have to make quite a lot of mistakes along the way?** Absolutely. It's all experimentation. We've all done stupid things. But it's a willingness to try something and see if you like it. **You debuted this show in New York a couple of years ago - how has it evolved since then?** I had just turned 40 then. I've rewritten the vast majority of it. The thing that feels new about it is that I've started to really contextualise a few key things. I got married last year and suddenly, all the straight people around me were like: "Now we've figured you out - now you're okay." I really disliked it because I felt like, now I'm the member of this club that I never wanted to be part of. My wife is a trans person - we're so queer all the time. I didn't want that respectability. Some of that kind of bled into 40-year-old Woman because part of the 40-year-old woman that I'm concentrating on is that I'm so thankful I'm here. I'm so thankful that I get to have this experience. That doesn't mean that I'm over it or past it. I'm just stepping into my fullness. I feel fully myself for the first time. **Do you think that things have changed at all in terms of our perspective on aging?** Without a doubt. You can't take AIDS out of that conversation - we're not faced with that kind of onslaught of death. The great opportunity that gay people have always had and continue to have is that we transform our experiences and we can invent new ways of being. **What do you hope that people feel when they come to see your show in Edinburgh?** I hope they have a really good time. Wherever they are and whatever stage they're at - whether they're past 40 or well before it - I hope that they feel empowered to step into the fullness of who they are. The world is crazy right now but the best that you can do is show up in the fullness of who you are and participate and invite other people to do the same. [*Justin Elizabeth Sayre Is a 40-Year-Old Woman will run at Underbelly from 5-30 August*](https://www.underbellyedinburgh.co.uk/events/event/justin-elizabeth-sayre-is-a-40-year-old-woman?ref=gtv.blue) ## Sign up for full access to G-TV Immerse yourself in the world of gay men. Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. Free to join. Unsubscribe anytime. [People need to know.Strip off and immerse yourself in the world of Naked Men Talking.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e8/3f/e83f7e76-af4a-4e9f-a171-931e3df7b588/content/images/icon/favicon-a1395990-2671-4ed4-9bdf-ddfd68659c0a.ico)Naked Men TalkingGareth Johnson![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e8/3f/e83f7e76-af4a-4e9f-a171-931e3df7b588/content/images/thumbnail/AdobeStock_121044688-1-269e05e2-618b-4db0-8449-4d2d1d30073a.jpeg)](https://www.gtv.blue/people-need-to-know-7/)