History is Gay

History is Gay is a podcast that examines the underappreciated and overlooked queer ladies, gents, and gentle-enbies that have always been there in the unexplored corners of history. Because history has never been as straight as you think. Follow us on social media! @historyisgaypod on Twitter and Instagram, historyisgaypodcast on Tumblr, and subscribe to us wherever you listen to podcasts!

47. All Your Children's Books Are Belong To Us (Gays), Part 1 10/01/2024

47. All Your Children's Books Are Belong To Us (Gays), Part 1 This episode marks the return of History is Gay after hiatus, and we're excited to be back in your podfeeds diving into the fascinating world of classic children's literature through the lens of queer authors. Leigh is joined by wonderful guest co-host, Aubree Calvin, to explore the lives and works of several groundbreaking authors, revealing how their sexualities and personal experiences shaped the books we cherished as children. In this first of a multi-part episode, we're focusing on four beloved authors whose works were some of our favorites: Tomie dePaola, most notable for our favorite Italian grandma Strega Nona, Margaret Wise Brown, the bisexual poet behind beloved picture books Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny, Ann M. Martin, who introduced us to our friends in The Babysitters Club, and Arnold Lobel, the man behind the cozy shared lives of Frog and Toad. This conversation doesn't end here; stay tuned as we will continue to explore more queer authors and their impact on the world of children's literature in the next episode, coming soon! Outline 0:00 – Introduction 4:51 – Socio-Historical Context: History of queer children's literature 10:00 – Who Were They? Bio Time for some of your queer kid lit faves 1:00:15 – Why do we think they're gay? 1:15:57 – 1:16:03 – CONTENT WARNING: Mention of suicidal ideation 1:37:01 – Closing and Where to Find us Online Want to help us continue to make the show? and get awesome goodies, behind-the-scenes access, special minisodes, and more! We have a Discord server for everyone to hang out in, exclusive O.G. Lesbian Sappho t-shirts, Pop-Culture Tie-In movie watches, and some really fun extras coming your way! You can also get merch in our ! Shirts, hoodies, totes, mugs, magnets, and other neat things! If you’d like to help us transcribe the show for our d/Deaf and hard of hearing fans, please head on over to to join the team of volunteers! Find our full list of sources and bonus content at . Find us on , , and , and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts! Don't forget to rate and review so more folks can see the show! /episode/index/show/historyisgay/id/33228022

We're Back, Baby! New episode drops tomorrow, October 1! 10/01/2024

We're Back, Baby! New episode drops tomorrow, October 1! Hello, queerlings! Welcome back to History is Gay! First off, I just want to say I’m so sorry for the unexpected hiatus and disappearance! Significant life events in early 2024 threw wrench after wrench into my plans and my ability to focus on the show, and I made the difficult decision in early June to announce an official hiatus to the patreon supporters with plans to return in the fall, but never sent anything out to the wider listenership, so I imagine you all felt left hanging, and I apologize for the radio silence! If you want to read more to get a better sense of the reasons for the hiatus, that Patreon post from June is public and accessible by everyone, . All that being said, we are back! I’m so happy to share with you that we’ll be returning to your podfeeds tomorrow, October 1, with an episode which has been a very long time coming, where guest-host Aubree Calvin and I start a deep dive into all your favorite classic children’s book authors who, turns out, are queer! We had so many folks we wanted to get into that it’s expanded into a 2-3 part episode, so we’ve got more coming your way soon to close out 2024, including Maurice Sendak, James Marshall, Louise Fitzhugh, and more! I also wanted to announce that going into 2025, we’ll be bringing some changes to the format and structure of the show, in an aim to make it more sustainable for us to produce and freshen things up a bit! We haven’t figured out exactly what it will look like yet, but it will likely involve switching to a seasonal format with a set number of episodes followed by a break, and having our usual research deep-dive format be only one type of episode, alternating with things like learning from other queer historians and interviewing queer historymakers. More detail and information is on another publicly available Patreon post, . I hope you’ll follow along with this new phase of History is Gay, and support us in exploring new ways to keep the show going, and let us know what you think! But for now, we’ll see you tomorrow with episode 47! /episode/index/show/historyisgay/id/33274197

0.20. Dialing in to Gender: Tracing Trans Internet History with Avery Dame-Griff 12/04/2023

0.20. Dialing in to Gender: Tracing Trans Internet History with Avery Dame-Griff In this interview episode, Leigh sits down with scholar and creator of the Queer Digital History Project Avery Dame-Griff to discuss his book The Two Revolutions: A History of the Transgender Internet and all it contains about the magic of the evolution of trans folks on the internet. From BBSes (bulletin board system) to Twitter, we discuss how trans people have always existed on and created their own unique spaces on the World Wide Web, tapping into Avery’s extensive research, interviews, and media archaeology. Where to find more from Avery Dame-Griff online: Mastodon: Also, some additional awesome news about internet trans history! As listeners may know, Leigh works at the GLBT Historical Society for their day job. And recently, a volunteer archivist, , discovered an amazing CD-ROM containing the entirety of Transgender Forum, (TGForum.com) from 1995 to 1998, one of the largest trans communities online at that time, that Avery Dame-Griff also covers in his book! Hurtle uploaded the CD-rom online for anyone to peruse and it’s absolutely amazing to see the 90s trans community right there before your very eyes! The discovery has been covered by them online in a fantastic article which you can read here: . And you can peruse the , where Cara uploaded the archive! Just click the “START.HTM” file in the tgfcd window, and browse to your heart’s content! Want Leigh to do an interview with Cara about her discovery? Let us know! Want to help us continue to make the show? and get awesome goodies, behind-the-scenes access, special minisodes, and more! We have a Discord server for everyone to hang out in, exclusive O.G. Lesbian Sappho t-shirts, Pop-Culture Tie-In movie watches, and some really fun extras coming your way! You can also get merch in our ! Shirts, hoodies, totes, mugs, magnets, and other neat things! If you’d like to help us transcribe the show for our d/Deaf and hard of hearing fans, please head on over to to join the team of volunteers! Find our full list of sources and bonus content at . Find us on , , and , and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts! Don't forget to rate and review so more folks can see the show! /episode/index/show/historyisgay/id/28912063

46. A Husband is Unnecessary: Yoshiya Nobuko & Japanese Girls' Culture 11/06/2023

46. A Husband is Unnecessary: Yoshiya Nobuko & Japanese Girls' Culture This episode has EVERYTHING: gay haircuts, yearning, rage against the patriarchy, they were *roommates*....let’s talk about the magical world of Yoshiya Nobuko, girls’ culture, and lesbian fiction in Taishō era Japan! Leigh is joined by guest host Erica Friedman, speaker, editor, researcher and an expert on all things Yuri. Yoshiya Nobuko was an extremely popular writer in 20th century Japan who lived with her beloved female partner for 50 years and her legacy continues today as “the Grandmother of Yuri.”. The tropes and storylines established in her writing can still be seen today in queer girls stories in and outside of Japan– get ready to learn all about modern Japan’s very own Sappho. After all, it’s all in the yearning. Erica Friedman writes about Yuri anime, manga and related media on her blog , and can be found on Twitter as @okazuyuri, Bluesky as Okazu and @[email protected] Erica’s book is the first in-depth study of Yuri in English. Outline 0:00 Introduction 7:29 Socio-Historical Context 24:00 Who Were They? Bio Time 41:36 - 43:42 Content Note: discussion of WWII 48:37 Why Do We Think They’re Gay?: Some More Socio-Historical Context 50:12 - 55:30 Content Note: discussion of pathologizing of homosexuality 55:30 - 58:00 Content Note: discussion of suicides in the news at the time 58:34 Word of The Week: “S Class” 1:06:56 Why Do We Think They’re Gay?: Yoshiya’s Life 1:17:47 Queer Themes in Yoshiya’s Fiction 1:21:30 -1:22:39 Content Note: brief reference to suicide 1:30:07 Pop Culture Tie-Ins 1:36:00 How Gay Were They? 1:37:15 Conclusion and Sign off Want to help us continue to make the show? and get awesome goodies, behind-the-scenes access, special minisodes, and more! We have a Discord server for everyone to hang out in, exclusive O.G. Lesbian Sappho t-shirts, Pop-Culture Tie-In movie watches, and some really fun extras coming your way! You can also get merch in our ! Shirts, hoodies, totes, mugs, magnets, and other neat things! If you’d like to help us transcribe the show for our d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing fans, please head on over to to join the team of volunteers! Find our full list of sources and bonus content at . Find us on , , and , and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts! Don't forget to rate and review so more folks can see the show! /episode/index/show/historyisgay/id/28521563

History is Gay Presents: LGBTQ+ History Trivia Night! 08/28/2023

0.19. Classical Myths, Monsters, and Ancient Gays: A Conversation with Liz Gloyn 08/04/2023

45. There's No Crying in Baseball, But There Are Lesbians! Queer History of the AAGPBL 05/29/2023

45. There's No Crying in Baseball, But There Are Lesbians! Queer History of the AAGPBL An episode Leigh has been dreaming of since the start of the pod is finally here! In this ep, Leigh is joined by guest host Frankie de la Cretaz, sports journalist, queer history buff, and certified Gaylor Swiftie, to discuss the queer history of women’s baseball & softball, in particular the story of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, aka the inspiration behind A League of Their Own! We discuss all the extreme “no-homo”ing that was happening in the League’s rules and regulations, and all the YES HOMO-ing that happened in spite of it, making the sport into an important site of queer community. We also introduce you to the wonderful world of AAGBPL’s rival for women’s baseball at the time, the National Girls’ Baseball League, and the contrasts between the two leagues. Thank you to for editing this episode. Our guest host for this episode, Frankie de la Cretaz, can be found online @thefrankiedlc on and . You can check out their Linktree for links to purchase their book, Hail Mary: The Rise and Fall of the National Women's Football League and see more of their writing. Support filmmaker Adam Chu’s efforts to create Their Turn at Bat: The Story of the National Girls Baseball League, a documentary film about Chicago’s forgotten women’s baseball league at ! Also, don’t forget to check out our discussing A League of their Own, with co-creator Will Graham! Outline 0:00 Introduction 5:26 Socio-Historic Context 12:12 The Leagues: AAGPBL 27:42 Why Do We Think They’re Gay?: Queerness and Women’s Sports 31:48-34:44 Word of the Week: Muscle Moll 34:44 Back to why do we think they’re gay 47:07 The Leagues: NGBL 53:19 Who Were They? Queer ball players of note 1:24:00 -1:24:53 Content Warning: Homophobic violence 1:27:50 Pop Culture Tie In 1:34:15 How Gay Were They? 1:39:50 Closing and Where to Find Us Online Want to help us continue to make the show? and get awesome goodies, behind-the-scenes access, special minisodes, and more! We have a Discord server for everyone to hang out in, exclusive O.G. Lesbian Sappho t-shirts, Pop-Culture Tie-In movie watches, and some really fun extras coming your way! You can also get merch in our ! Shirts, hoodies, totes, mugs, magnets, and other neat things! If you’d like to help us transcribe the show for our d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing fans, please head on over to to join the team of volunteers! Find our full list of sources and bonus content at . Find us on , , and , and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts! Don't forget to rate and review so more folks can see the show! /episode/index/show/historyisgay/id/26976150

0.18. Take Me Out to the Ball Gayme: Will Graham Talks "A League of Their Own" 02/21/2023

0.17. Dip Me in Honey & Throw Me To the Lesbians: Queer Feminist Restaurant History 02/06/2023

0.17. Dip Me in Honey & Throw Me To the Lesbians: Queer Feminist Restaurant History Anyone remember that pin & bumper sticker with the slogan that serves as the title for this episode? Well, I hope you’re hungry, because we’re talking lesbians and food in this interview with Dr. Alex Ketchum, Director of the Just Feminist Tech and Scholarship Lab, lecturer, and author, whose work integrates food, environmental, technological, and gender history. We talk about her latest book, Ingredients for Revolution: A History of American Feminist Restaurants, Cafes, and Coffeehouses, the first history of the more than 230 feminist and lesbian-feminist restaurants, cafes, and coffeehouses that existed in the United States from 1972 to the present. We dive into the ways these institutions provided spaces and community to tackle questions around the intersections between feminism, food justice, queer rights, and other social justice movements while serving as training grounds for women workers and entrepreneurs, as well as what the landscape of queer feminist restaurants looks like today. You can order your copy of Ingredients for Revolution for 20% off (for U.S. readers) through , or through for Canadian readers, and listen to the accompanying podcast, full of interviews with others in the food justice and feminism world, at Where To Find Dr. Alex Ketchum Online: on Twitter on Instagram Want to help us continue to make the show? and get awesome goodies, behind-the-scenes access, special minisodes, and more! We have a Discord server for everyone to hang out in, exclusive O.G. Lesbian Sappho t-shirts, Pop-Culture Tie-In movie watches, and some really fun extras coming your way! You can also get merch in our ! Shirts, hoodies, totes, mugs, magnets, and other neat things! If you’d like to help us transcribe the show for our d/Deaf and hard of hearing fans, please head on over to to join the team of volunteers! Find our full list of sources and bonus content at . Find us on , , and , and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts! Don't forget to rate and review so more folks can see the show! /episode/index/show/historyisgay/id/25831782

44. Can We Just Title An Episode "F*ck Colonialism"?: Reclaiming Two-Spirit Histories 01/23/2023

0.16. Undoing Silence: Hugh Ryan & The Women's House of Detention 01/09/2023

0.15. Malinda Lo and Queer YA Historical Fiction 10/24/2022

0.14. A Pod Meets BROS Love Story: Making Queer (Romcom) History! 10/03/2022

0.13. Before We Were Trans: A Convo with Kit Heyam 09/13/2022

43. Rainbow Rising: Homo-Feels About Homophiles, Part 2 08/16/2022

42. Rainbow Rising: Homo-Feels about Homophiles, Part 1 07/15/2022

0.12. Florine Stettheimer's Gay Salon (An Interview with Barbara Bloemink) 05/16/2022

41. Send in the Clowns: Anita Bryant, the Briggs Initiative, and the Rise of the Anti-Gay Right 04/15/2022

41. Send in the Clowns: Anita Bryant, the Briggs Initiative, and the Rise of the Anti-Gay Right Buckle up, folks – this episode contains your hosts doing a lot of swears and yelling at the general AAAAAAAAAHHHHH of the world right now. For this episode, Leigh is joined once again by guest host Aubree Calvin, for a crossover episode with Southern Queeries talking about the rise of the anti-gay Christian right movement and homophobic legislation that swept the United States in the 1970s with Anita Bryant, Save Our Children, and the Briggs Initiative, whose proponents used “parental rights” language to justify their homophobia, in an eerily similar manner as we are seeing today with anti-LGBTQ and specifically anti-trans legislation and arguments. Listen to this episode to hear the history behind all this, as well as some bits of levity we made sure to put in (listen to Anita Bryant get hit with a pie and learn about the glorious protest tactic of glitterbombing), and hear how the LGBTQ community of yesteryear rose up to fight these counter-movements, and what we can learn from them in today’s fight. Then, when you’re finished with this episode, head on over to for the second part of our conversation, talking in depth about the current rash of anti-LGBTQ legislation in the country, our reactions and feelings, and how it’s the same conversation and language as back in 1977 and 1978. Outline 0:00 – Introduction and Announcements Content Warning: References to historical lies tying queer people to child molestation and child pornography are contained in this episode in the following time-codes: 14:23 - 16:59; 59:33 - 59:48; 1:10:54 - 1:11:06; 1:13:44 - 1:15:32 7:39 – Socio-Historic Context 17:16 – Dade County FL, Anita Bryant & Save Our Children 32:06 – LGBTQ Response 51:03 – Word of the Week 57:35 – Spread Across the Country: John Briggs & CA’s Proposition 6 1:17:12 – Main Takeaways and Conclusions 1:24:46 – Pop-Culture Tie-In 1:28:23 – How (Anti) Gay were They? 1:31:28 – Closing and Where to Find us Online This episode is sponsored by Surfshark VPN, an awesome app and browser extension that not only protects your privacy online, but changes the virtual location of your phone or computer to anywhere in the world, allowing you access to content geoblocked content. Surfshark VPN is offering 83% off and 3 months free for History is Gay listeners. Just head over to or go to and enter code HISTORYISGAY to redeem this amazing deal! Plus, it comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee so you can try it out risk-free. Want to help us continue to make the show? and get awesome goodies, behind-the-scenes access, special minisodes, and more! We have a brand-new Discord server for everyone to hang out in, exclusive O.G. Lesbian Sappho t-shirts, and some really fun extras coming your way! You can also get super cool merch in our brand new TeePublic ! Shirts, hoodies, totes, mugs, magnets, and other neat things! If you’d like to help us transcribe the show for our d/Deaf and hard of hearing fans, please head on over to to join the team of volunteers! Find our full list of sources and bonus content at . Get at us on twitter , tumblr at , and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts! Don't forget to rate and review so more folks can see the show! /episode/index/show/historyisgay/id/22802624

40. Real-Life Xenas: Warrior Women Across the World 02/22/2022

40. Real-Life Xenas: Warrior Women Across the World Happy 2022 and welcome to another episode of History is Gay! This time, we’re picking up where we left off with Meghan Rose and S.C. Lucier in our discussion of Amazons and real-life warrior women in history! It’s not just the Greco-Roman world that marveled at fierce, strong female fighters, but all over the world! This episode, we’re visiting Benin, Africa to learn about the real-life dora milaje of Black Panther fame, the gender-bending Dahomey Amazons; badass female samurai defending their homesteads in Japan, and Viking shieldmaidens and mythical Valkyries– who may have been a third gender? Strap-in for a whirlwind worldwide tour of gender transgression and badass real-life Xenas we want to see all the movies about! You can learn more about our guest hosts Meg and Luce, Xena: Warrior Musical, and more of their forthcoming projects at , on Twitter, and @XenaWarriorMusical on , , and ! Outline0:00 – Introduction4:27 – Announcements7:51 – Follow-Up from Last Episode 12:48 – Main Topic: Warrior Women Across the World 13:33 – Word of the Week 18:54 – Amazon-Like Women in Africa: Dahomey Amazons/mino43:22-44:13 – Content warning: Discussion of slave trade46:22 – Amazon-Like Women in Japan: onna-bugeisha1:06:50 – Amazon-Like Women in Scandinavia: the Vikings!1:30:48 – Pop-Culture Tie-In1:33:43 – How Gay were They?1:39:07 – Closing and Where to Find us Online This episode is sponsored by Surfshark VPN, an awesome app and browser extension that not only protects your privacy online, but changes the virtual location of your phone or computer to anywhere in the world, allowing you access to content geoblocked content. Surfshark VPN is offering 83% off and 3 months free for History is Gay listeners. Just head over to or go to and enter code HISTORYISGAY to redeem this amazing deal! Plus, it comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee so you can try it out risk-free. Want to help us continue to make the show? and get awesome goodies, behind-the-scenes access, special minisodes, and more! We have a brand-new Discord server for everyone to hang out in, exclusive O.G. Lesbian Sappho t-shirts, and some really fun extras coming your way! You can also get super cool merch in our ! Shirts, hoodies, totes, a coloring book, and other neat things. If you’d like to help us transcribe the show for our d/Deaf and hard of hearing fans, please head on over to to join the team of volunteers! Find our full list of sources and bonus content at . Get at us on Twitter and Instagram , Tumblr at , and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts! Don't forget to rate and review so more folks can see the show! /episode/index/show/historyisgay/id/22209467

39. The Amazons: Stoner Horse Girl Warriors of Antiquity 12/31/2021

39. The Amazons: Stoner Horse Girl Warriors of Antiquity Today’s episode brings you not one, but two, wonderful guest hosts – Meghan Rose and S.C. Lucier, (known collectively as Lucier&Rose), the creators of , joining Leigh to talk about everyone’s favorite badass warrior women of antiquity, Amazons! In this first part of a two-part episode examining warrior women throughout history, we’ll dive full-tilt into the myths, legends, and misconceptions about the all-female militant society that struck fear into the hearts of ancient Greek men – powerful women, GASP! Where did these stories come from? How queer were they? And were they real, or just figments of mythology? Listen to this episode to hear us answer all these questions and talk even more, including jokes about penis bones, drinking horse-milk booze, and smoking pot with Herotodus. Plus, Meg and Luce debut the very first song from their forthcoming musical, titled Atalanta: The Long Shot! You can learn more about Meg and Luce, Xena: Warrior Musical, and more of their forthcoming projects at , on Twitter, and @XenaWarriorMusical on , , and ! This episode was edited by Ellie Brigida of podcast and . Outline0:00 – Introduction10:37 – Socio-Historical Context13:33 – The Amazons of Myth and Legend31:10 – A tour through some Amazon queens38:27-39:05 – Content warning: rape mention40:34 – Atalanta, The Greek “Amazon” 59:55 – Real-Life Amazons: Warrior Women of Scythia1:09:28 – Why do we think they're gay? 1:26:16 – Pop-Culture Tie-In1:37:37 – How Gay were They?1:46:09 – Closing and Where to Find us OnlineHelp us close out 2021 and give us your feedback with our History is Gay Listener Survey! We want to hear from YOU and your thoughts about the show! What do you like? What do you dislike? What do you want us to know? Go to y to fill it out. Want to help us continue to make the show? and get awesome goodies, behind-the-scenes access, special minisodes, and more, and get ready for a new Patreon revamp in 2022 with awesome new perks! You can also get super cool merch in our ! Shirts, hoodies, totes, a coloring book, and other neat things. If you’d like to help us transcribe the show for our d/Deaf and hard of hearing fans, please head on over to to join the team of volunteers! Find our full list of sources and bonus content at . Get at us on twitter , tumblr at , and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts! Don't forget to rate and review so more folks can see the show! /episode/index/show/historyisgay/id/21610049

38. Trans-sister Radio: Synth Icon Wendy Carlos 08/28/2021

38. Trans-sister Radio: Synth Icon Wendy Carlos If you’ve ever enjoyed disco, EDM, changed your voice with auto-tune, or danced along to Daft Punk, you’ve got the subject of today’s episode to thank! In this episode of History is Gay, Leigh is joined by guest host Hannah van Rhee (they/them) of the QueerSounds Podcast to talk about Wendy Carlos, electronic music pioneer, synthesizer queen, film soundtrack composer extraordinaire, and trans woman! We’ll get into all the exciting details, like weird stories about Stanley Kubrick during A Clockwork Orange, comedy albums with Weird Al Yankovic, living inside a faraday cage, and more cats than you can shake a dangly, shiny stick at. Our wonderful guest host for this episode, Hannah van Rhee, can be found on twitter at @duchessofdeer, and you can follow their podcast QueerSounds on twitter , Instagram , and at . Outline 00:00 – Introduction 5:01 – Main Topic: Trans-sister Radio: Synth Icon Wendy Carlos 7:09 – Socio-Historical Context 13:06 – A Note on Sources 14:23 – Who were they? Bio Time. 48:09 – Why do we think they're gay? 52:15 - 52:58 — Content warning: Descriptions of dysphoria and internalized transphobia 53:23 - 54:07 — Content warning: Suicidal ideation 1:07:36 – Word of the Week 1:20:46 – Main Takeaways and Final Conclusions: Wendy Carlos’ Legacy 1:28:54 – How Gay were They? 1:31:34 – Closing and Where to Find us Online Want to help us continue to make the show? and get awesome goodies, behind-the-scenes access, special minisodes, and more! You can get super cool merch in our ! Shirts, hoodies, totes, a coloring book, and other neat things. If you’d like to help us transcribe the show for our d/Deaf and hard of hearing fans, please head on over to to join the team of volunteers! Find our full list of sources and bonus content at . Get at us on twitter , tumblr at , and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts! Don't forget to rate and review so more folks can see the show! /episode/index/show/historyisgay/id/20290757

37. The Life of Pauli Murray: My Gender is Imp, Part 2 07/15/2021

37. The Life of Pauli Murray: My Gender is Imp, Part 2 In this episode of History is Gay, Leigh and guest host Aubree Calvin return to the story of Pauli Murray, an important African American lawyer, and activist who is finally getting the historical attention they deserve. In their time, Murray was a labor rights, civil rights, and women’s rights activist, and broke significant barriers all while facing sexism and racism. In addition to having a brilliant legal mind, they were a writer, poet, and priest, and had time to be friends with Eleanor Roosevelt. Pauli Murray should be in every U.S. History book in every K-12 school. So, if Pauli Murray was so important to so many movements, why has history largely forgotten them? Leigh and Aubree try to answer that in this two-episode series. In this second part of our first-ever two-part episode, we look at what made Pauli queer, and try to get a handle, as best we can, on their gender identity. We also get the opportunity to speak with amazing activist, lawyer, and reproductive justice advocate Preston Mitchum, previously Policy Director at URGE (Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity) and current Director of Advocacy and Government Affairs at The Trevor Project, on his own personal history coming to Pauli Murray’s story, how they influenced him as a Black queer man, and continues to inspire and influence current and future generations of queer civil rights attorneys all across the country. Preston can be found online at , on Instagram , and on Twitter . Our wonderful guest host for this episode, Aubree Calvin, can be found at or on her podcast . You can also hear Aubree in previous episodes, ! Outline 0:00 – Introduction 4:49 – Why Do We Think They’re Gay? 7:19 – Looking at Pauli’s Relationships 14:21 – How do we talk about Pauli’s gender? 36:17 – Interview with Preston Mitchum 1:12:16 –1:14:173 – TW: Discussion of sexual abuse, rape, and assault 1:16:40 – Pop Culture Tie-In 1:18:13 – How Gay Were They? 1:22:40 – Closing and Where to Find Us Online Want to help us continue to make the show? Support us on and get awesome goodies, behind-the-scenes access, special minisodes, and more! You can get super cool merch in our store! Shirts, hoodies, totes, a coloring book, and other neat things. If you’d like to help us transcribe the show for our d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing fans, please head on over to www.historyisgaypodcast.com/transcribe to join the team of volunteers! Find our full list of sources and bonus content at . Get at us on twitter , tumblr at , and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts! Don't forget to rate and review so more folks can see the show! /episode/index/show/historyisgay/id/19778000

0.11. "I Need You to Lick Bush in '92": Whitney Skauge and The Beauty President 07/02/2021

36. The Life of Pauli Murray: Confrontation by Typewriter, Part 1 06/25/2021

36. The Life of Pauli Murray: Confrontation by Typewriter, Part 1 In this episode of History is Gay, Leigh and guest host Aubree Calvin discuss Pauli Murray, an important African American lawyer, and activist who is finally getting the historical attention they deserve. In their time, Murray was a labor rights, civil rights, and women’s rights activist, and broke significant barriers all while facing sexism and racism. In addition to having a brilliant legal mind, they were a writer, poet, and priest, and had time to be friends with Eleanor Roosevelt. Pauli Murray should be in every U.S. History book in every K-12 school. So, if Pauli Murray was so important to so many movements, why has history largely forgotten them? Leigh and Aubree try to answer that in this two-episode series. This first episode looks at their upbringing, many careers, and accomplishments. Later, in part two, we look at what made Pauli queer, and try to get a handle, as best we can, on their gender identity. Our wonderful guest host for this episode, Aubree Calvin, can be found at or on her podcast . You can also hear Aubree in previous episodes, ! Outline0:00 – Introduction10:00 – Main Topic: Pauli Murray13:06 – Socio-Historical Context14:36 – A Note on Pronouns16:11 – Who were they? Bio Time.19:26 – Content Warning: Racial violence30:05 – Fun Segment: Word of the Week57:13 – Poetry and Memoir Writing1:12:19 – Content Warning: Stark descriptions of slave trade1:20:55 – Closing and Where to Find Us Online Support for this episode comes from .gay, a brand new domain extension that will add a whole bunch of fabulousness to your website, while supporting LGBTQ rights and organizations at the same time! .gay is offering our listeners a FREE .gay domain name of your choice for your own website or brand for 1-year. -------------------- Want to help us continue to make the show? Support us on and get awesome goodies, behind-the-scenes access, special minisodes, and more! You can get super cool merch in our store! Shirts, hoodies, totes, a coloring book, and other neat things. If you’d like to help us transcribe the show for our d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing fans, please head on over to www.historyisgaypodcast.com/transcribe to join the team of volunteers! Find our full list of sources and bonus content at . Get at us on twitter , tumblr at , and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts! Don't forget to rate and review so more folks can see the show! /episode/index/show/historyisgay/id/19607591

35. Claim to Flame: Edmonia "Wildfire" Lewis and her Harem Scarem 03/22/2021

34. Queers in the Civil Rights Movement 02/28/2021

34. Queers in the Civil Rights Movement For today’s episode, Leigh is joined by return guest host, Aubree Calvin, to commemorate Black History Month by telling the stories of some folks who made contributions to the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s whose queerness has been overlooked or erased, and the ways in which the tremendous work done by Black activists was absolutely essential to the evolution of LGBTQ rights actions. Listen to hear about Freedom Rides organizer Rodney Powell’s epic takedown of Rev. Rick Warren, Ernestine Eckstein’s directions for the homophile movement, and Lorraine Hansberry’s thoughts on Eartha Kitt’s legs. Our wonderful guest host for this episode, Aubree Calvin, can be found at or on her podcast . You can also hear Aubree in our episode on ! Outline 0:00 – Introduction 5:12 – Main Topic: Queers in the Civil Rights Movement 5:27 – Socio-Historical Context 13:47 – 14:18 — Content warning: police brutality/violence mention 20:02 – Who were they? Bio Time. 31:13 – 34:21 – Content warning: violence mention 40:57 – Why do we think they're gay? 1:01:46 – Fun Segment: Word of the Week 1:24:56 – Content warning: suicide mention 1:28:01 – Fun Segment: Pop Culture Tie-In 1:22:25 – Main Takeaways and Final Conclusions 1:29:30 – How Gay were They? 1:35:59 – Closing and Where to Find us Online Please fill out our first-ever History is Gay Listener Survey! We want to hear from YOU and your thoughts about the show! What do you like? What do you dislike? What do you want us to know? Go to to fill it out, and if you enter your email, you might win a free HIG tee! Want to help us continue to make the show? and get awesome goodies, behind-the-scenes access, special minisodes, and more! You can get super cool merch in our ! Shirts, hoodies, totes, a coloring book, and other neat things. If you’d like to help us transcribe the show for our d/Deaf and hard of hearing fans, please head on over to to join the team of volunteers! Find our full list of sources and bonus content at . Get at us on twitter , tumblr at , and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts! Don't forget to rate and review so more folks can see the show! /episode/index/show/historyisgay/id/18119696

0.10. More on the OG Lesbian and Exploring Sappho with Sweetbitter Podcast 12/15/2020

33. Besotted with Beefcake: A MichelangelHO Story 11/23/2020

0.9. Back in the Saddle Again: Trans Edition 09/30/2020

32. Stealing Horses & Hearts: Trans Vagabonds of the Wild West 09/16/2020

32. Stealing Horses & Hearts: Trans Vagabonds of the Wild West In this episode of History is Gay, Leigh and guest host Ashten Hope slap on some cowboy boots and head to the wild west to tip our hats to a slew of badass transgender pioneers. We’ll first meet Harry Allen, a handsome horse-stealing and heart-stealing trans man who was both loved and hated by papers and police across the pacific northwest. Then we’ll dance with the dazzling and talented Mrs. Nash, who’s baking and sewing charmed many a soldier boy. Lastly, prepare to be lassoed by the legendary Charley Parkhurst who was known as one of the best “whips” in all the west. Grab your horse and your headphones and get ready to ride into the fantastic lives of these frontier queers. Outline: 0:00 – Introduction 4:12 – Main Topic: Stealing Horses & Hearts: Trans Vagabonds of the Wild West 4:47 – Socio-Historical Context: What was the Wild West and Why do we think its gay? 16:51 – Who were they? Bio Time: Harry Allen 31:40 – 33:04 – Content warning: suicide mention 36:29 – Word of the Week 39:12 –39:31 – Content warning: sexual assault reference 42:52 – 43:03 – Content warning: substance abuse mention 50:26 – Who were they? Bio Time: Mrs. Nash 1:01:26 – 1:03:06 – Content warning: suicide mention 1:06:54 – Who were they? Bio Time: Charley Parkhurst 1:21:16 – Main Takeaways and Final Conclusions 1:22:36 – How Gay were They? 1:25:47 – Closing and Where to Find us Online You can find guest host Ashten at on twitter! Want to help us continue to make the show? and get awesome goodies, behind-the-scenes access, special minisodes, and more! You can get super cool merch in our ! Shirts, hoodies, totes, and other neat things. If you’d like to help us transcribe the show for our d/Deaf and hard of hearing fans, please head on over to to join the team of volunteers! Find our full list of sources and bonus content at . Get at us on twitter , tumblr at , and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts! Don't forget to rate and review so more folks can see the show! /episode/index/show/historyisgay/id/16029992

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