Making Gay History | LGBTQ Oral Histories from the Archive - Podcasts

3:55

The Queens of Welfare Island: Preview

Making Gay History | LGBTQ Oral Histories from the... ·

2026/10/01

A century ago, at a notorious men’s penitentiary in New York City, gay inmates managed to find joy and community through their annual Christmas show, the “Fag Follies.” This season, join Eric Marcus as he delves into their lives and explores their world within and outside the prison walls.———

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26:56

Season 15: Episode 6: Barney Frank

Making Gay History | LGBTQ Oral Histories from the... ·

2026/07/23

“Are you gay?” a reporter asked U.S. Representative Barney Frank in 1987. “Yes, so what?” With that, Frank became the first member of Congress to voluntarily come out as gay. But the casualness of his reply hid decades of agonizing and a very real fear of torpedoing his political career.Visit our ⁠episode webpage⁠ for background information, archival photos, and other resources, as well as a transcript of the episode. ———

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29:25

Season 15: Episode 5: Nancy May

Making Gay History | LGBTQ Oral Histories from the... ·

2026/07/16

Nancy May’s allyship was as personal as it was political. After all, she was married to a gay man. In 1965, her involvement in San Francisco’s homophile movement placed her at the center of a headline-making face-off between the police and the city’s LGBTQ community. Visit our ⁠episode webpage⁠ for background information, archival photos, and other resources, as well as a transcript of the episode. ———

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30:56

Season 15: Episode 4: Jim Kepner

Making Gay History | LGBTQ Oral Histories from the... ·

2026/07/09

Raised in a religious home in 1920s and ’30s Texas, Jim Kepner pieced together a sense of his identity where he could—a homoerotic suggestion read between the lines here, a secretly acquired booklet there. His collection of gay-themed materials grew into the largest LGBTQ archive in the world. Visit our ⁠episode webpage⁠ for background information, archival photos, and other resources, as well as a transcript of the episode. ———

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26:31

Season 15: Episode 3: Pat Bond

Making Gay History | LGBTQ Oral Histories from the... ·

2026/07/02

Pat Bond joined the Women’s Army Corps in 1945, driven by patriotism and a desire to be among lesbians. The war required bodies, so the U.S. military turned a blind eye to service members’ sexual orientation. But as Pat witnessed firsthand, once WWII was won, the anti-gay witch hunts began. Visit our ⁠episode webpage for background information, archival photos, and other resources, as well as a transcript of the episode. ——— Audio source: Oral history interview between Pat Bond and Allan Bérubé,

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22:05

Season 15: Episode 2: Mabel Hampton

Making Gay History | LGBTQ Oral Histories from the... ·

2026/06/25

Mabel Hampton was a performer and domestic worker who lived as an out lesbian in New York City from 1920 until her death in 1989. Her recorded oral histories offer a rare firsthand account of Black lesbian life during the Harlem Renaissance. Visit our ⁠episode webpage⁠ for background information, archival photos, and other resources, as well as a transcript of the episode. ——— Audio source: Mabel Hampton Oral History Collection, used by permission of the Lesbian Herstory Archives. ———

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109:44

Stonewall National Monument on “Endangered” List

Making Gay History | LGBTQ Oral Histories from the... ·

2026/05/20

Today, the National Trust for Historic Preservation designated the Stonewall National Monument in NYC as one of America’s "11 Most Endangered Historic Places." As an antidote to the threat of erasure facing the country’s only national monument dedicated to LGBTQ+ history, MGH is re-releasing its season about the Stonewall uprising with the support of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the National Parks Conservation Association.MGH's Stonewall 50 season first aired in June 2019

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27:15

The Nazi Era: Episode 12: Epilogue

Making Gay History | LGBTQ Oral Histories from the... ·

2025/04/10

In this final episode, we reflect on why there are so few testimonies from LGBTQ people who survived the Nazi era and on the responsibility we have to honor the testimonies we do have in the face of the unfolding dark times here at home.Visit our episode webpage for additional resources, archival photos, and a transcript of the episode. For exclusive Making Gay History bonus content, join our Patreon community. ——— -Audio of the 1990 interview with Josef Kohout used by permission of QWIEN, the

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30:59

The Nazi Era: Episode 6: Frieda Belinfante

Making Gay History | LGBTQ Oral Histories from the... ·

2025/02/27

When the Nazis invaded the Netherlands in 1940, 36-year-old conductor Frieda Belinfante disbanded her orchestra and dedicated herself to helping others. She forged IDs to save Jews from deportation and joined a resistance group that carried out a daring act of sabotage.Visit our episode webpage for additional resources, archival photos, and a transcript of the episode. For exclusive Making Gay History bonus content, join our Patreon community. ——— RG-50.030.0019, oral history interview with Frieda

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40:08

The Nazi Era: Episode 3: Overview Part II

Making Gay History | LGBTQ Oral Histories from the... ·

2025/02/06

In our second introductory episode, we focus on life in the Nazi concentration camps and offer a glimpse into the experiences of LGBTQ people in occupied countries during WWII as we continue to set the context for the eight profile episodes to follow.Visit our episode webpage for additional resources, archival photos, and a transcript of the episode. For exclusive Making Gay History bonus content, join our Patreon community. ——— -The following interview segments are from the archive of the USC

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43:19

Guest Episode: But We Loved: Evan Wolfson, Godfather...

Making Gay History | LGBTQ Oral Histories from the... ·

2024/07/24

In 1983 Evan Wolfson wrote a law school thesis that asserted that gay people had a constitutional right to marry. Thirty-two years later, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed as much. In this guest episode from But We Loved, get to know the man behind one of the biggest victories in the history of the LGBTQ civil rights movement. Learn more about Evan Wolfson and the Freedom to Marry campaign here. Find more episodes of But We Loved, a production of iHeartPodcasts and the Outspoken Podcast Network, here

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40:09

Stonewall 55: Episode 3: “Say It Loud! Gay & Proud!”

Making Gay History | LGBTQ Oral Histories from the... ·

2024/06/28

Like so many other acts of LGBTQ resistance, the 1969 Stonewall riots could have become a footnote in history. But the protests and organizing that followed launched a new phase in the fight for LGBTQ rights. Hear how anger found its voice and how joy propelled the first Pride marches.First aired June 20, 2019. Visit our episode webpage for background information, archival photos, and other resources, as well as the episode’s transcript. To hear more from Craig Rodwell, go here. And listen to

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33:24

Stonewall 55: Episode 2: “Everything Clicked… And the...

Making Gay History | LGBTQ Oral Histories from the... ·

2024/06/21

The Stonewall uprising began in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969. Revisit that moment, and the hours and days that followed, with voices from the Making Gay History archive. Relive in vivid detail the dawning of a new chapter in the fight for LGBTQ rights. First aired June 13, 2019. Visit our episode webpage for background information, archival photos, and other resources, as well the episode’s transcript. To hear more of Marsha P. Johnson and Randy Wicker’s conversation about Stonewall,

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37:05

Stonewall 55: Episode 1: Prelude to a Riot

Making Gay History | LGBTQ Oral Histories from the... ·

2024/06/14

Conflict has context. In this first episode of Making Gay History’s Stonewall season, we hear stories from the pre-Stonewall struggle for LGBTQ rights. We travel back in time to the turbulent 1960s and take you to the tinderbox that was Greenwich Village on the eve of an uprising.First aired June 6, 2019. Visit our episode webpage for background information, archival photos, and other resources, as well as the episode’s transcript. For exclusive Making Gay History bonus content, join our Patreon

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31:01

Stonewall 55: Episode 0: Myth & Meaning

Making Gay History | LGBTQ Oral Histories from the... ·

2024/06/14

Can historical and emotional truth coexist? For the 55th anniversary of the uprising, Eric and fellow LGBTQ history expert Ken Lustbader talk to Stonewall National Monument visitors and let a few myths slip by to uncover Stonewall’s moving resonance as a symbol of LGBTQ liberation and joy. This episode is a co-production of Making Gay History and the NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project, in partnership with the National Park Service. Visit our episode webpage for a transcript of the episode. For

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28:27

Bonus: Feminist Bookstores: A Love Story — with June...

Making Gay History | LGBTQ Oral Histories from the... ·

2024/05/23

As a bookish lesbian growing up in working-class England, June Thomas developed an early love of bookstores. After moving to the U.S. in the 1980s, she found community in the feminist bookstores of the era, as she recounts in A Place of Our Own: Six Spaces That Shaped Queer Women's Culture.Visit our episode webpage for a transcript of the episode. For exclusive Making Gay History bonus content, join our Patreon community. Episode Art: The Old Wives’ Tales Collective, San Francisco, 1982: Carol

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28:44

Introducing: Those Who Were There: Voices from the...

Making Gay History | LGBTQ Oral Histories from the... ·

2020/06/14

MGH is Eric Marcus’s first love. But he also co-produces Those Who Were There. Have a listen to this episode featuring Leon Bass. He faced racism growing up in 1930s Philadelphia, in the Army during WWII, and discovered its ultimate endpoint at a German concentration camp. Subscribe to Those Who Were There: Voices from the Holocaust wherever you get your podcasts, or visit thosewhowerethere.org. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit:

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26:56

Revisiting the Archive: Episode 12: Bayard Rustin

Making Gay History | LGBTQ Oral Histories from the... ·

2020/06/07

Making Gay History stands with the countless Americans protesting systemic racism and the deaths of black and brown people at the hands of the police. And we draw inspiration from civil rights heroes like Bayard Rustin, an out and proud black gay man who dedicated his life to fighting injustice. Visit our Season Four episode webpage for background information, archival photos, and other resources. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit:

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22:49

Revisiting the Archive: Episode 9: Joyce Hunter

Making Gay History | LGBTQ Oral Histories from the... ·

2020/05/16

In 1939 Joyce Hunter was born into a world so hostile it’s a wonder she wasn’t crushed. Instead, the challenges and brutality she faced proved to be the launchpad for an expansive life of pioneering activism and accomplishment. A guiding light in tough times. Visit our Season Two episode webpage for background information, archival photos, and other resources. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad

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28:43

Revisiting the Archive: Episode 7: Ellen DeGeneres

Making Gay History | LGBTQ Oral Histories from the... ·

2020/05/02

Today, Ellen DeGeneres needs no introduction. But as she explained in a 2001 MGH interview, her very public 1997 coming out took a dramatic professional and personal toll. When life goes off the rails, there’s no knowing what the future holds. We’re challenged to push ahead to fight for better days. Visit our Season Three episode webpage for background information, archival photos, and other resources. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit:

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