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 Xena: Warrior Musical - The Lost Scroll, 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 www.xenawarriormusical.com, @XenatheMusical on Twitter, and @XenaWarriorMusical on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube!

Outline
0:00 – Introduction
10:37 – Socio-Historical Context
13:33 – The Amazons of Myth and Legend
31:10 – A tour through some Amazon queens
38:27-39:05 – Content warning: rape mention
40:34 – Atalanta, The Greek “Amazon”
59:55 – Real-Life Amazons: Warrior Women of Scythia
1:09:28 – Why do we think they're gay?
1:26:16 – Pop-Culture Tie-In
1:37:37 – How Gay were They?
1:46:09 – Closing and Where to Find us Online

For a full list of sources and bonus content, visit our Notes page! 

Apple Podcasts  |    Google Play    |    RadioPublic    |    Stitcher    |   Download

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 @queersoundspod, Instagram @queersoundspod, and at www.queersounds.com.

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

For a full list of sources and bonus content, visit our Notes page! 

Apple Podcasts  |    Google Play    |    RadioPublic    |    Stitcher    |   Download

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 www.prestonmitchum.com, on Instagram @preston.mitchum, and on Twitter @prestonmitchum.

Our wonderful guest host for this episode, Aubree Calvin, can be found at www.aubreecalvin.com or on her podcast Southern Queeries. You can also hear Aubree in previous episodes, which you can check out by clicking here!

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

For a full list of sources and bonus content, visit our Notes page! 

Apple Podcasts  |    Google Play    |    RadioPublic    |    Stitcher    |   Download

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 www.aubreecalvin.com or on her podcast Southern Queeries. You can also hear Aubree in previous episodes, which you can check out by clicking here!

Outline
0:00 – Introduction
10:00 – Main Topic: Pauli Murray
13:06 – Socio-Historical Context
14:36 – A Note on Pronouns
16:11 – Who were they? Bio Time.
19:26 – Content Warning: Racial violence
30:05 – Fun Segment: Word of the Week
57:13 – Poetry and Memoir Writing
1:12:19 – Content Warning: Stark descriptions of slave trade
1:20:55 – Closing and Where to Find Us Online

For a full list of sources and bonus content, visit our Notes page (coming soon with Part 2)! 

Apple Podcasts  |    Google Play    |    RadioPublic    |    Stitcher    |   Download

35. Claim to Flame: Edmonia "Wildfire" Lewis and her Harem Scarem

In this episode of History is Gay Leigh and guest host Amanda Helton discuss Mary Edmonia “Wildfire” Lewis, the first internationally recognized African American and indigenous artist in the United States. Join us while we ponder how exactly a literal 2-ton sculpture goes missing, discuss the merits of lesbian drama in 1800s Rome, and did you know that blister beetles have been used as aphrodisiacs for centuries? Yeah... neither did we….

Our wonderful guest host for this episode, Amanda Helton, can be found at www.amandahelton.com or @oryxbesia on Instagram. You can also hear Amanda in our episode on Michelangelo!

Outline
0:00 – Introduction
7:18 – Socio-Historical Context
20:58 – Who were they? Bio Time.
25:06 – 26:18 — Content warning: racial violence
30:29 – Fun Segment: Word of the Week
58:27 – Why do we think they're gay? 
1:22:52  – Main Takeaways and Final Conclusions
1:27:51 – How Gay were They?
1:30:53 – Closing and Where to Find us Online

For a full list of sources and bonus content, visit our Notes page! 

Apple Podcasts  |    Google Play    |    RadioPublic    |    Stitcher    |   Download

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 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 www.aubreecalvin.com or on her podcast Southern Queeries. You can also hear Aubree in our episode on Sister Rosetta Tharpe!

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

For a full list of sources and bonus content, visit our Notes page! 

Apple Podcasts  |    Google Play    |    RadioPublic    |    Stitcher    |   Download