LGBTQ&A

Throughout his decades-long career, Bob Mackie has designed costumes and gowns for some of the most legendary names in entertainment history: Cher, Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland, Whitney Houston, Carol Burnett, and Elton John, among many others. He joins LGBTQ&A to talk about his longtime (and still ongoing) collaboration with Cher, the infamous Gone With The Wind curtain dress from The Carol Burnett Show, and gay life in Hollywood in the 1960s and 70s. His new documentary, Bob Mackie: Naked Illusion is now streaming on Prime Video.  This is a part of our special series, The LGBTQ+ Elders Project. ⁠Click here⁠ to listen to our recent interview with Martha Shelly, activist and co-founder of the Gay Liberation Front. LGBTQ&A is an independent, listener-supported podcast. Please consider joining our ⁠Substack⁠ to help support our work LGBTQ&A is hosted and produced by Jeffrey Masters. ⁠@jeffmasters1

Randy Wicker talks about joining the Mattachine Society in 1958, one of the first gay rights groups in the U.S. He also talks about leading what's considered the first pro-gay protest in the U.S., the 1966 "Sip-in" at Julius' in New York City, and sharing his home with Marsha P. Johnson. The Randy Wicker and Marsha P. Johnson Archive: https://queerserial.com/randywicker Pay It No Mind - The Life and Times of Marsha P. Johnson directed by Michael Kasino: https://youtu.be/rjN9W2KstqE?si=gd8XQeytNkQqLnaJ This is a part of our special series, The LGBTQ+ Elders Project. ⁠Click here⁠ to listen to our recent interview with Martha Shelly, activist and co-founder of the Gay Liberation Front. LGBTQ&A is an independent, listener-supported podcast. Please consider joining our ⁠Substack⁠ as a paid Subscriber to help support our work. LGBTQ&A is hosted and produced by Jeffrey Masters. ⁠@jeffmasters1

Mark Segal moved to New York City in May of 1969 and a month later found himself at The Stonewall Inn as the now-infamous police raid began. "The police came in, pretended that they were doing their duty, got their pay off," he says. "The difference here was they barged in, they threw people up against the wall, they extorted money from some of the older people, they harassed the drag queens. It was pretty violent." Stonewall sparked Mark Segal's lifelong commitment to activism, which memorably included interrupting Walter Cronkite in the middle of CBS Evening News by yelling and waving a banner that read, "Gays Protest CBS Prejudice". He joins us on the podcast to look back on the last 50 years of the LGBTQ+ civil rights movement and shares the secret ingredient that underlies all of his activism: a sense of humor.  Click here to listen to our interview with Gay Liberation Front co-founder, Martha Shelley. LGBTQ&A is an independent, listener-supported podcast. Please consider joining our ⁠Substack⁠ as a paid Subscriber to help support our work. LGBTQ&A is hosted and produced by Jeffrey Masters. ⁠@jeffmasters1 [The was originally recorded in November 2020]

Laverne Cox talks about being on the cover of Time magazine ten years ago, the pressure she's faced as one of the most visible members of the trans community, and how the Bostock v. Clayton County Supreme Court case with Aimee Stephens impacts all LGBTQ+ people. LGBTQ&A is an independent, listener-supported podcast. Please consider joining our ⁠Substack⁠ as a paid Subscriber to help support our work. LGBTQ&A is hosted and produced by Jeffrey Masters. ⁠@jeffmasters1 [The was originally recorded in September 2019]

Rep. Barney Frank served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1981 to 2013. He talks about being one of the first members of Congress to come out, how the AIDS crisis forced Congress to act, and the current state of the LGBTQ+ Rights Movement. Plus, his "Trophy Husband", Jim Ready, drops by to say hello. LGBTQ&A is an independent, listener-supported podcast. Please consider joining our ⁠Substack⁠ to help support our work. Click here to learn more. The book mentioned in this episode is Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington by James Kirchick. This is a part of our special series, The LGBTQ+ Elders Project. ⁠Click here⁠ to listen to our recent interview with Martha Shelly, activist and co-founder of the Gay Liberation Front. LGBTQ&A is hosted and produced by Jeffrey Masters. ⁠@jeffmasters1

(This interview contains explicit sexual content.) Gigi Raven Wilbur talks about learning that they were intersex in college, the transformational power of BDSM in their life, and how they're feeling living in Texas right now among the current onslaught of anti-trans legislation. LGBTQ&A is an independent, listener-supported podcast. Please consider joining our Substack to help support our work. This is a part of our special series, The LGBTQ+ Elders Project. Click here to listen to our interview with Martha Shelly, co-founder of the Gay Liberation Front. LGBTQ&A is hosted and produced by Jeffrey Masters. @jeffmasters1

Martha Shelley talks to poet Audre Lorde in an episode of her radio show, Lesbian Nation. This was originally recorded in 1972 and is a part of Martha's archive at the Lesbian Herstory Archive. Martha is a pre-Stonewall activist who got her start in the 1960s with the Daughters of Bilitis. Click here to listen to our new sit-down interview with Martha that aired last week. This is a part of our special series, The LGBTQ+ Elders Project. LGBTQ&A is an independent, listener-supported podcast. Please consider joining our Substack to help support our work. LGBTQ&A is hosted and produced by Jeffrey Masters. @jeffmasters1

Martha Shelley began her life as a gay activist before the Stonewall uprising. She talks about joining the Daughters of Bilitis, co-founding the Gay Liberation Front, the first pride march, and her memoir, "We Set The Night On Fire". LGBTQ&A is an independent, listener-supported podcast. Please consider joining our Substack as a paid Subscriber to help support our work. This is a part of our special series, The LGBTQ+ Elders Project. Click here to listen to our interview with the 91-year-old drag queen, Bob 'Rose' Levine. Bob has been doing drag in Cherry Grove since 1955. LGBTQ&A is hosted and produced by Jeffrey Masters. @jeffmasters1

Mia Yamamoto talks about her work as a criminal defense attorney, the racism she faced growing up as a Japanese-American after World War II, and coming out as trans later in life. LGBTQ&A is an independent, listener-supported podcast. Please consider subscribing to our Substack in order to help support our work. This is a part of our special series, The LGBTQ+ Elders Project. Click here to listen to our interview with Duane Michals, the 92-year-old pioneering photographer. LGBTQ&A is hosted and produced by Jeffrey Masters. @jeffmasters1

Bob "Rose" Levine talks about his first trip to Cherry Grove in 1955, being a part of the original drag "Invasion of the Pines" in 1976, and how the AIDS crisis changed Fire Island in the 1980s. LGBTQ&A is an independent, listener-supported podcast. Please consider joining our Substack to help support our work. This is a part of our special series, The LGBTQ+ Elders Project. Click here to listen to our interview with Joan Jett Blakk (a.k.a. Terence Alan Smith), the legendary drag queen who ran for president in 1992.   LGBTQ&A is hosted and produced by Jeffrey Masters. @jeffmasters1

Ma-Nee Chacaby talks about learning that she was Two-Spirit as a kid, her rural upbringing, and the challenges of being an out indigenous lesbian in Thunder Bay, Canada in the 1980s. Ma-Nee is the author of A Two-Spirit Journey: The Autobiography of a Lesbian Ojibwa-Cree Elder. (Note: This episode discusses domestic violence.) "Put love in front of you when you get up in the morning and it'll guide you to a beautiful place. It'll guide you." LGBTQ&A is an independent, listener-supported podcast. Please consider joining our Substack as a paid Subscriber to help support our work. This is a part of our special series, The LGBTQ+ Elders Project. Click here to listen to our interview with the 92-year-old pioneer photographer Duane Michals.  LGBTQ&A is hosted and produced by Jeffrey Masters. @jeffmasters1

Sandy Stone talks about working with the lesbian separatists of Olivia Records, why the attacks on the trans community today mirror the attacks from the 1970s, and the moment that led her to write "The Empire Strikes Back: A Posttranssexual Manifesto"—an essay that became a founding document of trans studies. You can learn more about Girl Island, the documentary that's in the works about Sandy's life here: girlislandfilm.com The song that you hear in the interview from Olivia Records is "Sweet Woman" by Cris Williamson. LGBTQ&A is an independent, listener-supported podcast. Please consider joining our Substack as a paid Subscriber to help support our work. This is a part of our special series, The LGBTQ+ Elders Project. LGBTQ&A is hosted and produced by Jeffrey Masters. @jeffmasters1

Joan Jett Blakk (a.k.a. Terence Alan Smith) talks about her historic 1992 presidential campaign, why the AIDS crisis influenced her run, and what it was like to be an out gay teenager in the '70s.  "They still ask the same questions that they asked in the '90s. 'Drag queens run for president in America?' I'm like, 'Well, they told us anybody could run for president. Anybody.' So, okay, we'll make them stick to that word." LGBTQ&A is an independent, listener-supported podcast. If you enjoy our show, please consider joining our Substack and becoming a paid Subscriber to support our work. We couldn't do this with you.  This is a part of our special series, The LGBTQ+ Elders Project. If you want to recommend an elder, connect with us on Substack or social media (@jeffmasters1). And if it’s someone who isn’t well-known, it's most helpful if you can share as much info as possible. LGBTQ&A is hosted and produced by Jeffrey Masters.

Duane Michals has never followed the rules. The pioneering photographer, now 92 years old, says, "Because I didn't learn the photo rules it was very easy for me to abandon them. You're either defined by the medium...well, I redefined the medium." Duane talks about discovering his love for photography in the 1950s, not looking down on commercial work, his half-century-long relationship with his partner, and why talking about "art" makes him want to vomit. To see all of the photos that Duane talks about, come check out our Substack. And if you're able, becoming a paid Substack subscriber is also the best way to support our work. Click here to do that. Thank you to everyone who has subscribed. This show wouldn't be able to continue without you. This is a part of our special series, The LGBTQ+ Elders Project. If you want to recommend an elder, come find me on Substack or social media (@jeffmasters1). And if it’s someone who isn’t well-known, it's most helpful if you can share as much info as possible. LGBTQ&A is hosted and produced by Jeffrey Masters.

Hi! We're coming back! On February 27th! And we're continuing our special series, The LGBTQ+ Elders Project. I can't wait for you to hear it. For more info, come check out our Substack. Do you know an amazing elder and want to hear from them on the show? Come find me on Substack or social media (@jeffmasters1) and let me know. I'd love to hear all about them. Ok, I'm off to finish editing the first episode. Love you!! Bye!!!