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 produc ..read more

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. @jeffma ..read more

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. T ..read more

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 ..read more

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 ..read more

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 ..read more

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 ..read more

When Amy Ray first started playing music with her Indigo Girls bandmate, Emily Saliers, her "head felt like it was going to explode". She remembers thinking, "This is amazing. Not, we sound amazing. But this feels amazing. It was always about, This feels amazing." They've been playing together for over 35 years now and it's their music that the queer community (and Greta Gerwig in the new Barbie movie) continues to return to again and again. Amy joins us to talk about the band's legacy, coming out publicly in the '90s, and the lasting power of "Closer to Fine". LGBTQ&A is hosted and p ..read more

Darcelle XV (Walter Cole), the world's oldest drag queen, died on March 23, 2023. She was 92. Since 1967, Darcelle has been performing and running the Portland drag venue, Darcelle XV Showplace, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2020. I had the opportunity to speak with Darcelle and her friend and collaborator, Poison Waters (Kevin Cook) a few weeks before her death. This is part of our special series, the LGBTQ+ Elders Project. You can listen to previous interviews with LGBTQ+ elders like Angela Davis, Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, André De Shields, and Dr. Charles Si ..read more

Dr. Charles Silverstein died this week at the age of 87. Best known for making the 1973 presentation before the American Psychiatric Association that led to the removal of homosexuality from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual’s list of mental illnesses, he was also a co-author of the landmark book The Joy of Gay Sex. More than simply a sex manual with graphic drawings (though there was plenty of that), The Joy of Gay Sex, first published in 1977, was a first-of-its-kind guidebook for every aspect of the gay experience. This interview was originally recorded in August 2021 and was one of Sil ..read more