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In 1925 Gene Mosely was sent to the men’s penitentiary F*g Ward on a “masquerade” charge. Despite the risks of cross-dressing, drag balls flourished and female impersonators took NYC’s nightlife by storm, while the mainstream visibility of “fairies” became a cultural phenomenon: the Pansy Craze. Visit our episode webpage for additional resources and a transcript of the episode. ———

It was called the F*g Ward: a separate wing of the men’s penitentiary on NYC’s Welfare Island where gay inmates were kept in the 1920s and ’30s. Eric digs into the history of the infamous prison on what is now Roosevelt Island and shares archival glimpses into the lives of the queens it once held.  Visit our episode webpage for additional resources and a transcript of the episode. ———

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 “F*g Follies.” This season, join Eric Marcus as he delves into their lives and explores their world within and outside the prison walls. ———

When Lou Sullivan sought gender-affirming care in the 1970s, he was turned down. The reason? Lou identified as a gay man at a time when all trans people were assumed to be straight—a conflation of gender identity and sexual orientation that Lou made it his mission to dismantle. Visit our ⁠episode webpage⁠ for background information, archival photos, and other resources, as well as a transcript of the episode. ——— Audio source: Louis Sullivan interviews #1, #2, and #4, GLBT Historical Society Film & Video Collection (GLBT-VIDEO), courtesy of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society. ———

“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. ———

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. ———

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. ———

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, September 30, 1990, World War II Project Papers (collection no. 1995-16), courtesy of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society. ———

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. ———

When news broke in 1952 that Christine Jorgensen, an ex-GI from the Bronx, had undergone gender-affirming surgery, she became a global sensation. In this 1957 interview, meet the thoughtful woman behind the frenzied headlines as she took on the burden of educating the public about trans people. Visit our ⁠episode webpage⁠ for background information, archival photos, and other resources, as well as a transcript of the episode. ——— Audio source: Christine Jorgensen Reveals, an LP recording of a 1957 interview between Christine Jorgensen and Nipsey Russell (credited as R. Russell), released in 1958 by J Records, New York, NY. ———

MGH is back for another dive into the archives! Drawing from Eric’s own collection of rare interviews and other repositories of LGBTQ history, we’ll bring you the voices of seven LGBTQ change-makers and allies whose stories will take you from 1920s Harlem to the halls of power in 1980s D.C.  ——— Audio sources: - Christine Jorgensen Reveals, an LP recording of a 1957 interview between Christine Jorgensen and Nipsey Russell (credited as R. Russell), released in 1958 by J Records, New York, NY. - Mabel Hampton Oral History Collection, used by permission of the Lesbian Herstory Archives. - Barney Frank interview via the Making Gay History archive. - "Lou Sullivan and Dr. Ira Pauly Interview, Part 1," January 1988, GLBT Historical Society Film & Video Collection, courtesy of the GLBT Historical Society. ———

Polish teenager Stefan Kosinski was beaten, tortured, and sent to prison. His crime? He fell in love with a Viennese soldier serving in the German army. When the soldier was sent to the Eastern Front, Stefan sent him a love letter, which was intercepted by the Nazis. 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-50.030.0355, oral history interview with Teofil (Stefan) Kosinski, courtesy of the Jeff and Toby Herr Oral History Archive, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, D.C. For more information about the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, go here. ———

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 Shoah Foundation – The Institute for Visual History and Education:  Walter Schwarze, © 1997 USC Shoah Foundation  Kitty Fischer, © 1995 USC Shoah Foundation  For more information about the USC Shoah Foundation, go here. -The Leo Classen excerpt is taken from “Die Dornenkrone: Ein Tatsachenbericht aus der Strafkompanie Sachsenhausen” (“The Crown of Thorns: A Factual Report from the Sachsenhausen Penal Company”), Humanitas: Monatsschrift für Menschlichkeit und Kultur 2, no. 2 (1954): 59-60. -Audio of the 1990 interview with Josef Kohout used by permission of QWIEN, the Center for Queer History in Vienna.  -The Josef Kohout book excerpts are from Heinz Heger’s The Men with the Pink Triangle, Haymarket Books, Chicago, 2023. Used by permission of the publisher. Original German edition Die Männer mit dem rosa Winkel © 1972/2014 MERLIN VERLAG Andreas Meyer Verlags GmbH. & Co. KG, Gifkendorf, Germany. English translation by David Fernbach © 2004 MERLIN VERLAG Andreas Meyer Verlags GmbH. & Co. KG, Gifkendorf, Germany. -The following interview segments are courtesy of the Jeff and Toby Herr Oral History Archive, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, D.C.: RG-50.578.0001, oral history interview with Gerald B. Rosenstein RG-50.030.0270, oral history interview with Rose Szywic Warner  RG-50.030.0037, oral history interview with Tiemon Hofman For more information about the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, go here. -Arthur Haulot audio courtesy of the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library. -The Ovida Delect excerpt is from her memoir La vocation d'être femme (The Vocation to Be a Woman). Copyright © Éditions L'Harmattan, 1996. Used by permission of Éditions L'Harmattan. -The Ruth Maier excerpts are from Ruth Maier’s Diary by Ruth Maier. Copyright © Gyldendal Norsk Forlag AS, 2007. English translation copyright © Jamie Bulloch, 2009. Used by permission of The Random House Group Limited. ———

In this first of two introductory episodes, hear how the walls closed in on LGBTQ people after Hitler came to power through the recorded and written memories of multiple queer people who witnessed or fell victim to the Nazis’ persecution. 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 interview segment of Bertram Schaffner is from the archive of the USC Shoah Foundation – The Institute for Visual History and Education, © 1998 USC Shoah Foundation. For more information about the USC Shoah Foundation, go here. -The Eric Langer letter is an excerpt from The Pink Triangle by Richard Plant. Copyright © 1986 by Richard Plant. Used by permission of Henry Holt and Company. All Rights Reserved. -Michael Rittermann audio from the 1989 documentary Desire: Sexuality in Germany 1910-1945 (dir. Stuart Marshall) used by permission of Maya Vision International. -RG-50.030.0445, oral history interview with Rolf Hirschberg, courtesy of the Jeff and Toby Herr Oral History Archive, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, D.C. For more information about the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, go here. -The unpublished Liddy Bacroff writings reside at the Staatsarchiv der Freien und Hansestadt Hamburg, 242-4 Nr. 339. ———

Host Eric Marcus welcomes listeners to MGH’s “Nazi Era” series by going back in time to 1980 and a darkened Broadway theater where his interest in LGBTQ Holocaust history was kindled. Join Eric as we embark on a 12-episode journey and honor Holocaust Remembrance Day. Visit our episode webpage for a transcript of the episode. For exclusive Making Gay History bonus content, join our Patreon community. ——— -1993 interview with Pierre Seel courtesy of Là-Bas Si J'y Suis.  -RG-50.030.0019, oral history interview with Frieda Belinfante, courtesy of the Jeff and Toby Herr Oral History Archive, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, D.C. For more information about the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, go here.   -Lucy Salani footage courtesy of Matteo Botrugno and Daniele Coluccini, directors of C'è un soffio di vita soltanto (2021), produced by Blue Mirror and Kimerafilm, distributed by True Colours.  ———