These Old Queers

Megan shares the story of artists, activist antifa couple: Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore. Here's hoping in these dark, despotic times their story of courage and radical activism can inspire us moving forward. CW: anorexia, suicide Sources: 2018 novel, Never Anyone But You , RupertThomson https://www.huckmag.com/article/claude-cahun-jerseys-queer-anti-nazi-freedom-fighter https://greyartmuseum.nyu....

In this episode, Thomas tells the infuriating saga of the withholding of medical care - or rather, murder - of transman, Robert Eads. CW: this episode deals with topics related to accessible healthcare/preventative healthcare of trans people which some might find upsetting. Please take care while listening. Sources: Kate Davis. "Southern Comfort." 2001. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IH0L3wlV0hg...

Megan shares the story of Eleanor Butler (1739–1829) and Sarah Ponsonby (1755–1831) - known as the Ladies of Llangollen: an intrepid Irish lesbian couple who eloped to Wales to live their truth...and to invent lesbogothcottagecore. Because #lesbiansinventedeverything Sources: To the Lady E.B. and the Hon. Miss P, link: http://l-adam-mekler.com/ww_ladies.pdf Poem of the Week: Anna Seward’s ‘Llangol...

Thomas tells us about pioneering German sexologist, Magnus Hirschfeld and the Institute for Sexual Research during the height of the Weimar Republic and through to its destruction by the Nazis. Sources: Karl M. Baer.  Memoirs of a Man's Maiden Years.  University of Pennsylvania Press: 2009. (Original German edition published in 1907, author's name given as N.O. Body). Heike Bauer.  The Hir...

Fresh from their travels in Egypt, Megan talks to us about queer aspects of ancient Egypt that prove that queer folx have been around for quite a long time...despite attempts to water down and suppress expressions of queer longing by some homophobic historians and archeologists.

Thomas takes us through the world of 17th and 18th century smut...which curiously features a wealth of lesbian pornography. Sources: The School of Venus, or the Ladies Delight, Reduced into Rules of Practice (Orig. L'Ecole des filles, ou la Philosophie des dames, attributed to Michel Millot and Jean L'Ange 1650.) The School of Women (Orig. Aloisiae Sigae Toletanae Satyra sotadica de arcani...

Megan tells the heart-wrenching story of the fire of a neighborhood bar in 1973 that ripped through the local LBGTQIA+ community, and became the catalyst for the gay rights movement in New Orleans, Louisiana. *Content Warning* This episode involves the use of anti-gay slurs, as well as content that might be difficult to listen to. Please take care while listening. Sources: Fieseler, Robert W. Tind...

Thomas tells us about a lesser-known queer uprising that happened in 1966 at an all night diner in San Francisco, California. Sources: Stryker, Susan. Transgender History. New York City: Seal Press, 2008. (Revised edition, 2017). Silverman, Victor and Susan Stryker, dirs. "Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton's Cafeteria." 2005. Personna, Donna, Victor Silverman, Susan Stryker, and...

Thomas and Megan introduce themselves, discuss their queer coming-of-age experiences and why they identify as queer. In These Old Queers, they discuss queer history, identity and aging as queer people. image: Thomas Donald Jacobs https://www.bugsnart.com/ music: Harry Macdonough and the Orpheus Quartet - 'Pretty Baby' (1916) - Written by Egbert Van Alstyne, Tony Jackson and Gus Kahn - Libr...