QueerCore Podcast

PART TWO: It’s a queer true-crime story, political mystery, and historical investigation unlike anything the curious world has ever been exposed to. 9:00-9:15 PM, July 8, 1979: Oscar streaker, gallerist, and bisexual political activist Robert Opel is shot in the head from a foot away. Weeks earlier, he had taken on the establishment and the San Francisco police. He was also the owner of Fey-Way St...

PART ONE: It’s a queer true-crime story, political mystery, and historical investigation unlike anything the curious world has ever been exposed to. 9:00-9:15 PM, July 8, 1979: Oscar streaker, gallerist, and bisexual political activist Robert Opel is shot in the head from a foot away. Weeks earlier, he had taken on the establishment and the San Francisco police. He was also the owner of Fey-Way St...

Bang. 10:40 PM. July 8, 1979: Robert Opel is dead. We know who pulled the trigger, or do we? Robert Opel was a bisexual political activist, gallerist, and 1974 Oscar streaker. He was a pioneer: his gallery, Fey-Way Studios, in San Francisco showed artist Tom of Finland and photographer Robert Mapplethorpe before nearly everywhere else. Prior to being shot in the head from about a foot away, Opel p...

We’re revisiting a 2023 throwback episode about the Mother of Gay Liberation, Martha Shelley. Martha Shelley joined the movement in the mid-1960s and went on to co-found the Gay Liberation Front in New York City in 1969, immediately after the June 28, 1969, Stonewall Rebellion. Martha kept going: Rat magazine, Radicalesbians, radio... We are going to say it, Martha Shelley is the most important wo...

Don’t call it “gay lib,” says Ginny Berson, a pivotal member of the Furies. “Gay lib” doesn’t justify it. This episode is an oral history with Ginny Berson and her comrade in the lacking revolution, Coletta Reid. They were both members of the Furies, a lesbian “separatist” activist group based in Washington, D.C., active from 1971 to 1972. They lived collectively and published a widely circulated...

The Angels of Light are back and are breaking ground. Why have you not heard about them before? It’s a crime. They existed for over a decade. Who are they? A San Francisco free theater troupe founded in the aftermath of the Cockettes. They performed for free and believed theater should be accessible to everyone. Their story is one of the most overlooked chapters in LGBTQ history. This oral history...

Far out, brother! Sister! We now bring you Tahara, a gender bender who opened doors during the gay liberation revolution. Tahara was part of the Berkeley Gay Liberation Front, the Cockettes, the Angels of Light, and more! Given the timing, Tahara was one of the first gay liberation activists and performers in history. We're talking Stonewall era—1969. The Cockettes were a hippie drag performance t...

Six years in the making, we are excited to bring you the Mother of Us All, Bambi Lake. Bambi Lake changed the world and broke hearts. She joined the Angels of Light, the legendary free theater troupe founded by members of the Cockettes, in 1971 and went on to perform around the world. She made San Francisco her home base, where she sang, acted, and wrote. A fearless performer, poet, author, and tr...

PART TWO: Perry Brass and Don Kilhefner were active in the movement when gay liberation was just beginning and had not yet been recognized as such. Shortly after the Stonewall Riots in 1969, Don became a member of the Los Angeles Gay Liberation Front and a founder of what would become the Los Angeles LGBT Center. Perry Brass became active in New York's Gay Liberation Front and worked on Come Out!...

Perry Brass and Don Kilhefner were active in the movement when gay liberation was just beginning and had not yet been recognized as such. Shortly after the Stonewall Riots in 1969, Don became a member of the Los Angeles Gay Liberation Front and a founder of what would become the Los Angeles LGBT Center. Perry Brass became active in New York's Gay Liberation Front and worked on Come Out! , one of t...

We’re revisiting a 2020 throwback episode about the legendary Theatre of the Ridiculous — the outrageous, glitter-soaked underground movement that transformed queer performance and Downtown New York culture. Featuring conversations with Ruby Lynn Reyner, Agosto Machado, and Tony Zanetta, this episode captures the chaos, creativity, and rebellion of a scene that shattered artistic boundaries. Revis...

This episode takes us through the life of Jon Platania, a key member of the Los Angeles Gay Liberation Front. Jon helped create concrete ways for LGBTQ+ people to support one another through radical ideas. After joining the GLF in 1970, Jon became an active member of a movement focused not only on encouraging queer people to organize and fight back against their oppression, but also to care for on...

In this episode, three individuals describe life during and after the Stonewall Uprising, sharing their authentic accounts of the struggles they faced as they participated in the newly formed gay liberation movement. First-hand accounts are given by Perry Brass (NYC Gay Liberation Front), Don Kilhefner (LA Gay Liberation Front), and Rich Wandel (NYC Gay Activists Alliance)—providing a personal, vi...

In this episode you'll hear the unedited audio recording of a Zoom webinar called No Intermission , which took place on March 29, 2026, featuring the legendary underground artists, Cherry Vanilla and Tony Zanetta, and their reflections on the powerful convergence of queer liberation, the avant-garde theater scene, and rock and roll that occurred in New York and London during the latter half of the...

Tony Zanetta, an influential figure in both the glam rock and Off Broadway scene, helped create a period in which theater, music, and identity came together in spectacular, gender-smashed fashion. He worked as an actor in innovative plays and joined MainMan when David Bowie was at his most popular, one of the major forces behind glam rock. Tony became a part of a performance, persona, and pop cult...

Cherry Vanilla is a fearless, iconic figure in glam rock, punk, and the experimental underground of New York City. She was also a publicist for David Bowie, contributing significantly to the development of the Ziggy Stardust mystique. In the 1970s, she started performing her poetry as songs and released two albums for RCA in 1978 and 1979, in the early days of punk. Aside from music, Cherry Vanill...

The rainbow flag is one of the most well-known symbols in the world. It is celebrated as a representation of LGBTQ pride and liberation. It is widely thought to be the work of Gilbert Baker. However, history is often messier than the story we inherit. In this episode, we are joined by Faerie Argyle Rainbow. What she contributed to the flag's creation has largely been forgotten or misattributed, bu...

The episode dives into the life and contributions of John Lauritsen, an early member of the New York City Gay Liberation Front and the Gay Activists Alliance, a historian, and an interesting figure. John aided in the recovery of many lost parts of LGBTQ history, but his views on different aspects within the gay movement have made him one of the most controversial figures, especially his contradict...

A live, one-night-only special podcast episode documenting a famous, rare archived Co*ckette's icon through story, memory, and the contributions of many has been produced. This episode was performed in front of an audience in New York City and featured voices from many different generations and backgrounds. The readings included personal stories, live performance, and select items from his archive...

In this episode, August returns to Rumi Missabu — Cockette, runaway, and legend — in a raw, intimate conversation recorded less than three months before Rumi’s death on April 2, 2024. Born in Hollywood and self-exiled from official life for decades, Rumi helped found the Cockettes, San Francisco’s glitter-drenched, anarchic performance collective that shattered gender and theatrical norms at the h...

This episode takes a look at the life of Rumi Missabu, a founding member of the late 1960s and early 1970s Cockettes, a radical drag performer, and a counterculture visionary who spent years reshaping what art and identity were during his time. After the dissolution of the Cockettes, Rumi spent over 35 years off the grid, living in almost complete anonymity; however, his contributions to drag, per...

In this episode, we have Dr. Rick Huskey, a physician and theologian who was instrumental in the creation of Affirmation: United Methodists for LGBTQ Concerns. As a college student in 1971, Rick was one of the first to help create the Northfield, MN, Gay Liberation Front. He later took the fight for LGBTQ inclusion in the United Methodist Church head-on and challenged the church from within. Doing...

In 1962, seven years before Stonewall, Robbie Robinson co-founded the Tavern Guild, which was America’s first association of gay bars. A true pioneer for LGBTQ+ rights, he played an integral role in creating the organization that systematized San Francisco's gay nightlife and worked toward visibility and safety for the LGBTQ+ community. In this episode, Robbie talks about his trailblazing work wit...

Part One was so juicy, we are bringing you Part Two. It's all about Reverend Robert Mary Clement, a pioneer in the LGBTQ religious movement. This is Your Church delves deeper into the life of Reverend Clement, spotlighting his groundbreaking ministry in New York City during the earliest years of gay liberation. We explore how the Church of the Beloved Disciple became a spiritual home for queer peo...

In this episode, you will be introduced to Reverend Robert Mary Clement, one of the very first openly gay bishops in the U.S. Before marriage equality was even on the radar, Clement marched in the original Pride parades wearing his clerical collar and conducted some of the first public "Holy Unions" for same-sex couples. You will hear about how he founded the Church of the Beloved Disciple and the...