Gary M Thoren Jr

Forgotten Queers

History EN ↓ 39 episodes

This is Forgotten Queers, a show about the queer figures history pushed aside. They were once stars, leaders, icons — but time, shame, and prejudice buried their names. We’re here to remember them, to honor them, and to say: you don’t get to forget us. Cover art photo provided by Alexander Grey on Unsplash: https://unsplash.com/ @sharonmccutcheon?utm_source=spreaker&utm_medium=referral Cover art photo provided by Shannia Christanty on Unsplash: https://unsplash.com/ @shanniacy?utm_source=spreaker&utm_medium=referral Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/forgotten...

Be sure to visit the podcast's website and support the creator: www.spreaker.com

Author

Gary M Thoren Jr

Category

History

Podcast website

www.spreaker.com

Latest episode

Oct 25, 2026

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Episodes

Forgotten Queer Clive Barker 21.01.2026

Stephen King said Clive Barker was the future of horror. I tend to agree. Whether you know him best from his books, movies, comics or art he’s a Queer Icon who hopefully will never be forgotten 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/forgotten-queers--6719466/support . Please follow me on Facebook, BlueSky,TikToc,Twitter at Gary Thoren. We must never forget...

Forgotten Queer Chris Kanyon 13.01.2026

Chris Kanyon from Physical Therapist to Wrestling Superstar to Wrestling joke 😢. Find out more on this week’s Episode of Forgotten Queers Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/forgotten-queers--6719466/support . Please follow me on Facebook, BlueSky,TikToc,Twitter at Gary Thoren. We must never forget our Forgotten Queers

Forgotten Queer Rob Halford 07.01.2026

Rob Halford lead vocalist of Judas Priest. He joined them in 1973. They received a 2010 Grammy award for best metal performance. Learn more in this podcast. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/forgotten-queers--6719466/support . Please follow me on Facebook, BlueSky,TikToc,Twitter at Gary Thoren. We must never forget our Forgotten Queers

Forgotten Queer Keith Haring 31.12.2025

Moved to New York City in 1978 to study painting at the School of Visual Arts Started his career as a graffiti artist in subway stations using white chaulk on black, unused advertisement boards. 1980: He used New York lamp posts to post graphic letter messages around the city. “Regan Slain By Hero Cop” “Pope killed for Freed Hostage” 1980: Participated in The Times Square Show with one of his earl...

Danny Lockin 26.12.2025

Danny Lockin was born in Hawaii in 1943,Not for any glamorous reasons but because that’s where dad Joseph was an operations manager for Dole Pineapple well anyway the family didn’t stay there long and fairly soon relocated to Omaha, Nebraska. Mom also known as Jean, who had been a dancer in the last raspy gasps of The vaudeville circuit , opened up a successful dance studio. From an early age Dann...

Charles Nelson Reilly — To Fabulous to Forget 03.11.2025

Today we remember a man who could out-quipp anyone on television and still go home alone because America wasn’t ready for his truth. Charles Nelson Reilly was more than the wise-cracking guest on Match Game—he was a Tony-winning actor, a master director, and a pioneer of coded queer visibility in mid-century America. In this episode, I dive into the life of this one-of-a-kind performer: his Broadw...

Peter Allen: The Boy from Tenterfield to Broadway 20.10.2025

Peter Richard Woolnough Allen, born in Tenterfield, Australia, lived a life that swung between dazzling fame and deep heartbreak. Discovered in Hong Kong by Judy Garland’s husband, he later married her daughter, Liza Minnelli—a glamorous but short-lived union. Peter’s flamboyant stage presence and heartfelt songwriting defined an era: he co-wrote I Honestly Love You, Don’t Cry Out Loud, and Arthur...

Dirk Bogarde - The Gentleman Rebel 13.10.2025

Dirk Bogarde was Britain’s matinee idol turned quiet revolutionary. From his charming Doctor in the House films to the daring Victim (1961)—the first British movie to say “homosexual” aloud—Bogarde risked his career to bring empathy and truth to queer lives on screen. A war veteran, writer, and lifelong partner to Anthony Forwood, he evolved from heart-throb to acclaimed artist in The Servant, Dea...

Coco - The Forgotten Golden Girl 06.10.2025

What happened to Coco on the Golden Girls? One Episode there the next gone. Just like he never existed? Cover up? Or just 80’s conservatism poking through! Enjoy Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/forgotten-queers--6719466/support . Please follow me on Facebook, BlueSky,TikToc,Twitter at Gary Thoren. We must never forget our Forgotten Queers

Sal Mineo 29.09.2025

Sal Mineo’s life was as dazzling as it was tragic—a story of talent, struggle, and queerness in a Hollywood that wasn’t ready for him. Born in the Bronx in 1939 to Italian immigrant parents, Mineo grew up tough but artistic, finding early success on Broadway as the young Prince Chulalongkorn opposite Yul Brynner in The King and I. His breakout, though, came on the silver screen. At just 16, he sta...

Ella Nazimova 22.09.2025

Alla Nazimova was one of the brightest, boldest, and most complicated figures of early Hollywood — a woman who refused to live small. Born in 1879 in Yalta, on the Crimean coast, she survived a lonely childhood and strict Russian schooling before finding her calling on the stage. Trained at the Moscow Art Theatre under Stanislavski, she carried a fire and intensity that would soon make her a sensa...

William “Billy” Haines 08.09.2025

illiam “Billy” Haines was born in 1900 in Staunton, Virginia, the child of a working-class family in a town too small to hold him. At just 14, he ran away with another boy choosing freedom over the small-town suffocation of staying. He eventually landed in New York, where his good looks carried him into modeling, and in a twist of fate, straight into MGM’s orbit. At 22, he boarded a train west to...

Dorothy Arzner 01.09.2025

Dorothy Arzner may not be a household name today, but in the 1920s through the 1940s she was a rare force in Hollywood: the only woman directing features inside the studio system, a technical innovator, a champion of actresses, and a queer woman who lived openly with her partner for over four decades. Her life, career, and community place her at the very heart of forgotten queer history — and in t...

Ramon Navarro 24.08.2025

amón Novarro was a Mexican-American actor who rose to fame in the silent era, becoming one of Hollywood’s first Latin heartthrobs. Best known for his role in Ben-Hur (1925), he rivaled Rudolph Valentino in star power. Behind the glamour, Novarro was a gay man navigating an industry and a culture that demanded secrecy. He resisted pressure from studio moguls like Louis B. Mayer to enter a “lavender...

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