Playlist: Pride Month
Compiled By: PRX Editors
Hour+ (Over 1:00:01)
Supreme Court Oral Arguments from March 26, 2013
From PRX | 01:19:59
Raw, free audio from the Supreme Court case Hollingsworth v. Perry.
- Playing
- Supreme Court Oral Arguments from March 26, 2013
- From
- PRX
Original audio files and a PDF transcript can be found here on the Supreme Court's website.
¡Gaytino!
From Camino Real Productions, LLC | 56:24
¡Gaytino! - written and performed by Dan Guerrero - is a remarkable life journey from 1950s East LA to New York’s Great White Way in the 60s and 70s and back to Hollywood. A gay Chicano moves from the back of the bus to the front of American pop culture in this autobiographical play with music.
- Playing
- ¡Gaytino!
- From
- Camino Real Productions, LLC
¡Gaytino! is a remarkable life journey from 1950s East LA to New York’s Great White Way in the 60s and 70s and back to Hollywood. Dan Guerrero, a gay Chicano, moves from the back of the bus to the front of American pop culture in this autobiographical play with music. The solo piece is driven by Dan’s lifelong friendship with the late Chicano artist Carlos Almaraz and by Dan’s father, Chicano music legend, Lalo Guerrero. The performance travels through decades of Mexican-American history and the gay experience from a unique and personal perspective. Touching, provocative, hilarious and absolutely one-of-a-kind, Dan Guerrero brings his two fascinating worlds together in a riveting solo show.
Hour (49:00-1:00:00)
The Coming Out-iversary
From Canadian Broadcasting Corporation | 54:00
This man threw himself a 'coming out' party, 40 years after first declaring his sexual orientation. From CBC's "The Doc Project"
- Playing
- The Coming Out-iversary
- From
- Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
"The Coming Out-iversary" from CBC's The Doc Project
Long description:
In April of 2021, Alan Gotlib threw a 40th anniversary party. It was held COVID-style — a YouTube livestream, complete with guests, music and an epic speech. But it wasn’t a birthday, or a wedding anniversary. Alan was celebrating 40 years since he first came out as gay, in 1981. Alan didn’t know any other gay people and it was the early days of the AIDS epidemic, with gay panic about to peak. Also, Alan had no idea how to tell his parents, both religious Jewish Holocaust survivors, without being disowned. But he made it through. And that’s cause for celebration. This is Alan’s story: looking forward, by looking back on a life well lived as an out gay man.
Web article from CBC's The Doc Project:
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/docproject
'I was afraid'
'They were in shock'
Peacemaking in LGBTQ Communities
From Good Radio Shows, Inc. | Part of the Peace Talks Radio: Weekly Hour Long Episodes series | 59:01
This time on PEACE TALKS RADIO, a three-part program about peacemaking in LGBTQ communities.
Coming out can lead to a sense of personal peace that many people spend their whole lives seeking. But coming out can sometimes bring about conflict with family, friends, and the larger society in which we live. On this month’s episode of Peace Talks Radio, correspondent Sarah Holtz speaks with three individuals who came out about their sexual orientation and gender identity and found their own personal peace. The three guests on today’s show represent an effort within the LGBTQ community to challenge accepted norms of gender identity and sexual orientation in order to envision a more inclusive world.
- Playing
- Peacemaking in LGBTQ Communities
- From
- Good Radio Shows, Inc.
Dying Words: The AIDS Reporting of Jeffrey Schmalz
From Kerry Donahue | 53:59
Twenty-five years ago, New York Times reporter Jeffrey Schmalz ended up in the middle of one of the biggest stories of our time: He had AIDS. His writing about the disease changed journalism and himself.
Dying Words, hosted by Rachel Maddow, is about Jeff Schmalz and the groundbreaking reporting he did on AIDS for the New York Times even as he was dying of the disease in the early 1990s. Through Jeff's story, it also describes the experiences of gay and lesbian journalists during a much less tolerant time in major news organizations.
Jeff Schmalz was a prodigiously talented, fast-rising editor at the New York Times - he stayed closeted from the newsroom management, especially A.M. "Abe" Rosenthal, a brilliant but homophobic executive editor. In late December 1990, Jeff had a seizure at his desk. He was soon diagnosed with AIDS - his T-cell count was two and he had PML, a AIDS related brain infection usually fatal within months. Astonishingly, Jeff responded well to AZT and was able to return to work within the year. When he did, he returned on a mission: to report and write a series of deeply felt articles about the human toll of the AIDS epidemic. He pushed the Times' boundaries and changed journalism.
Jeff died in 1993, just a month before his 40th birthday, and over the years since then, Sam Freedman's own mission has been to preserve Jeff's story for posterity. That effort has taken the form of this public radio documentary and a companion book by the same name, published by CUNY Journalism Press, December 1, 2015. Sam Freedman is the author of seven non-fiction books, a former reporter for the New York Times, and an professor for more than two decades at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
The documentary features archival audio from interviews with Jeff Schmalz by ABC News in the first half of 1993, as well as other archival materials provided by Jeff's sister, Wendy Schmalz including interviews with President Bill Clinton and Magic Johnson. Other key sources heard in the documentary include best-selling author Anna Quindlen, New Yorker writer Michael Spector, New York magazine editor Adam Moss, New York Times reporters Adam Nagourney and David Dunlap, former New York Times reporters Richard Meislin and Michael Norman, former New York Times News Editor Allan Siegal, AIDS activist Mary Fisher, journalist and historian Eric Marcus, and Jeff's sister Wendy Schmalz and her husband Michael Wilde.
Beyond Stonewall: From Power to Pride
From Open Source | Part of the Open Source with Christopher Lydon series | 59:00
A conversation with Gary Bailey, Larry Kessler, Sue Katz, Michael Bronski, Stephanie Burt, and Maura Healey about the LGBTQ movement, looking back 50 years to the Stonewall Uprising.
- Playing
- Beyond Stonewall: From Power to Pride
- From
- Open Source
The Stonewall Uprising, fifty years ago, was chapter one in modern LGBTQ history. It was rough and ready in New York. It was sexy and often celebratory in the San Francisco version. In Boston, true to character, gay struggle was thoughtful, wordy, networked, and momentous (in writing the first gay marriage law in 2004). Everywhere, the LGBTQ cause was older, wider, and deeper than we knew, in working classes and elites. Nineteenth-century Boston, after all, had put a name on the Boston Marriage of single ladies. Cruising culture was stratified—not the same on Boston Common as on the Public Garden, by the swan-boats. Gay or thought-to-be-gay politicians got reelected in Massachusetts, before a word was spoken. On this episode, a fresh look back.
Stonewall, fifty years ago, is a marker in modern memory—more nearly a million markers in conflicting memories. The Rashomon Effect is the rule post-Stonewall: no two eye-witnesses had seen the same event. Did the pitched battle in a mob-run gay bar in Manhattan, between fed-up patrons and city cops, really happen? Were women, black, and Latino militants in the forefront? Have any two people experienced the same Sexual Revolution over the last half-century? And was the effect of it all inclusion: to normalize once-forbidden behavior in gay marriage, for example? Or was the effect disruption and liberation: to radicalize all thinking about sex, gender, and society? The arguments are still alive, and they’re not all in New York. We’re digging up the Stonewall years and beyond in New England for this episode, with people who lived them in range of Boston.
A Different Kind of Coming Out: A 'Nancy' Pride Special
From [redacted] [redacted] | 58:59
Coming out means taking a risk and sharing something deeply personal with another person. In this hour-long episode of Nancy, the critically acclaimed podcast about the queer experience, hosts Tobin Low and Kathy Tu bring you three stories about different kinds of coming out.
Coming out means taking a risk and sharing something deeply personal with another person. In this hour-long episode of Nancy, the critically acclaimed podcast about the queer experience, hosts Tobin Low and Kathy Tu bring you three stories about different kinds of coming out. You'll hear from two gay men of different generations about what it's like to disclose their HIV status; a young woman who tracks down the queer role model she didn't know she needed; and a young man trying to save his father's life, even if it means a painful confrontation.
Polk Street Stories
From Atlantic Public Media | Part of the The Transom Radio Specials series | 54:00
An oral history of the Polk Street neighborhood in San Francisco, as told by those who have called it home.
- Playing
- Polk Street Stories
- From
- Atlantic Public Media
Public Historian Joey Plaster spent over a year gathering more than 70 interviews from people experiencing Polk Street's transition from a working class queer neighborhood to an upscale entertainment district. This hour contains stories from the alleys and bars, churches, shelters and clubs. It is an oral history of a place invented by those who had no other home.
"I came to San Francisco in part to figure out what it means to be queer – I came to what my uncle called the land of fruit and nuts. If the famous gay Castro neighborhood was scrubbed clean and glossy, I was always more attracted to its black sheep sister, the queer world of Polk Street. It was a whole world to itself, just about ten blocks of low rent hotels, bars and liquor stores, all sandwiched in between the gritty Tenderloin, City Hall, and the upscale Nob Hill. But by the time I got there, that scene was receding, and luxury condos and posh clubs were taking its place. People said gentrification was displacing the down and out folks who had long made Polk Street their home. Young queer activist groups held protests. Drag queens led take back the Polk marches. The press chimed in – some called it a death, some a renaissance.
Gay in the Eyes of God: An Hour-Long Special
From Interfaith Voices | Part of the Gay in the Eyes of God: A 21-Part Series series | 59:00
Weaving personal stories with interpretations of scripture, we explore how America’s major faith traditions deal with acceptance of LGBT people.
Open any Torah, Bible or Koran, and the passages about homosexuality seem clear: being gay is an abomination; a sin; something that incurs the wrath of God. But for some, these interpretations are changing.
"Gay in the Eyes of God" is a special production of Interfaith Voices, the leading religion news magazine on public radio. It explores the ways in which the major American religious traditions (Christianity, Judaism and Islam) grapple with acceptance of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.
We present personal stories as well as interpretations of scripture and theology - both traditional and progressive. The series features stories from:
• Celestine and Hilary - a Catholic couple where one partner is transgender
• A Catholic lesbian who decides the only way to be faithful is to be celibate
• Gay and lesbian Orthodox Jews in Brooklyn
• An Orthodox rabbi who defends tradition
• An openly gay imam who leads a welcoming service in a Washington, DC mosque
• An African-American Christian woman who struggles with her father over being a lesbian
"Gay in the Eyes of God" comes an important time, as the Supreme Court takes up the Defense of Marriage Act and Proposition 8, and the nation becomes more accepting of LGBT people. Still, the country is divided, and our series reflects many different views on this issue.
This special features some of the best interviews from our 21-part series on this topic .
Made with the support of the Arcus Foundation.
Trans in the Eyes of God (Series)
Produced by Interfaith Voices
A series exploring the spiritual lives of transgender people.
Most recent piece in this series:
Trans in the Eyes of God: Yvonne Taylor
From Interfaith Voices | Part of the Trans in the Eyes of God series | 59:00
- Playing
- Trans in the Eyes of God: Yvonne Taylor
- From
- Interfaith Voices
In the Church of England, baptism can only happen once in a person’s lifetime. But what about transgender people, who have taken on a new name to conform to the gender with which they identify? Yvonne "Yve" Taylor, a 56-year-old transgender woman who lives in Exeter, loves her church but wants to be affirmed as the woman she is now – not the boy baptized by her family decades ago. “Keith in the physical sense is no longer with us. It’s Yvonne that lives, and Yvonne’s never been baptized,” she says.
From the floor debate at the 2017 General Synod that determined whether the church would accept this new liturgy, we hear two Church of England clergy – one who favored affirming transgender people in a new liturgy – and one who opposed it – explain their reasoning. As a gay person, the Rev. Christopher Newlands says he understands how transgender people need to be embraced within the church, and why their acceptance needs to be “explicit.” Dr. Ian Paul calls the vote on the liturgy “a shame,” and argues that it was a pastoral response to an issue with theological, scientific and psychological dimensions that have yet to be fully explored.
Guest hosted by Rev. David Wynn. This series is made possible by the Arcus Foundation.
Gay Pride and Prejudice
From Philosophy Talk | Part of the Philosophy Talk series | 54:00
Why is the gay rights movement so threatening to some that it leads to moral panic?
- Playing
- Gay Pride and Prejudice
- From
- Philosophy Talk
The question of gay rights has become a hot button issue, with opposition taking on the air of a moral panic and support taking on the air of a righteous crusade. John and Ken attempt to dispassionately examine the competing scientific, religious, and philosophical visions of the nature of gayness. They explore the consequences of those competing arguments for and against gay rights with cultural and psychological anthropologist Gilbert Herdt, editor of Moral Panics, Sex Panics: Fear and the Fight over Sexual Rights.
States of Marriage
From Vermont Public | 52:00
Hour-long newscast compatible program examines the last decade of significant change in marriage rights for same-sex couples. This news documentary covers the politics legalities and advocacy efforts in various states, with particular attention to Vermont, Massachusetts, California, Iowa and Maine.
- Playing
- States of Marriage
- From
- Vermont Public
Same-sex marriage is one of the more controversial issues of our time. States Of Marriage: The Debate Over Gay Rights provides meaning and context not only to Vermont's history with this issue, but tells the national story as well.
Ten years ago in December, the Vermont Supreme Court changed the landscape of legal rights for same-sex couples when it handed down its ruling in the case Baker v. State of Vermont. The three same-sex couples who were the Baker plaintiffs had argued that they deserve the rights of marriage, just as heterosexual couples do.
In the decade since, the country has debated the deeply personal and very public questions of what marriage means and how to legally recognize gay and lesbian couples, and how ideas of family and civil rights are challenged by these questions.
States of Marriage examines how several states have approached legal recognition for gay and lesbian couples. We examine the divisive civil unions precedent in Vermont and how it set the stage for a marriage law in Massachusetts. Advocates on both sides of the issue explain their political and legal strategies to convince voters and courts of their cause, and we see the results of that debate in California, Iowa and Maine.
Out Loud
From Playing on Air | Part of the Playing on Air Hour Length Episodes series | 53:00
Three short plays. There You Are is about two women who meet at an outdoor concert and pursue the relationship they didn't dare to in their youth. In Small Things, a door-to-door evangelist on his last day of service is invited in for the first time by an older man. In If We're Using A Surrogate How Come I'm The One With Morning Sickness a gay parent comically rants about having a child. Interviews are with Leslie Ayvazian, Cary Pepper and James Lecesne.
- Playing
- Out Loud
- From
- Playing on Air
The first play, There You Are, with Olympia Dukakis and Maria Tucci, is about two widows who meet again by chance at an outdoor concert and consider the relationship they didn't dare pursue in their youth. Then in Small Things by Cary Pepper a young door-to-door evangelist (Bobby Steggert) on his last day of service is invited in by a troubled man (Jack Wetherall) for the first time after a year of door knocking. As the 18-year old and the older man exchange their stories, we experience the curative power of a story. In the third short, If We're Using A Surrogate How Come I'm The One With Morning Sickness, by Marco Pennette; a gay parent (Oscar winner James Lecesne) comically rants about having a child. Interviews are with playwrights Leslie Ayvazian, Cary Pepper and actor James Lecesne. There You Are by Leslie Ayvazian with Olympia Dukakis (Oscar for Moonstruck) and Maria Tucci. Small Things by Cary Pepper with Bobby Steggert (Tony nom. Ragtime) and Jack Wetherall ("Queer as Folk). If We're Using A Surrogate How Come I'm The One With The Morning Sickness by Marco Pennette with James Lecesne (Oscar for Trevor).
Pride outLoud
From outLoud Radio at Youth Radio | 59:00
From Sex Ed to vampires, stories on LGBT topics from youth producers.
- Playing
- Pride outLoud
- From
- outLoud Radio at Youth Radio
The youth producers of outLoud Radio bring you an hour of stories about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and otherwise non-straight life.
Half-Hour+ (30:01-48:59)
David Blankenhorn And The Battle Over Same-Sex Marriage
From WNPR Connecticut | 44:26
In this piece, you’ll hear an exclusive interview in which America’s most famous opponent of same-sex marriage announces that he has changed his mind, and he now supports marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples.
In the next hour, you’ll hear an exclusive interview in which America’s most famous opponent of same-sex marriage announces that he has changed his mind, and he now supports marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples.
When her daughter became her son (and vice versa)
From Stephanie Lepp | Part of the Reckonings series | 33:37
What happens when the person you thought was your daughter becomes your son, and vice versa? Two mothers struggle to accept their transgender children, and provide a hopeful window into how we might expand our understanding of gender.
'You have all these plans, all these dreams, and then it hits you: my daughter's no longer a daughter, she's a son.' In struggling to accept her daughter as a transgender man, Rita DiNicola had to surrender dreams of wedding dress shopping and biological grandchildren. Similarly, in accepting her son as a trans woman, Catherine Hyde had to reckon with the fact that — as a tomboy from a young age — she'd always wanted, and believed she'd gotten, a son as her only child. Together, Rita's and Catherine's stories provide a hopeful window into what might help other parents, and other people more broadly, overcome transphobia and expand our understanding of gender.
Half-Hour (24:00-30:00)
Fugitive Waves: The Making of the Homobile: A Story of Transportation, Civil Rights & Glitter ( and further stories of making...)
From The Kitchen Sisters | Part of the Fugitive Waves series | 21:17
In this episode of Fugitive Waves, The Kitchen Sisters ride the nightshift with The Homobile. Homobiles is a non-commercial, volunteer, 24/7 ride service created by Lynnee Breedlove for the "LGBTQRXT and transgender community and others around San Francisco who feel the need for safe, dependable rides, outside traditional services. "Moes getting hoes where they needs to goes," is their motto. Homobiles is for people who feel at risk because they don't conform to sexual or gender norms and have been targets of rudeness or shame or violence, says Lynne. Homobiles is a network of independent drivers who pilot their own cars, a non-profit organization that caters to this underserved, and sometimes harassed community in the Bay Area. This community car service operates on donations. No one is turned away for lack of funds. Homobiles has been called "Uber for Drag Queens," but with a mission that is social, not financial.
In this episode of Fugitive Waves, The Kitchen Sisters ride the nightshift with The Homobile. Homobiles is a non-commercial, volunteer, 24/7 ride service created by Lynnee Breedlove for the "LGBTQRXT and transgender community and others around San Francisco who feel the need for safe, dependable rides, outside traditional services. "Moes getting hoes where they needs to goes," is their motto. Homobiles is for people who feel at risk because they don't conform to sexual or gender norms and have been targets of rudeness or shame or violence, says Lynne. Homobiles is a network of independent drivers who pilot their own cars, a non-profit organization that caters to this underserved, and sometimes harassed community in the Bay Area. This community car service operates on donations. No one is turned away for lack of funds. Homobiles has been called "Uber for Drag Queens," but with a mission that is social, not financial.
Peacemaking in LGBTQ Communities
From Good Radio Shows, Inc. | Part of the Peace Talks Radio: Weekly Half Hour Episodes series | 29:00
NOTE: THIS PROGRAM IS ALSO AVAILABLE IN A 59:00 VERSION.
https://exchange.prx.org/pieces/279226-peacemaking-in-lgbtq-communities
This time on PEACE TALKS RADIO, a three-part program about peacemaking in LGBTQ communities.
Coming out can lead to a sense of personal peace that many people spend their whole lives seeking. But coming out can sometimes bring about conflict with family, friends, and the larger society in which we live. On this month’s episode of Peace Talks Radio, correspondent Sarah Holtz speaks with three individuals who came out about their sexual orientation and gender identity and found their own personal peace. The three guests on today’s show represent an effort within the LGBTQ community to challenge accepted norms of gender identity and sexual orientation in order to envision a more inclusive world.
- Playing
- Peacemaking in LGBTQ Communities
- From
- Good Radio Shows, Inc.
Liberace & His Spectacular Crystal Closet
From Out in the Bay - Queer Radio from San Francisco | 29:42
A half-hour music-rich documentary on Liberace and the former Liberace Museum. His story is told using historical clips from Liberace himself in performance, and interviews/ tours with museum curators and Liberace's only approved tribute artist.
Th e hoopla over "Behind the Candelabra," HBO's Liberace movie , gave us reason to re-air a sound-rich half-hour documentary on the late "Mr. Showmanship"’s fabulous life and legacy, produced by Out in the Bay's Eric Jansen and told with love by Liberace Museum curators , a Liberace impersonator, and featuring Liberace’s own voice and music . So sit back ( preferably in marble tub with champagne in hand!), close your eyes and enjoy a trip back in time with the most spectacular, fabulous, outlandish, and ground-breaking closeted entertainer of the 20th century.
(Intro and outro tracks may be tailored; stations please contact producer to arrange.)
Music rights note:
All music in this piece is Liberace in concert with the London Philharmonic in 1982. C opyright owned and permission granted to use in this piece, for worldwide broadcast, by the Liberace Foundation.
Finding Miles
From Sarah P. Reynolds | 27:11
Miles was born in the wrong body. He was born Megan and after 15 years of serious depression and confusion about his place in the world, at age 28, he decided to do something about it. He chose the name Miles and began his slow and difficult transition into manhood. He brought an audio recorder with him. This is his story.
- Playing
- Finding Miles
- From
- Sarah P. Reynolds
Miles was born in the wrong body. He was born Megan and after 15 years of serious depression and confusion about his place in the world, at age 28, he decided to do something about it. He chose the name Miles and began his slow and difficult transition into manhood. He brought an audio recorder with him. This is his story.
Featured on Transom.org. For more information and conversation, visit "Finding Miles" on Transom.org.
Surviving Ex-Gay Therapy
From Making Contact | Part of the Making Contact series | 29:00
The growth of the ex-gay movement in the last two decades gave rise to hundreds of therapy programs aiming to change people’s sexual orientation. But there’s another growing movement, led by survivors of ex-gay therapy, to disprove and ban ex-gay therapy.
- Playing
- Surviving Ex-Gay Therapy
- From
- Making Contact
The growth of the ex-gay movement in the last two decades gave rise to hundreds of therapy programs aiming to change people’s sexual orientation. Many were explicitly religious, and claimed to be able to “pray away the gay”. But there’s a growing movement, led by survivors of ex-gay therapy, to disprove and ban these harmful practices for good. On this edition, stories of recovery from conversion therapy, and becoming ex- ex-gay.
Special Thanks to Robert Frazier of Monitor Studios and Terry Gildea of KUER.
Steve Moore: Tears of a Clown
From Charles McGuigan | Part of the A Grain of Sand series | 28:41
AIDS survivor Steve Moore was one of the first comedians in the international limelight to bring laughter to this devastating illness.
- Playing
- Steve Moore: Tears of a Clown
- From
- Charles McGuigan
Steve was born in Danville, Virginia to Skeets and Wilma, both factory workers. Steve was gay in a community that had trouble accepting his orientation. Again and again he was surprised by the love of his parents and brother Dale. Skeets and Wilma even began to challenge their own Southern Baptsit beliefs. Steve studied theatre, pursued acting in New York then headed out to L.A. where he became a comedian. Just as his career was blossoming, Steve was diagnosed with HIV. His world came to a stand still and he moved back to Virginia where he rented a travel trailer on a mountain lake. He hatched out a plan that would propel into the international limelight.
Segments (9:00-23:59)
Life of the Law #29 - Best of LIVE LAW 3 "Love and the Law"
From Life of the Law | Part of the Life of the Law series | 17:26
What’s love got to do with the law? Then again, what’s the law got to do with falling in love? From coast to coast, Life of the Law occasionally takes to the stage with LIVE LAW to present true, first-person stories about how the law shapes and transforms lives.
Our most recent LIVE LAW 3 event in San Francisco took on the theme of LOVE and the Law, and our first storyteller was Mark Leno, a state Senator in California. Ten years ago, Leno made the decision to fight “a war over a word.”
Jim Brosnahan is a senior trial attorney at Morrison and Forester, and says the law has absolutely nothing and everything to do with falling in love. For Brosnahan, it all began with a dinner more than fifty years ago.
Extra special thanks to LIVE LAW 3′s host, Snap Judgment’s Glynn Washington.LIVE LAW 4 is coming to Minneapolis’s Bryan-Lake Bowl on May 31st.Have a story idea? Email our producer Mary Adkins at mary.adkins@lifeofthelaw.org .Gay Voice
From The Organist | 12:26
Thomas Rogers on the origins of the gay male voice.
- Playing
- Gay Voice
- From
- The Organist
Thomas Rogers on the origins of the gay male voice. Produced by Jenna Weiss-Berman.
There were ghosts everywhere: AIDS in Provincetown
From Sarah Yahm | 12:13
Provincetown is both a gay vacation mecca and a small fishing village on the tip of Cape Cod. This piece examines the way AIDS affected this unique small town in the '80s and '90s.
From Memorial Day to Labor Day Provincetown Massachusetts is one of the world's largest and most well known gay vacation meccas. This small fishing village is festooned with pride flags, drag queens, and gay couples of all ages holding hands and ice cream cones. But in the late 80's and 90's, while the party continued, 10 percent of Provincetown's year round population was dying of AIDS. And most of the remaining 90 percent were tending to them. This piece is about what it was like to live and die in this small town in the midst of this epidemic and the surreal mix of celebration and devastation.
The Boundaries of Love in the Holy Land
From Bending Borders | Part of the Love is Complicated series | 12:18
It is rare for an Israeli and a Palestinian to fall in love. There are physical barriers, as Israelis can’t enter Palestinian areas, and Palestinians can’t enter Israeli areas, without special permits. There are also cultural barriers, of course. But a year ago, two 29-year-old men - one from Jerusalem, the other from a West Bank village - met one another and demonstrated that sometimes love can be found. Reporter Daniel Estrin brings us their story.
- Playing
- The Boundaries of Love in the Holy Land
- From
- Bending Borders
This production is part of the Global Story Project, with support from the Open Society Foundations. Presented by PRX, the Public Radio Exchange.
Bon Voyage
From Julia Scott | 23:00
Paul Perkovic and his husband, Eric Trefelner, have lived in style for 36 years. When they find out that Paul has inoperable pancreatic cancer, they decide he should go out in style, too. Bon Voyage brings the listener along on the intimate, emotional journey of a same-sex couple coping with mortality.
- Playing
- Bon Voyage
- From
- Julia Scott
RAVE REVIEW: The Guardian calls BON VOYAGE "Vivid and beautifully told ... A tremendous listen: you felt as if you knew both subjects within moments, and got an insight into the hardest moments a relationship will face."
Paul Perkovic and his husband, Eric Trefelner, have lived in style for 36 years. When they find out that Paul has inoperable pancreatic cancer, they decide he should go out in style, too. Eric plans a lavish, quarter million-dollar "Bon Voyage" party at a fine arts museum in San Francisco. Paul and Eric aren't just planning a party; they're trying to choreograph a death. But when relationship breakdowns developm that neither man expects, the couple discovers that death has its own agenda. BON VOYAGE brings the listener along on the intimate, emotional journey of a same-sex couple coping with mortality.
STORY UPDATE : Paul Perkovic died November 26, 2012, in Eric Trefelner's arms at their home in Montara, Calif.
PRODUCER Julia Scott is an award-winning radio producer, journalist and essayist based in San Francisco. She produces documentaries and news features for several nationally syndicated programs. Her previous work is archived at www.juliascott.net .
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER Anne Donohue is Associate Professor of Journalism at Boston University. She was the special projects editor at Monitor Radio for five years, and has also been a contributor to NPR, the BBC, WGBH, WBUR and other public radio programs.
BON VOYAGE is part of Real America, a series from the BBC World Service that enlisted four American producers to tell stories found only in America.
Gay in the Eyes of God: A 21-Part Series (Series)
Produced by Interfaith Voices
(Includes pieces of various lengths. See also the hour-long special above.) Open any Torah, Bible or Koran, and the passages about homosexuality seem clear: being gay is an abomination; a sin; something that incurs the wrath of God. But for many, these interpretations are changing.
"Gay in the Eyes of God" is a special production of Interfaith Voices, the leading religion news magazine on public radio. It explores the ways in which the major American religious traditions (Christianity, Judaism and Islam) grapple with acceptance of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.
Most recent piece in this series:
Gay in the Eyes of God: An Hour-Long Special
From Interfaith Voices | Part of the Gay in the Eyes of God: A 21-Part Series series | 59:00
Open any Torah, Bible or Koran, and the passages about homosexuality seem clear: being gay is an abomination; a sin; something that incurs the wrath of God. But for some, these interpretations are changing.
"Gay in the Eyes of God" is a special production of Interfaith Voices, the leading religion news magazine on public radio. It explores the ways in which the major American religious traditions (Christianity, Judaism and Islam) grapple with acceptance of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.
We present personal stories as well as interpretations of scripture and theology - both traditional and progressive. The series features stories from:
• Celestine and Hilary - a Catholic couple where one partner is transgender
• A Catholic lesbian who decides the only way to be faithful is to be celibate
• Gay and lesbian Orthodox Jews in Brooklyn
• An Orthodox rabbi who defends tradition
• An openly gay imam who leads a welcoming service in a Washington, DC mosque
• An African-American Christian woman who struggles with her father over being a lesbian
"Gay in the Eyes of God" comes an important time, as the Supreme Court takes up the Defense of Marriage Act and Proposition 8, and the nation becomes more accepting of LGBT people. Still, the country is divided, and our series reflects many different views on this issue.
This special features some of the best interviews from our 21-part series on this topic .
Made with the support of the Arcus Foundation.
Voices: A Palestinian Lesbian's Story
From Radio Netherlands Worldwide | Part of the RN Focus on Torn Lives - Stories from the Holy Land series | 11:58
The story of Cindy, a Palestinian lesbian living in Israel.
Cindy is a 26-year-old Palestinian who lives in Israel. She and a dozen other Moslem women have set up a lesbian group, called Aswat or Voices. Its goal is to provide support to Palestinian and Arab-Israeli lesbians and to try to overcome some of the taboos regarding homosexuality.
For more information, contact joan@schardtmedia.org
Standing Up To 377
From Abbie Fentress Swanson | 09:40
A documentary examining the politics of homosexuality in India.
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- Standing Up To 377
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- Abbie Fentress Swanson
Some 50 million gay men and women living in India were technically illegal up until June 2009. That's when Section 377 of India's Penal Code, a British colonial law which had barred "unnatural" sex, was overturned. This documentary looks at the movement of gay Indian activists that helped change the law and the winning petition they filed with Delhi's High Court that moved the government to change Section 377.
Characters and scenes in the documentary include Section 377 activist Gautam Bhan; two counselors working at a lesbian helpline in Delhi; a Chennai sex worker who talks about how he was forced to marry his niece despite being gay; and a drag show at a men's health center in Mumbai that shows the increased visibility of the gay rights movement. The documentary also includes an interview from a conservative member of Parliament in India who says homosexuality doesn't exist.
Gay and Lesbian Muslims, On a "Jihad" For Love
From Interfaith Voices | 12:00
An interview with Parvez Sharma, director of "A Jihad For Love," and Muhsin Hendricks, a subject of the film. From Interfaith Voices.
Host Intro:
A short passage in the Koran, along with a handful of quotes attributed to the prophet Muhammed, condemn homosexuality as a crime in the eyes of many Islamic scholars. Punishments range from whippings, prison time or even death by stoning. A new documentary called "A Jihad for Love" tells the stories of more than a dozen gay and lesbian Muslims from around the world...all of whom stay devoted to a faith that doesn't seem to want them. Laura Kwerel explains.
Outro:
"A Jihad For Love" is playing in select theaters now through September.
Amanda's Diary: Girlfriend
From Radio Diaries | Part of the Teenage Diaries series | 21:30
Amanda's family is Catholic. Amanda is bisexual. And she's having a hard time getting her parents to understand that this is not just a phase.
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- Amanda's Diary: Girlfriend
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Amanda's family is Catholic. Amanda is bisexual. And she's having a hard time getting her parents to understand that this is not just a phase. "When I was in the first grade, I remember one day we were playing a game that was kind of like Sleeping Beauty where like the prettiest girl on the block fell asleep on a picnic bench. And you know, somebody had to go and wake her up, to like, kiss her and revive her and it would always be one of the boys. And I always felt like I wanted to go and revive her."
This story is part of the Teenage Diaries series produced by Radio Diaries for NPR. Since 1996, Executive Producer Joe Richman has been giving tape recorders to young people around the country to document their lives. In December of 2012, Radio Diaries will revisit five of the original diarists 16 years after their first recordings. The series is broadcast on NPR's All Things Considered.
How Are You Who You Are?
From Eric Winick | 21:13
A unique story about the complexity of human character and the tenacity of love in the face of unpredictable health challenges and unexpected gender-bending.
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- How Are You Who You Are?
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In 1995, Douglas A. Nadeau of Marblehead, Massachusetts underwent a pallidotomy at Mass. General Hospital, an operation designed to eradicate neurons in his brain that no longer responded to dopamine, the naturally-created chemical that facilitates movement. Nine years earlier, while on a business trip, Doug had been bitten by an insect and developed strange Parkinsonian symptoms, such as the inability to keep his eyes open while talking. These caused numerous problems for Doug, a high-powered corporate lawyer in Boston. Over time, the symptoms worsened until Doug lost his mobility at night and was reduced to a hospital bed. Following the procedure, in which Doug practically walked off the operating table, he found he was unable to inhibit certain antisocial tendencies that, prior to the surgery, he'd kept repressed. To make matters worse, his surgery turned out to be a failure, and his symptoms returned one by one. The next nine years tested the boundaries and limits of love, marriage, and tolerance, both within the family and in the Nadeaus' wide circle of friends and acquaintances.
Cutaways (5:00-8:59)
Small Town Pride
From Jennifer Jerrett | 05:07
Red state, rural America isn't exactly the first place that pops into your mind when you think about pioneering LGTBQ pride movements.
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- Small Town Pride
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- Jennifer Jerrett
Moab, Utah, a little town in the southeast corner of the state, isn't the likeliest of places for a burgeoning LGBTQ pride movement. But the Moab Pride Festival, established in 2011, calls itself "...the nation's second largest small town Pride Festival." In these places, where everyone knows everyone, it can be hard to stand up for something you believe in -- something that makes you different -- but maybe it's exactly these hometowns that have the best shot at pioneering a community-driven atmosphere of tolerance and understanding.
Fighting Homophobia in the Classroom
From Anny Celsi | 06:06
Teens in Los Angeles use live theater to battle homophobia in the classroom.
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- Fighting Homophobia in the Classroom
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- Anny Celsi
The death of Laurence King – killed by a junior high classmate in Oxnard, California in 2008 – highlights a big problem: If you're a teacher, how should you deal with homophobia in the classroom? One group is using theater to teach teachers how to counteract sexual bias in Southern California classrooms.
The program is put on by Encompass, a non-profit group that focuses on diversity issues in California schools. The actors are students from the LA County High School for the arts.According to the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, by the time they get to high school, ninety percent of lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgendered students have experienced physical, verbal or sexual harassment at school. Those students are more likely to skip school out of fear, don’t do as well academically as their straight peers, and are less likely to graduate.
In the training, educators watch a scene where homophobic behavior disrupts a classroom and creates stress. The observers are given insight into the students' inner lives and how they're affected by sexual bias. They're then asked to come up with techniques the teacher might use to make the classroom safer and more inclusive. The scene is repeated, with the actors using improv to act out the new strategies. With the teacher in control, things play out differently this time - the bullies dial back their behavior, the name-calling and hate-speech is squelched, and the students are free to focus on their lesson.Student actor Drew Cameron says, “hopefully teachers are watching this and thinking, here’s some students that are putting on a scene for us. Here are some students who are showing us how to be better teachers. “
… better teachers in a school where every student feels safe to focus on the job of learning.
Trans-Identities: A Community Comes Out in Western New England (Series)
Produced by Tina Antolini
When you look at someone, a stranger at the library, on the street, what's the first thing you notice? Often, it's their gender. For some people, though, gender isn't so easily divided into one category or the other. This series profiles the personal stories of transgender residents of Western New England, and their civil rights efforts.
Most recent piece in this series:
Trans-Identites Part 3: Legislating Civil Rights
From Tina Antolini | Part of the Trans-Identities: A Community Comes Out in Western New England series | 06:35
More than one bill languished in Massachusetts last legislative session, including a bill that would have added "gender identity and gender expression" to the state's anti-discrimination and hate crimes laws. The bill is aimed at protecting people who identify with a gender other than the one on their birth certificate. The transgender community maintains that current laws regarding sexual orientation don't protect them. Legislation providing similar protections in Connecticut passed the senate, but didn't clear the house. In the final part of a series on the region's transgender community, Tina Antolini reports on the debate over these bills, and why advocates think they stalled in the legislature
James Roberts
From Rachel Falcone | Part of the Housing is a Human Right Storytelling Project Vol. 1 series | 08:10
James Roberts shares his journey trying to save his ailing partner William, who has HIV, and their home together. Full piece includes story with intro and outro.
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- James Roberts
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- Rachel Falcone
“I’m not his husband, I’m not his wife, I’m not his brother, I’m not his mother, who am I?…I’m everything to him.” James Roberts
James Roberts is forced to resign from a lucrative job on Wall Street to care for his ailing partner William, who has HIV. James talks about his struggle to save both William and their home together, as William’s health gets progressively worse.
In the full piece, the intro is a rythmic mix of different voices from the Housing is a Human Right Storytelling project. The outro is a description of the project with information about how to participate by Creator and Co-Producer Michael Premo.
It's An Accomplishment
From Salt Institute for Documentary Studies | 08:47
"Kyle," a FTM transgender 14-year-old, desperately wants to tell his classmates and peers that he was born a girl.
Producer Jen Telischak has the story of a critical moment in the life of "Kyle," a FTM transgender 14-year-old who desperately wants to tell his classmates and peers that he was born a girl. His mom, Susan, doesn't think this is a good idea and wants Kyle to wait until he's older. A snapshot that encompasses a moment of change.
I'm Relatively Human
From Salt Institute for Documentary Studies | 07:47
Marty Hagglund had it all. He had a loving wife, a beautiful home, and a great job. Then, Marty threw it all to the wind to realize a deep-seated, life-long desire––become a woman. From Selena Simmons-Duffin of the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies.
Marty Hagglund had it all. He had a loving wife, a beautiful home, and a great job. Then, Marty threw it all to the wind to realize a deep-seated, life-long desire — to become a woman. Her story is not about transitioning between genders. It’s about what happens after you’ve arrived at your destination, and are forced to consider what you gained, and what you lost.
Remember the Upstairs Lounge
From Julia Botero | 06:09
One evening in the summer of 1973, an arsonist set the Upstairs Lounge on fire. The piece brings attention to a forgotten tragedy, an act of courage that helped to galvanize the gay community, and the work of an emerging artist dedicated to reinterpreting and retelling New Orleans gay history. From Julia Botero.
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- Remember the Upstairs Lounge
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Local artist Skylar Fein is fascinated by New Orlean's gay cultural history. For the art biennial Prospect One which closed this past month, Skylar paid homage to the memory of a gay bar in the French Quarter.
One evening in the summer of 1973, an arsonist set the Upstairs Lounge on fire. Most of the bar's regulars, including many friends and lovers, died that night. In an installation, Skylar recreated the inside of The Upstairs Lounge.
The piece brings attention to a forgotten tragedy, an act of courage that helped to galvanize the gay community, and the work of an emerging artist dedicated to reinterpreting and retelling New Orleans gay history.
Thanks For Sharing Your Girlfriend
From Salt Institute for Documentary Studies | 05:49
From Monica Lewinski to Mark Sanford, infidelity is always big news. But recently a debate about whether monogamy is the only model for long-term relationships has also been making headlines. CNN considered the question “Is monogamy realistic?” and Newsweek wondered if consensual non-monogamy might be the next sexual revolution.
A 52 year old dog trainer from South Portland, Maine is trying something different: polyamory, the practice of maintaining committed relationships with multiple partners.
Riot Boy
From outLoud Radio at Youth Radio | 06:16
One boy's unlikely connection with the music of northwest feminists. A hero's journey of self-discovery (sifting through Riot Grrrl records in his mom's attic). Features killer tracks from Sleater-Kinney and Bikini Kill, and compelling interviews with original Riot Grrrls. From Diego Ruiz of outLoud Radio.
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A hero's journey of self-discovery (sifting through Riot Grrrl records in his mom's attic). Features killer tracks from Sleater-Kinney and Bikini Kill, and compelling interviews with original Riot Grrrls.
Dia's Diary: My Mother
From outLoud Radio at Youth Radio | 06:08
Many transgender people come out as gay first. Dia Fallana is a young transgender woman living in a poor part of Oakland, California. In this page from her audio diary, she tells the story of how her mother's anti-gay attitude kept her in the closet -- until she was forced to tell the truth. From outLoud Radio.
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- Dia's Diary: My Mother
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- outLoud Radio at Youth Radio
Many transgender people come out as gay first. Dia Fallana is a young transgender woman living in a poor part of Oakland, California. In this page from her audio diary, she tells the story of how her mother's anti-gay attitude kept her in the closet -- until she was forced to tell the truth.
Drop-Ins (2:00-4:59)
Hard Boiled Eggs
From The Heart | Part of the Tender Moments series | 04:30
A story of an unlikely pair brought together by gender and technology.
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- Hard Boiled Eggs
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- The Heart
Beta is intersex. Which means she doesn't fit squarely into either gender, in a biological sense. Most intersex babies are assigned a gender at birth and undergo surgery. She didn't find out until her 20s, which caused great confusion for her growing up. Cary's story is almost exactly the same---born intersex, assigned a gender that didn't really fit, found out much later in life. Cary and Beta were living 1000 miles apart when they met on Second Life. After a life time of being a very different type of different, they each found someone with whom they could truly relate.
While Audio Smut's "Tender Moments" are in full compliance with FCC regulations, they do openly engage with the topic of sexuality and gender.
M4M
From Salt Institute for Documentary Studies | 05:57
With the legalization of same-sex marriage in Maine, Barton Girdwood got to wondering, what about all the gay men in Maine who never found love?
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- M4M
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- Salt Institute for Documentary Studies
With the legalization of same-sex marriage in Maine, Barton Girdwood got to wondering, what about all the gay men in Maine who never found love? What does this matter to them? And at 22, Barton drove up to Northport, Maine to meet Bob, who Barton hoped could answer a universal question: what happens if you don't find love?
Best Couple
From Radio Rookies | 04:48
When seniors at a small public high school in the Bronx cast their votes for "Best Couple" they chose a pair they admire but who definitely defy the stereotype of best couple.
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- Best Couple
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- Radio Rookies
When seniors at a small public high school in the Bronx cast their votes for "Best Couple" they chose a pair they admire but who definitely defy the stereotype of best couple.
Changing Roles and Rules
From Amy Gastelum | 05:01
Stef Adkins competes in his very first Drag Competition as Barbie Que, juggling issues of identity and boundaries.
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- Changing Roles and Rules
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- Amy Gastelum
In his twenties, Stef Adkins was in drag a lot. So much so that in the small town of Provincetown, MA his friends and neighbors always called him by his drag name, Crystal Queer, even when he was his male self. Stef got frustrated and quit doing drag. A few years later, he decided to do drag again as Barbie Que but has been carefully avoiding too much time and attention dressed as Barbie, afraid that becoming more public in his drag persona might cause Stef to be forgotten again.
But the rare lip sync act at benefit dinners wasn't satisfying his need to be glamorous. Last April, at 38, Stef decided he was ready to become more public with Barbie Que and he entered the Miss Gay Massachusetts Drag Pageant for the first time, risking losing himself again.
Dear First Grade Teacher by AJ Tran
From WBEZ | Part of the Louder Than a Bomb 2012 series | 02:38
Poet AJ Tran, 18, is a senior at Northside College Prep. "Dear First Grade Teacher" is AJ's poetic commentary on gender, how our society teaches young children what 'girls' can do and what 'boys' can do, without leaving enough room for those who may think otherwise.
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- Dear First Grade Teacher by AJ Tran
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- WBEZ
Poet AJ Tran, 18, is a senior at Northside College Prep. This is the second year she has represented her school at Louder Than a Bomb, which advanced to the Final round of competition in the 2012 Festival. Dear First Grade Teacher is AJ's poetic commentary on gender, how our society teaches young children what 'girls' can do and what 'boys' can do, without leaving enough room for those who may think otherwise.
Rosie by Essie Lindzy
From WBEZ | Part of the Louder Than a Bomb 2012 series | 03:08
Poet Essie Lindzy, 18, is a senior at Whitney M. Young Magnet High School. "Rosie" recants the poet's experience with society's perception of the African-American lesbian community and the expectations placed on all women.
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- Rosie by Essie Lindzy
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- WBEZ
Poet Essie Lindzy, 18, is a senior at Whitney M. Young Magnet High School. This is her second year participating in Louder Than a Bomb. Rosie recants the poet's experience with society's perception of the African-American lesbian community and the expectations placed on all women.