LGBTQ&A

Carmelita Tropicana was created almost by accident: a made-up name, blurted out at a radio broadcast in the 1980s. But Carmelita, and the woman behind the character, Alina Troyano, went on to become one of the pillars of downtown New York theatre. Alina talks about the ongoing evolution of her iconic camp character, spoofing both masculinity and femininity in her work, and her relationship with the queer theorist José Esteban Muñoz. LGBTQ&A⁠ is an independent, listener-supported podcast. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Click here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to check out our ⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠ and learn more about how to support our work. LGBTQ&A features interviews with the most interesting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people in the world. Hosted and produced by Jeffrey Masters. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@jeffmasters1⁠⁠⁠

Longtime activist Karla Jay recalls the early days of the Gay Liberation Front, the all-women's dance that ended in a mafia raid, and the Lavender Menace's 1970 takeover of the Second Congress to Unite Women that produced The Woman-Identified Woman manifesto: "A lesbian is the rage of all women condensed to the point of explosion."LGBTQ&A⁠ is an independent, listener-supported podcast. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Click here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to check out our ⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠ to see photos of Karla and to learn about how to support our work.LGBTQ&A features interviews with the most interesting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people in the world. Hosted and produced by Jeffrey Masters. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@jeffmasters1⁠⁠⁠

"Because I didn't learn the photo rules it was very easy for me to abandon them." The pioneering photographer Duane Michals talks about discovering his love for photography in the 1950s, not looking down on commercial work, his half-century-long relationship with his partner, and why talking about "art" makes him want to vomit. Duane died last week at the age of 94. LGBTQ&A⁠ is an independent, listener-supported podcast. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Click here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to check out our ⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠ and learn more about how to support our work.LGBTQ&A features interviews with the most interesting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people in the world. Hosted and produced by Jeffrey Masters. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@jeffmasters1⁠⁠⁠[Recorded in 2024]

At 100 years old, Alan Shayne's life has spanned the entirety of the modern LGBTQ rights movement. He got his start acting on Broadway in the 1940s, then became a casting director (casting Barbra Streisand, Diane Keaton, Cicely Tyson, and Dustin Hoffman in many of their earliest roles) before becoming president of Warner Bros. Television. Alan did this all while living a gay life that defies simple labels. Alan's new book, And It Only Took 100 Years, is out now. LGBTQ&A⁠ is an independent, listener-supported podcast. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Click here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to check out our ⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠ and learn more about how to support our work.LGBTQ&A features interviews with the most interesting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people in the world. Hosted and produced by Jeffrey Masters. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@jeffmasters1⁠⁠⁠

"Silence = Death" has become the defining image of ACT UP and the AIDS crisis. Avram Finkelstein, co-creator of the Silence = Death poster and a founding member of ACT UP, takes us back to where it all began: how the image came together months before ACT UP was even formed, how the artist collective Gran Fury created the visual language of the AIDS crisis, and why he believes ACT UP was a far more radical group than history remembers.LGBTQ&A⁠ is an independent, listener-supported podcast. ⁠⁠⁠⁠Click here⁠⁠⁠⁠ to check out our ⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠ and learn more about how to support our work.LGBTQ&A features interviews with the most interesting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people in the world. Hosted and produced by Jeffrey Masters. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@jeffmasters1⁠⁠

Rep. Barney Frank, the Massachusetts Congressman who served in the U.S. House of Representatives for over thirty years, died at the age of 86. The first member of Congress to voluntarily come out as gay, Frank became one of the most consequential openly gay politicians in American history. He was instrumental in repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell, passing the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act, and advocating for marriage equality. In our interview, we talk about his career, his legacy, and what it meant to be an openly gay lawmaker at the height of the AIDS crisis.LGBTQ&A⁠ is an independent, listener-supported podcast. ⁠⁠⁠Click here⁠⁠⁠ to check out our ⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠ and learn more about how to support our work.LGBTQ&A features interviews with the most interesting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people in the world. Hosted and produced by Jeffrey Masters. ⁠⁠⁠⁠@jeffmasters1⁠[This interview was originally recorded in April 2024.]