Kickass Queers

We're trying something different this episode!

With a little help from our friends Noah and the Comedatrix Ms. Grey, we're going down a surprise list of contemporary and controversial queer people and deciding on the fly if they are kickass, or... something else entirely!

A few of the personalities we'll be covering:

An occultist filmmaker who tried to off his leading lady on-screen;

An academic even more controversial than Michel Foucault;

A lesbian separatist with an enviable sexual history;

A trans activist with a history of next-level personal vendettas;

The 80s' most-irritating icon;

And--most controversial of all--a journalist who once wrote something problematic.

Learn More & Support the Show:

(Spoilers - Come back to these after you listen to the episode!)

Hollywood Babylon, Kenneth Anger's super trashy, mostly false Hollywood tell-all https://amzn.to/4db4Zb2

The Films of Kenneth Anger V. 1 https://amzn.to/4dcMoLx & V. 2 https://amzn.to/4d9IlQ3

Patricia Highsmith's Ripley Novels https://amzn.to/4d8mWXG

The Price of Salt https://amzn.to/447MCjb

Camille Paglia's Provocations https://amzn.to/44iOc1K & Sexual Personae https://amzn.to/3U9pxb1

Rubyfruit Jungle https://amzn.to/3xKHQvD

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe https://amzn.to/3U9VXlY

All of Us Strangers https://amzn.to/3QgGqzo

The Smiths first album https://amzn.to/3xXAeWH

Phranc https://www.phranc.la/

Lil Nas X documentary https://amzn.to/3WalPk0 & his Crocs because why not? https://amzn.to/3W5LYRb

Jodie Foster's lion story https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRVxLH5EiYs & singing in French https://youtu.be/sBmAuWMEX0I?si=tFwgFLR5utjTXxlg

Susan Sontag: Essays of the 60s and 70s https://amzn.to/3QdOqkO

If you love this episode, remember to show it by subscribing, rating, reviewing and sharing with your friends. Or, better yet, leave us a tip at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/kickassqueers

Email: [email protected] | [email protected]

Instagram: @kickassqueerscast

Facebook: facebook.com/kickassqueers

Note: This episode does contain some audio distortion on one track. We're super sorry, but such is the cost of including awesome guests!

Before the Beatles, before Elvis (but after Sinatra,) there was Johnnie Ray. Ray overcame partial deafness to become the world's biggest pop idol and inspire generations of songwriters to come. He was also pretty queer! Larry has the whole story.

We'll also be talking briefly about two other queer trailblazers who helped shape modern music: Little Richard and Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

Kickass Queers shares the incredible life stories of amazing lesbian, gay, transgender, gender-nonconforming and otherwise queer people.

Learn More & Support the Cast

The Best of Johnnie Ray https://amzn.to/4arHvwf

Johnnie Ray Singles Collection https://amzn.to/4a5ueJp

Rocking the Closet: How Little Richard, Johnnie Ray, Liberace, and Johnny Mathis Queered Pop Music https://amzn.to/4cpDGth

Oregon Experience: Johnnie Ray documentary https://www.pbs.org/video/johnnie-ray-zatqth/

Johnnie Ray in Concert on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PdvMAPZeNo

Johnnie and Elvis joke about their perceived rivalry https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9A_Ort7_aP0

If you love this episode, remember to show it by subscribing, rating, reviewing and sharing with your friends. Or, better yet, leave us a tip at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/kickassqueers

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @kickassqueerscast

Facebook: facebook.com/kickassqueers

In the conclusion of Rachel's very first sprawling epic, we learn about the later life of pop culture's most talked-about philosopher. We'll learn how Foucault's independent thinking led him to be way ahead of the curve on some issues... and tragically wrong on others. We'll also talk about perceptions of his massive impact on contemporary culture and politics.

Oh, and, we'll also hear about Larry's brief visit to an adult entertainment convention.

Kickass Queers shares the incredible life stories of amazing lesbian, gay, transgender, gender-nonconforming and otherwise queer people.

Learn More & Support the Cast

Biography by Didier Eribon https://amzn.to/3ItnQQg

Books by Michel Foucault https://amzn.to/3wQPxjn

If you love this episode, remember to show it by subscribing, rating, reviewing and sharing with your friends. Or, better yet, leave us a tip at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/kickassqueers

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @kickassqueerscast

Facebook: facebook.com/kickassqueers

Michel Foucault was one of the most famous, influential and controversial scholars of the 20th century--and, perhaps, all time.

He did it all to impress boys.

Rachel walks us through the first four decades of his life and career, with plenty of asides about the bizarre personal predilections that influenced his work for the better... and for the worse. (Don't worry; we'll be talking about that problem in part two.)

Kickass Queers shares the incredible life stories of amazing lesbian, gay, transgender, gender-nonconforming and otherwise queer people.

Learn More & Support the Cast

Biography by Didier Eribon https://amzn.to/3ItnQQg

Books by Michel Foucault https://amzn.to/3wQPxjn

If you love this episode, remember to show it by subscribing, rating, reviewing and sharing with your friends. Or, better yet, leave us a tip at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/kickassqueers

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @kickassqueerscast

Facebook: facebook.com/kickassqueers

Did someone say flashback episode?

Rachel and Larry revisit the highs, lows and give you the Cliff's Notes versions of all the stories we've told so far! (While they diligently prepare the next batch of kickass stories.)

Kickass Queers shares the incredible life stories of amazing lesbian, gay, transgender, gender-nonconforming and otherwise queer people.

If you love this episode, remember to show it by subscribing, rating, reviewing and sharing with your friends.

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @kickassqueerscast

Facebook: facebook.com/kickassqueers

Leave a Tip: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/kickassqueers

In the conclusion of our King James VI and I Christmas special, we meet poor James soon after he has parted with his first love. We'll talk about his triumphs, his struggles, his lovers, and the man he called his wife. (Among other things.)

If only Shakespeare had outlived this guy, right?

We'll also encounter a statement so astonishing that even Rachel is shocked.

Kickass Queers shares the incredible life stories of amazing lesbian, gay, transgender, gender-nonconforming and otherwise queer people.

If you love this episode, remember to show that love by subscribing, rating, reviewing and sharing with your friends.

Learn More and Support the Cast

King James and the History of Homosexuality https://amzn.to/49DRLl1

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @kickassqueerscast

Facebook: facebook.com/kickassqueers

Leave a Tip: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/kickassqueers

Home for the holidays? Ruin Christmas dinner with our very first holiday special, in which we'll be getting to know the king who united Great Britain, commissioned the world's most popular Bible, spared England and Scotland the horrors of a devastating war, and had a succession of male lovers that scandalized his court and privy council.

In the first half, Larry walks us through the remarkable circumstances of James' birth and early life, and introduces us to the duke who stole James' heart--and gave him his own, in return.

Fair warning: This episode contains witchhunts and bad Jimmy Stewart impressions.

Kickass Queers shares the incredible life stories of amazing lesbian, gay, transgender, gender-nonconforming and otherwise queer people.

If you love this episode, remember to show that love by subscribing, rating, reviewing and sharing with your friends.

Learn More and Support the Cast

King James and the History of Homosexuality https://amzn.to/49DRLl1

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @kickassqueerscast

Facebook: facebook.com/kickassqueers

Leave a Tip: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/kickassqueers

In 1982, YA fantasy novelist Nancy Garden had her most genre-busting idea yet: a love story about two girls who don't die, hate themselves, or even get seduced by vampires.

Her book, Annie on My Mind, is a lovely, life-affirming classic of YA and queer literature. It was also one of the most challenged, banned and even burned books of the 20th century.

Rachel tells us all about the novel and its lasting impact.

Kickass Queers shares the incredible life stories of amazing lesbian, gay, transgender, gender-nonconforming and otherwise queer people.

If you love this episode, remember to show that love by subscribing, rating, reviewing and sharing with your friends.

Learn More & Support the Show

Annie on Mind https://amzn.to/3v1ykU0

The Year They Banned the Books https://amzn.to/4c6ax68

Other books by Nancy Garden https://amzn.to/4a3xYLm

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @kickassqueerscast

Facebook: facebook.com/kickassqueers

Leave a Tip: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/kickassqueers

We wrap up our first foray into (probably totally made up) true crime!

Larry and Rachel laugh at some bizarre legal briefs, hate on Antonin Scalia and chat with brilliant attorney Paul Smith, who will walk us through his experience arguing the case before the Supreme Court.

Kickass Queers shares the incredible life stories of amazing lesbian, gay, transgender, gender-nonconforming and otherwise queer people. By the end of this episode, we'll have met or revisited a lot of them.

If you love this episode, remember to show that love by subscribing, rating, reviewing and sharing with your friends.

Learn More & Support the Show

Flagrant Conduct by Dale Carpenter https://amzn.to/3Pbi4Xc

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @kickassqueerscast

Facebook: facebook.com/kickassqueers

Leave a Tip: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/kickassqueers

In the penultimate installment of our deep dive into the landmark Supreme Court ruling just 20 years ago, we'll meet an eccentric justice of the peace, a closeted lesbian prosecutor, a conspiracy-minded judge, a simple country DA about to make what is sadly not the biggest mistake of his life... and more kickass queer attorneys than you can pile into a courtroom.

Lane Lewis will also be joining us again, to walk us through his extraordinary effort to keep the defendants out of the headlines--and out of jail, again.

Kickass Queers shares the incredible life stories of amazing lesbian, gay, transgender, gender-nonconforming and otherwise queer people.

If you love this episode, remember to show that love by subscribing, rating, reviewing and sharing with your friends.

Learn More & Support the Show

Flagrant Conduct by Dale Carpenter https://amzn.to/3Pbi4Xc

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @kickassqueerscast

Facebook: facebook.com/kickassqueers

Leave a Tip: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/kickassqueers