Making Gay History | LGBTQ Oral Histories from the Archive

Shirley Willer had good reason to be angry. She was beaten by the police and a dear friend was allowed to die—because they were gay. She channeled that anger into action, traveling the country in the 1960s to launch new chapters of gay rights organizations.

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Meet Marsha P. Johnson and Randy Wicker—two very different heroes of the early LGBT civil rights movement. Marsha was a Street Transvestite Action Revolutionary. Randy led the first gay demonstration in 1964 in coat and tie.

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Making Gay History mines Eric Marcus’s 30-year-old audio archive of rare interviews to create intimate, personal portraits of both known and long-forgotten champions, heroes, and witnesses to LGBTQ history. In this preview we offer a taste of what’s to come in season two, featuring the extraordinary voices of Shirley Willer, Hal Call, Barbara Gittings, Jean O’Leary, Morris Foote, and Randy Wicker and Marsha P. Johnson. 

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The right to love and be loved for who we are has always been a driving force in the fight for LGBTQ civil rights. Eric shares four special love stories from his archive featuring activists who helped change the course of history. Happy Valentine's Day!

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Vito Russo loved movies, but he looked behind the silver screen and saw how Hollywood was sending a message that LGBTQ people were less-than-human. He decided that that had to change. He wrote a book, cofounded GLAAD, and when his life was on the line, he was one of the people who founded ACT UP.

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Self-described gay rights fanatics and life partners Barbara Gittings and Kay “Tobin” Lahusen helped supercharge the nascent movement in the 1960s and brought their creativity, passion, determination, and good humor to the Gay Liberation 1970s, leaving behind an inspiring legacy of dramatic change.

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A generation ago, tens of millions of people turned to "Dear Abby” in her daily newspaper column for advice. Long before others did, and at considerable risk, she used her platform and celebrity in support of gay people and their equal rights.

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A WWII veteran turns theory into action, co-founding one of the first LGBT rights groups, the Mattachine Society, in 1950—a time when gay people were considered sick, sinful, criminal, and a threat to national security.

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When Jeanne Manford’s gay son was badly beaten at a protest in 1972, she took action and founded an organization for parents of gays known today as PFLAG.

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Frank Kameny fought for what was right. And he never gave up. Lessons for us all.

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