Cruising | Queer History and Culture

We're looking back on the past five years of Cruising with some of our favorite stories from lesbian bars across the country. This episode airs simultaneously with the release of The Lesbian Bar Chronicles, a book adaptation of the first two seasons of the podcast. So let's celebrate with a reflection on some of the stories that are now available for the very first time in print!  Tune in for selections from:  Wild Side West | San Francisco, CA - "Thank you for the planters, but I'm not leaving"  Pearl Bar | Houston, TX - "The first time I saw my sister really come out of her shell" Lipstick Lounge | Nashville, TN - " All the people that touched my mom's life" Nancy Valverde | Los Angeles, CA - " Sh*t come, sh*t go, I'm gonna be myself" Charlene's | New Orleans, LA  - " I came in the front door and I'm damn well going out that way" Les Pierres | New Orleans, LA - "We needed a place of our own"  The Sports Bra | Portland, OR - "Ask for what you need"  Hershee Bar | Norfolk, VA - " This place means something, and you need to know what it means" Femme Bar | Worcester, MA - "The biggest hype man I've ever known"  ... -You can now purchase our book, The Lesbian Bar Chronicles, anywhere books are sold or at cruisingpod.com/book -Buy tickets and browse the schedule for our ⁠BOOK TOUR⁠ -Submit a story for our ⁠COMMUNITY STORY SHARE⁠ ... Thank you for listening to Cruising Podcast! -Reviews help other listeners find Cruising! If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave us a 5-star review! -For more Cruising adventures, follow us @cruisingpod on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ -Check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Cruising's Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for deep dives and companion pieces to our episodes! -⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Preorder our book⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, THE LESBIAN BAR CHRONICLES -⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Support Cruising here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! Cruising is an independent podcast. That means we're entirely funded by sponsors and listeners like you! -Cruising is reported and produced by a small but mighty team of three: Sarah Gabrielli (host/story producer/audio engineer), Rachel Karp (story producer/social media manager), and Jen McGinity (line producer/resident road-trip driver). Theme song is by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Joey Freeman⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Cover art is by Nikki Ligos. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, we're digging into the rich history activism and resistance in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Our guest, Meg Riley, is a political organizer, advocate, and Unitarian Universalist Minister. Meg first moved to the twin cities in 1976, where she very quickly started living in cooperative community housing and immersing herself in local lesbian activism. In 1981, Meg moved into what would become Sweet Willa - a cooperatively owned, lesbian home. Today, she still lives in Minneapolis, where she's settling into her new role as movement elder. Meg joins the podcast to discuss:  -the ins and outs of community living with a bunch of lesbians  -the local lesbian coffeehouse, bookstore, lez brunch, and more queer infrastructure -why so many sober people come to Minneapolis -the struggle to pass down leadership and knowledge to the next generation of queers -her experience with ICE and local mutual aid networks  ... Buy tickets and browse the schedule for our BOOK TOUR Submit a story for our COMMUNITY STORY SHARE ... Thank you for listening to Cruising Podcast! -Reviews help other listeners find Cruising! If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave us a 5-star review! -For more Cruising adventures, follow us @cruisingpod on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ -Check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Cruising's Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for deep dives and companion pieces to our episodes! -⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Preorder our book⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, THE LESBIAN BAR CHRONICLES -⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Support Cruising here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! Cruising is an independent podcast. That means we're entirely funded by sponsors and listeners like you! -Cruising is reported and produced by a small but mighty team of three: Sarah Gabrielli (host/story producer/audio engineer), Rachel Karp (story producer/social media manager), and Jen McGinity (line producer/resident road-trip driver). Theme song is by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Joey Freeman⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Cover art is by Nikki Ligos. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mandy Carter is a long-time Black lesbian activist and community organizer. Born in 1948, Mandy spent her childhood bouncing between New York state children's homes. While that came with exceptional challenges for a young person, it also allowed her the freedom to grow into exactly who she wanted to be, without the binds of familial pressures and expectations. For Mandy, that meant being a lesbian, a quaker, and a radical agitator (at one point in jail for 90 days). In this episode, Mandy shares stories of:   -discovering the Quaker tradition as a teen -sleeping in central park and hitchhiking all the way to San Francisco -finding a home at Maud's Study -protesting the war in Vietnam -the impact of Harvey Milk's assassination -reconnecting with her brother after 50 years, and continuing to search for her sister to this day **Help us find Delores!!! It's been six decades and Mandy is still looking for her sister. Please share any leads with us at [email protected] and help us spread the word by sharing our related posts on social media (@cruisingpod) ... Thank you for listening to Cruising Podcast! -Reviews help other listeners find Cruising! If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave us a 5-star review! -For more Cruising adventures, follow us @cruisingpod on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ -Check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Cruising's Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for deep dives and companion pieces to our episodes! -⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Preorder our book⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, THE LESBIAN BAR CHRONICLES -⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Support Cruising here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! Cruising is an independent podcast. That means we're entirely funded by sponsors and listeners like you! -Cruising is reported and produced by a small but mighty team of three: Sarah Gabrielli (host/story producer/audio engineer), Rachel Karp (story producer/social media manager), and Jen McGinity (line producer/resident road-trip driver). Theme song is by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Joey Freeman⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Cover art is by Nikki Ligos. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Franco Stevens first made her mark on lesbian history in 1990, with the creation of Curve Magazine (at the time known as Deneuve, but we'll get into that later). Curve would soon become the most successful lesbian magazine in the world, committed to lesbian visibility, community-building, and documenting our history. Its pages have featured change-makers and celebrities from Melissa Etheridge to Jenny Shimizu to the cast of the L Word and everyone in-between. But it was, by no means, easy for Franco to get there. She joins the pod to detail:  -coming out to her (then) husband as a teenage bride -raising money for the project when no one else believed in it -her controversial decision to display the word "lesbian" on the cover -bouncing back from a devastating lawsuit  -the real reason Franco had to sell the magazine, and how she eventually bought it back ... Follow Franco on ⁠Instagram⁠ and ⁠Facebook⁠ Follow Curve Magazine on ⁠Instagram⁠ and ⁠Facebook⁠ Browse ⁠Curve's digital archive⁠  Watch ⁠Ahead of the Curve⁠, the 2020 documentary about Franco and the magazine Browse the ⁠schedule for 2026 Lesbian Visibility Week⁠ (April 20-26) Learn more about ⁠the Curve Foundation⁠ ... Thank you for listening to Cruising Podcast! -Reviews help other listeners find Cruising! If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave us a 5-star review! -For more Cruising adventures, follow us @cruisingpod on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ -Check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Cruising's Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for deep dives and companion pieces to our episodes! -⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Preorder our book⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, THE LESBIAN BAR CHRONICLES -⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Support Cruising here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! Cruising is an independent podcast. That means we're entirely funded by sponsors and listeners like you! -Cruising is reported and produced by a small but mighty team of three: Sarah Gabrielli (host/story producer/audio engineer), Rachel Karp (story producer/social media manager), and Jen McGinity (line producer/resident road-trip driver). Theme song is by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Joey Freeman⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Cover art is by Nikki Ligos. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Angeli Luz was 18 years old when she sat down to research, pen, and post the “Am I A Lesbian?” Masterdoc. Over a decade later, her work has withstood the test of time having reached millions of readers worldwide. The Lesbian Master Doc, for those that don’t already know, is a 30 page research paper asking the question that Angeli herself was parsing out at the time: How do I know if I'm a lesbian? What is the difference between actual attraction and compulsory heterosexuality (comphet) fostered by the world around us? In conversation, Angeli discusses: -the story behind the creation of the doc -going viral and the backlash that comes with that -what she would change about her writing if approaching it today -attention from celebrities like Reneé Rapp and Kehlani -discovering her own sexual identity and coming out, for a second time, as bisexual  Read the full “Am I A Lesbian?” Masterdoc Follow Angeli on Instagram, Tiktok, Twitter, or visit her website! Thank you for listening to Cruising Podcast! -Reviews help other listeners find Cruising! If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave us a 5-star review! -For more Cruising adventures, follow us @cruisingpod on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ -Check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Cruising's Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for deep dives and companion pieces to our episodes! -⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Preorder our book⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, THE LESBIAN BAR CHRONICLES -⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Support Cruising here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! Cruising is an independent podcast. That means we're entirely funded by sponsors and listeners like you! -Cruising is reported and produced by a small but mighty team of three: Sarah Gabrielli (host/story producer/audio engineer), Rachel Karp (story producer/social media manager), and Jen McGinity (line producer/resident road-trip driver). Theme song is by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Joey Freeman⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Cover art is by Nikki Ligos. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices