Making Gay History

LGBTQ+ Experiences During the Nazi Era Making Gay History's Eric Marcus will share archival clips that bring this often hidden history to life through the voices of the people who lived it.

On July 23, Eric will join Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education for "LGBTQ+ Experiences During the Nazi Era."

Learn more and RSVP for this Zoom program. www.ojmche.org/events/lgbtq...

Such a privilege to have this conversation with @makinggayhistory.bsky.social. I share the story of how — and why — I spoke my truth of living with HIV back in '92. I hope it brings comfort to anyone who feels silenced.

Watch the interview via their Patreon at bit.ly/MGHMaryFisher

Marsha "Pay It No Mind" Johnson

Marsha "Pay It No Mind" Johnson and Sylvia Rivera were ahead of their time when, in 1970, they came up with the idea for a safe haven for homeless queer youth who turned to dangerous street work to survive, as they did themselves.

🔊 bit.ly/mgh-fromthev...

Hearing Eric Marcus' voice on NPR is a balm in Gilead @makinggayhistory.bsky.social

It’s July 3, 1981, and Eric is reading @nytimes.com. On page A20, a single-column story running down the left-hand side catches his eye: “Rare Cancer Seen in 41 Homosexuals.” A shiver runs up Eric’s spine. ⁠

Revisit our series "Coming of Age During the AIDS Crisis": bit.ly/aidscrisismgh

📸👆 Larry Kramer at home in 1989, after he learned he was HIV positive. Credit: Sara Krulwich for @nytimes.com

Larry Kramer at home in 1989, after he learned he was HIV positive. Credit: Sara Krulwich for The New York Times

“The New York Times article that alerted everybody, really, was July 3, ’81 ... When I saw that in the @nytimes.com, I was scared … the Times has a way of making you really sit up and say wow.” — activist and writer Larry Kramer, speaking with Eric in 1989 #MakingGayHistory

🔊 bit.ly/mgh-kramer

Greetings from London! On this, the last day of Pride Month, I’m so happy to induct @makinggayhistory.bsky.social into the Podcast Canon.

Read my latest for @avclub.com below!

Wow! Ben! Thank you for the incredible honor of being inducted into the Podcast Canon and for your very thoughtful and kind assessment of our work. It's been a privilege to share these stories, which provide a road map for how to push ahead against all odds in the fight for dignity and equality.

📸👆 Christopher Street Liberation Day March, June 28, 1970. Jim Fouratt of the GLF, at right, holding the banner. Credit: Photo by Diana Davies, courtesy of Manuscripts and Archives Division, NYPL

Christopher Street Liberation Day March, June 28, 1970. Jim Fouratt of the GLF, at right, holding the banner. Credit: Photo by Diana Davies, courtesy of Manuscripts and Archives Division, NYPL

"People began to gather in the parade assembly area ... a few blocks away from Christopher Street where angry mobs of gay people had rioted just one year before. The mood today was different." — Breck Ardery, producer of the audio doc, "June 28, 1970 — Gay and Proud"

🔊 bit.ly/mgh-stonewal...

If you want to start to understand Stonewall and the larger struggle for lgbtq rights you can't do better than listen to the @makinggayhistory.bsky.social podcast. #pridemonth

📸👆 Jeanne Manford, holding the sign "Parents of Gays: Unite in Support for Our Children," alongside her son, Morty Manford, at the third annual Christopher Street Liberation Day March in NYC, June 25, 1972. (Courtesy of Les Carr/PFLAG National)

Jeanne Manford, holding the sign "Parents of Gays: Unite in Support for Our Children," alongside her son, Morty Manford, at the third annual Christopher Street Liberation Day March in New York City, June 25, 1972. (Courtesy of Les Carr/PFLAG National)

Love is a transformative force against oppression. In 1972 a mother’s love for her gay son set in motion a domino effect that continue today. Queens teacher Jeanne Manford marched in NYC Pride w/ a sign that read, "Parents of Gays: Unite in Support for Our Children."

🔊 bit.ly/mgh-manford

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📸👆 Donna Gottschalk—lesbian, feminist, activist, photographer, artist—at the first Christopher Street Liberation Day March in New York City, June 28, 1970. (Photo by Diana Davies, courtesy of Manuscripts and Archives Division, NYPL)

Donna Gottschalk—lesbian, feminist, activist, photographer, artist—at the first Christopher Street Liberation Day March in New York City, June 28, 1970. (Photo by Diana Davies, courtesy of Manuscripts and Archives Division , New York Public Library)

By the time of the June 1969 Stonewall uprising, the homophile movement was nearly two decades old and there were between 50-60 US orgs. A year later, there were as many as 1K orgs.

Revisit our #Stonewall50 season for #Pride: makinggayhistory.org/season-five

Eric sat down w/ @npr.org’s @scottdetrow.bsky.social to offer a glimpse into MGH's recent season, which explores the experiences of LGBTQ people during the Nazi era — from people persecuted for their homosexuality to queer resistance fighters.

Listen to the full interview at NPR: bit.ly/4l7O8J7

📸👆 Craig Rodwell at Riis Park, a beach popular with gay people in Queens, New York, 1960. Credit: Photo courtesy of the Manuscripts and Archives Division, NYPL

Craig Rodwell at Riis Park, a beach popular with gay people in Queens, New York, 1960. Credit: Photo courtesy of the Manuscripts and Archives Division, New York Public Library

To me, suits and ties as a uniform are part of the larger heterosexual culture. It’s part of how society tries to define us as men and women.” — Craig Rodwell

Pick a significant moment in gay history in the 1960s or ’70s and Craig Rodwell was *there.*

🔊 bit.ly/mgh-rodwell

📸👆 1️⃣ Del Martin (left) and Phyllis Lyon with Mayor Gavin Newsom at SF City Hall, June 16, 2008. Credit: Marcio Jose Sanchez/AFP via Getty Images; 2️⃣ Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin, undated photo from 2003 documentary "No Secret Anymore: The Times Of Del Martin & Phyllis Lyon" Credit: A.F. Archive/Alamy

Del Martin (left) and Phyllis Lyon with Mayor Gavin Newsom (center) at San Francisco City Hall, June 16, 2008. Credit: Marcio Jose Sanchez/AFP via Getty Images

Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin in an undated photograph from the 2003 documentary "No Secret Anymore: The Times Of Del Martin & Phyllis Lyon." Credit: A.F. Archive/Alamy.

The @sfchronicle.com #OnThisDay 2008: "Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon made history—again...the couple of 55 years became the first same-sex newlyweds in San Francisco and among the first in California under a new right bestowed by the state Supreme Court..."

🔊 bit.ly/mgh-lyon-mar...

📸 Close-up of the front page/cover sheet for the @sfexaminer.bsky.social “Gay In America” series, June 4, 1989. Credit: Courtesy of the Oakland Museum of California

Close-up of the front page/cover sheet for the @sfexaminer.bsky.social “Gay In America” series, June 4, 1989. Credit: Courtesy of the Oakland Museum of California

In June 1989, @sfexaminer.bsky.social ran a 16-day special report, “Gay in America,” in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising. No news outlet had published anything like it before. Greg Brock was a driving force behind the series. #MakingGayHistory

🔊 bit.ly/mgh-brock

Quentin Crisp | Making Gay History

makinggayhistory.org/podcast/quen...

"To wear suede shoes was to be under suspicion, you had to search your appearance for any sign of effeminacy"

Fascinating interview. Thank you @makinggayhistory.bsky.social

📸☝️ The Stonewall Inn, September 9, 1969. Credit: Photo by Diana Davies, courtesy of Manuscripts and Archives Division, NYPL The New York Public Library

The Stonewall Inn, September 9, 1969. Credit: Photo by Diana Davies, courtesy of Manuscripts and Archives Division, NYPL The New York Public Library

#Pride2025 is underway! Throughout #Pride Month, we’ll be sharing the stories of history-making trailblazers featured on the podcast.

(Re)Visit our factsheet "Stonewall: The Basics" to learn how history was made that night at the Stonewall Inn in NYC's Greenwich Village,

bit.ly/stonewall-ba...

Season Five | Making Gay History Bringing LGBTQ+ history to life through the voices of the people who lived it.

Recommended listening for Pride Month, the @makinggayhistory.bsky.social Stonewall at 50 episodes makinggayhistory.org/season-five/

Eric cried talking to @randyrainbow.bsky.social! And he’ll likely bring a tear to the eyes of many more when they read the Emmy and Grammy Award-nominated comedian’s debut picture book, “Randy Rainbow and the Marvelously Magical Pink Glasses,” out now.

WATCH: www.youtube.com/watch?v=DowkoWIwIpU

📸👆 Harvey Milk in San Francisco's seventh annual Gay Freedom parade, June 26, 1978, photo via @apnews.com

Harvey Milk in San Francisco's seventh annual Gay Freedom parade, June 26, 1978, photo via Associated Press

“What set Harvey apart from you or me was that he was a visionary. He imagined a righteous world inside his head and then he set about to create it for real, for all of us.” — Anne Kronenberg, campaign manager for Harvey Milk, 1977 #HarveyMilkDay

Hear more of Harvey’s voice: bit.ly/mgh-marching...