Back after almost 1 year! Today's episode is also available as a video on our Youtube at www.youtube.com/@BAMMER47Mike Art Smith of YouTube Channel Gay Barchives fame and David Kennerley, author of Getting In, a history of gay clubs in 90's NYC, join me, Mike Balaban, to talk Gay Bars Through the Ages. We remember our favorite spots, how our coming out stories were hotly formed by gay bars and spaces available at the time and what the state of LGBTQ+ friendly bars is right now. We also chat abou...
Apr 26, 2025•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 39
Suzie Kruger felt like she just fell into the role, but has maintained one of the most impressive careers organizing Adult Parties across London Europe and the rest of the world. Join Mike on a journey with icon, Suzie Kruger as she tells us all about her trials and tribulations at the vibrant center of the UK sex club scene.
Jun 07, 2024•42 min•Ep. 38
In this heartening episode, join Mike as he engages with Mohsin Zaidi, a passionate lawyer, LGBTQ activist, and best-selling author of "A Dutiful Boy". Learn about Mohsin's remarkable journey from a poor London neighborhood to his rise as a celebrated lawyer amidst the challenges and triumphs of growing up as a gay Muslim. Gain deeper insights into the complexities of societal norms, cultural identities, and Mohsin's truth-seeking voyage towards authenticity. Dive into Mohsin's childhood where h...
Mar 01, 2024•48 min•Ep. 37
It's an honour to have Peter Tatchell on the podcast, a fearless LGBTQ and human right's activist who's launched social movements the world over including in some of the most politically dangerous countries. He and Mike talk early life, influences and trajectory and his own gay journey both in Australia and in the UK, as well as his work founding OutRage! and many other amazing human rights projects.
Dec 15, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 36
Steve Gillon recently retired following 40 years as a professor of American history at some of the most prestigious universities in the US and UK where his students appreciated his dedication to storytelling even more than his in-depth knowledge of history. He also served as long-time spokesperson for the History channel on A & E cable network. Listen to Steve share details from his (previously) private life, including his insight and humorous tales about his close friend, John F. Kennedy, J...
Sep 29, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 35
In her epic roller-coaster of a memoir, "This Time For Me" Alexandra Billings muses on her unlikely journey as an accomplished actor and performer as well as her other lives in sex work, as a HIV positive activist, not to mention a huge LGBTQIA+ icon. Join Mike and Alexandra as she dishes about what she thinks of the next generation of queer activists! We had such a great time with Alexandra and you are sure to enjoy her energy as much as we do!
Jul 21, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 34
Barney Frank represented Massachusetts in Congress from 1982 to 2012, thirty years in which he was one of the most powerful, smartest, and wittiest politicians in DC. He was also the first LGBTQ Congressman to voluntarily come out while in office, a highly controversial move in 1987 during the height of the AIDS crisis. I interviewed Barney remotely from his home in Ogunquit, Maine (where he now resides with his husband, James Ready). As I had expected, Barney’s whip smart mind was evident as wa...
May 15, 2023•52 min•Ep. 33
Today the accidental gay historian interviews a young, credentialed historian illuminating gay history and actively working for representation on TV and beyond. Eric Cervini has been and continues to be incredibly busy; having written a NYT Best Selling and Pulitzer Prize finalist book in 2020, writing and producing "The Book of Queer" TV series in 2022 with more still in production, and most recently starting his own book club and publishing company to spread the modern and historical stories o...
Feb 22, 2023•52 min•Ep. 32
We're lucky this week to be joined by Barabara Pomo, staunch ally. Shaped by the loss of her older gay brother to AIDS in the late 1980s, Barbara Poma has become an integral part of the LGBTQ community. First, she bought and managed the Pulse Disco in Orlando, Fla., turning it into a multi cultural haven for queers and their families and after a tragic terrorist shooting and the deaths of 49 patrons by a hate-filled 29 y.o. man in June 2016, Barbara realized it could never be re-opened. So, she ...
Dec 23, 2022•56 min•Ep. 31
Iconic photographer Stanley Stellar, 77, has been documenting queer life and male nudes since 1976. When he began, most media outlets wouldn’t even feature images of men with their clothes on. Best known for his street photography, Stanley was present and shooting during many milestones in gay history, including the Christopher Street piers, gay pride marches, the HIV epidemic, Mr. Leather competitions, etc. Listen as he traces society’s reaction to the male body and how censorship today is begi...
Sep 30, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 30
We're lucky enough to have as out guest, Lilly Ann Velez, a 39 yo Ecuadorian woman of trans experience. She explains misconceptions and describes the spectrum of trans experience, all while sharing with us the almost 30 year journey she's taken to becoming the woman she is today.
Aug 06, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 29
In 2010, three-time All-American collegiate wrestler Hudson Taylor slapped a gay-equality sticker on his headgear before a match, leading to an interview with OutSports, an LGBTQ media outlet. Afterwards, he heard from 2,000 mostly closeted athletes who were moved to see a straight ally standing up for them. After that, Hudson founded Athlete Ally, which focuses on getting sports organizations to include and welcome participation by LGBTQ athletes. Today, it continues its effort to dismantle hom...
Jun 17, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 28
Khalleed Ahmed and his family fled civil war in Somalia, spent eight years in Kenyan refugee camps, and finally were given asylum in the United States. Join us as we listen to Khalleed share his journey to becoming an openly gay, Islamic, cardiac surgeon and an inspiration for others living in countries where they can't be themselves (Part 1 of 2 interviews)
May 03, 2022•41 min•Season 1Ep. 21
Dastan Kasmamytov, a 30 y.o. Kyrgyzstani, is an LGBTQ activist and founder of Pink Summits, an LGBTQ mountaineering team attempting to scale the Seven Summits, the highest mountains on each of the seven continents. When that's completed, Dastan will become the first Kyrgyzstani citizen to accomplish this feat, which ought to greatly change the perception of LGBTQ people in an Islamic country where mountain-climbing is a national passion.
Apr 15, 2022•45 min•Ep. 27
Growing up in the central Asian nation of Krygystan, Dastan Kasmamytov had no idea he’d ever become an LGBTQ activist. But, when he was outed in national media at 19 and a fatwa was issued by the Islamic religious authorities, urging their followers to stone him to death, that path became inescapable. Find Dastan @dastanik & His Pink Summits Project @pinksummits Follow Our Instagram & Twitter @bammer.co Send Your Stories to Mike@BAMMER.co Check Out Our New YouTube Channel: https://www.yo...
Mar 08, 2022•58 min•Ep. 26
Andy Tobias' journey from being the "Best Little Boy in the World" (the title of the best-selling coming out memoir he authored under a pseudonym while still in grad school in 1972) to serving as the first openly-gay Treasurer of the Democratic Party from 1999-2016 is a fascinating one. Growing up in a suburban Jewish household where he was taught that helping others was imperative, Andy has dedicated his life to political and charitable causes. He and Mike Balaban have known each other for more...
Jan 10, 2022•53 min•Ep. 25
Kevin Jennings grew up in a southern trailer park, son of a homophobic itinerant Baptist preacher, was the first in his family to go to college (on a full scholarship at Harvard), and took the risky step of coming out while he was a high school history teacher in 1989. He quit that job in 1994 to form what has become the leading LGBTQ anti-bullying educational organization in the country, served as Assistant Secretary for Education for Safe Schools under President Obama, and is now CEO of Lambda...
Sep 06, 2021•48 min•Season 1Ep. 24
Jim Fouratt has been in the right place at the right time: he co-founded the leading anti-Vietnam war group in the 60s, he was present at all four nights of the Stonewall rebellion in June 1969, and he was an assistant to legendary music producer Clive Davis at Columbia Records. Listen as he shares his recollections of those momentous experiences.
Aug 08, 2021•53 min•Season 1Ep. 23
Khalleed Ahmed and his family fled civil war in Somalia, spent eight years in Kenyan refugee camps, and finally were given asylum in the United States. Join us as we listen to Khalleed share his journey to becoming an openly gay, Islamic, cardiac surgeon and an inspiration for others living in countries where they can't be themselves. (Part 2 of 2 interviews)
Jul 14, 2021•42 min•Season 1Ep. 22
David Mixner has been an author, political strategist, and civil rights activist for more than a half-century. He was first involved in the civil rights movement in the 1960s and later became a prominent LGBTQ rights advocate. A close confidant of President Bill Clinton in the early days of his administration, David had a falling out with Clinton when the new President backed away from his pledge to allow gays to serve in the military. Mike and David discuss his efforts on behalf of equal rights...
Jun 24, 2021•54 min•Season 1Ep. 20
Paula Harrowing, a 49 y.o. British queer activist describes what it was like coming out into London's vibrant and diverse lesbian club scene in the late 80s and 90s only to be greeted soon thereafter by the arrival of AIDs. While nursing her gay male friends who were succumbing to that disease, she noticed the paucity of health services for women and children with HIV, prompting her to found a non-profit that filled that gap and still exists today.
Jun 02, 2021•48 min•Season 1Ep. 19
Michela Griffo talks about the battle for LGBTQ civil rights from the first NYC Pride March in 1970 onward, the arrival of AIDS in 1981, the formation of real gay and lesbian community after that, and where the LGBTQ movement goes from here.
May 09, 2021•58 min•Season 1Ep. 18
Mike talks with Michela Griffo about her life as an early and active member of the National Organization for Women in the late 1960s, a link to the Stonewall era, and one of a dozen or so participants from the first Gay Pride March in NYC in 1970 who’re still with us. She joins us today to talk about the sense of community that existed then and how different things are today
Apr 26, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Season 1Ep. 17
Dave Kopay was the first prominent athlete to come out and the first male athlete in a major professional league to do so when he publicly disclosed he was gay in 1975. A hero to many LGBTQers for his courage, he paid a permanent price in being shut out of coaching jobs in colleges and at the pro level.
Apr 12, 2021•41 min•Season 1Ep. 16
Mike interviews Joel Tucker twenty years later: one of six survivors of the horrendous Backstreet Cafe shooting in Roanoke, Va. on September 20, 2000.
Sep 15, 2020•27 min•Season 1Ep. 15
Cliff Morrison talks about forming the first AIDS ward in San Francisco General Hospital in 1983, as well as, his recent involvement in the making of “5B”, an award-winning documentary about that experience (now available on Amazon).
Mar 15, 2020•36 min•Season 1Ep. 14
Jacob Tobia is a gender-nonconforming Los Angeleno who’s on a roll. Three years ago, they landed a job as an executive assistant on the hit Amazon series "Transparent." Shortly after, Jacob released a New York Times best-selling memoir, "Sissy: A Coming-of-Gender Story," and secured an option from Showtime to develop a TV series inspired by their life. Jacob talks about their life journey and brings some clarity in understanding the complexity of sexual orientation, gender expression, and gender...
Feb 09, 2020•40 min•Season 1Ep. 13
What do you do after you’ve been a Colt porn model, male escort, and drug addict? After kicking his drug addiction, Stu Fenton spent ten years getting his degrees in psychotherapy and gestalt therapy, opened a private therapy practice, and now counsels LGBTQ chemsex addicts in a private clinic, R 12, in Thailand on how to overcome their addiction. Stu shares his story of how he turned his life around. (Part 2 of 2 podcasts).
Jan 15, 2020•37 min•Season 1Ep. 12
Rob Smith, founder of The Phluid Project, talks about his journey from his life as a successful fashion executive to creating the world’s first gender-free clothing brand.
Dec 23, 2019•42 min•Season 1Ep. 11
Cliff Morrison arrived in San Francisco as a nurse in the late 1970s, as AIDS was about to erupt. In 1983, while working at SF General Hospital, one of the epicenters for the new disease, he was tasked with forming the world’s first hospital ward dedicated to serving people with AIDS. In the first of two episodes, Cliff tells Mike Balaban about that time.
Dec 05, 2019•38 min•Season 1Ep. 10
