We're diving into the rich history and culture of queer country western dancing. First, Sean Monaghan will share the story of Stud Country - how he discovered queer line dancing at the historic Oil Can Harry's, and how (along with his cofounder, Bailey) Sean founded Stud Country and brought about a renaissance of country western dancing to a younger generation of queers. In Act 2, Susanna Stein shares her own journey in the queer dancing scene, which began back in the 1970s. We discuss gender ro...
Jul 08, 2025•57 min•Season 3Ep. 13
Our Guest this week, Heather Purser, made headlines back in 2011 when she single handedly passed same-sex marriage in the Suquamish tribe in Seattle, Washington. Today, Heather is a Suquamish lesbian activist and commercial diver! She shares her story of accepting her own identity, finding her childhood crush, and making space for herself within her community. Thank you for listening to Cruising Podcast! -Reviews help other listeners find Cruising! If you like what you hear, please subscribe and...
Jun 24, 2025•48 min•Season 3Ep. 12
Holly Near is a world-renowned singer and activist, known for producing music with powerful political messaging - she sings about war, racism, queer love and much more. She is one of the early pioneers of Women's Music (also known as radical lesbian feminist music) and the first lesbian to come out in People Magazine in 1975. Holly started her political career in the anti-war movement. Most notably, joining Jane Fonda's FTA (Free The Army) tour in 1971. We discuss all of her adventures from firs...
Jun 10, 2025•1 hr 6 min•Season 3Ep. 10
This week, we sit down with Angela Denise Davis, the creative director and podcast host for ZAMI NOBLA - the National Organization of Black Lesbians on Aging. She's also a scholar, organizer, minister, and Ukulele instructor. ZAMI NOBLA, founded in 2011 by Angela's partner Mary Anne Adams, is the leading advocacy organization dedicated to empowering Black lesbians over 40. Angela breaks down her experiences with aging and vision loss, her 10 months of training with the National Federation of the...
May 27, 2025•1 hr 6 min•Season 3Ep. 9
For the first time, we feature two interviews - two dykes, from two different generations - on the same concept: Dyke Drag. First, we'll hear from I'm Baby, a Brooklyn drag performer who started an event they call "Dyke Drag" which brings gender-diverse drag to sapphic spaces around the city. In Act 2, we meet Denise Gaylord, a local Ptown lesbian who ran an annual brunch also called "Dyke Drag" back in the 90s. Tune in to find out how, together, they brought Dyke Drag back to Ptown! Thank you f...
May 13, 2025•53 min•Season 3Ep. 8
Robin Tyler is a history-making activist and stand-up comic, that's been on the scene since moving to New York City in the 1960's. Robin is a treasure trove of punchlines and queer history. She shares some of her most famous stories - like making a name for herself as a female impersonator, calling for 3 Marches on Washington, being the first out gay comic on national television, and successfully suing the state of California for the right to marry her late partner, Diane. Thank you for listenin...
Apr 29, 2025•44 min•Season 3Ep. 7
The Greenham Common Women’s Peace Encampment was an anti-nuke encampment outside of a US military base in England, that women (and loads of lesbians) occupied from 1981 all the way through 2000. Fed up with male-on-male violence, and society's expectations on women, Sue Say joined the protest in its very beginnings as an 18-year-old. There, every day was exciting, for better or for worse. Greenham women were evicted from their camps and terrorized by police every morning, they rebuilt every day,...
Apr 15, 2025•1 hr 16 min•Season 3Ep. 6
Valery Hughes is a retired nurse who spent her career working in HIV/AIDS care and research. She coauthored Nurses On The Inside: Stories Of The HIV/AIDS Epidemic In NYC with her colleague, Ellen Matzer, after working together in designated AIDS units for many years. Valery takes us behind the scenes of some of the city's busiest hospitals - from crossing paths with her first AIDS case in 1979, to all of the stigma around the disease, and the patients that touched her most. We also hear how Vale...
Apr 01, 2025•1 hr•Season 3Ep. 5
Kristen Becker is a standup comedian and activist based out of Provincetown, Massachusetts. Becker also has a long history of touring, living, and organizing in the Deep South. In 2006, she founded the "Dykes of Hazard," an all-lesbian comedy group that toured the Deep South for a decade. In 2014, Becker testified before the Louisiana State Legislature in support of the Louisiana Non-Discrimination Act. From there, she set out on a tour called "Loosen the Bible Belt" with pastor Jay Bakker. In 2...
Mar 18, 2025•53 min•Season 3Ep. 4
You might know this week's guest, Tracy E. Gilchrist, as "the queen of queer media" or simply "the holding space lady." She reached internet fame last year when her interview with Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande went viral during the Wicked press tour. But it goes without saying that Tracy is a whole person, who has lived a whole life, outside of that one video. Tracy has worked in queer media since the 90s - specifically covering queer entertainment and pop culture news for outlets like The Adv...
Mar 04, 2025•56 min•Season 2Ep. 3
Barbara Smith is an award winning author, scholar, and activist. She is most well-known for co-authoring the Combahee River Collective Statement with two other queer Black women - her twin sister Beverly, and friend Demita Frazier. Barbara joins us to unpack the personal history that informed her groundbreaking Black Feminist politics. We discuss her multi-generational upbringing, growing up in Cleveland during the Civil Rights Movement, lesbian nightmares, and what she really meant when coining...
Feb 18, 2025•1 hr 18 min•Season 3Ep. 2
For our first episode of season 3, Sarah sits down with long-time activist and radical organizer, Michelle Crone. Now in her 70s, Michelle has spent the better part of her life organizing women and building community in the upstate New York/Albany area. At 18, she began doing service work with communities in the Appalachian Mountains, but soon had to flee the country for (undoubtedly radical) reasons she is not allowed to talk about. She spent many of these years living in intentional community ...
Feb 04, 2025•1 hr 12 min•Season 3Ep. 1
Cruising: Beyond the Bars will premiere next Tuesday February 4th, but we're doing things a little differently this season! Each episode will be a candid conversation between our host, Sarah, and a history-making lesbian or queer person about all kinds of sapphic spaces - not just bars! We'll cover queer bookstores, farms, peace encampments, line dancing, women's music, dyke drag and so much more! Tune in every other Tuesday to learn all about the rich history of queer spaces and community. Than...
Jan 28, 2025•2 min
Lillian Faderman is a world renowned, award winning LGBTQ+ and lesbian historian, scholar, and author. Her books include Surpassing the Love of Men, Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers, Gay L.A., The Gay Revolution, Woman: The American History of an Idea, and many others. We've interviewed her once before, and we've quoted her in many of our other episodes. This extended interview was recorded in 2023 in Lillian's home, and includes some of Lillian's expertise on lesbian history and culture throughout...
Jun 25, 2024•1 hr 5 min
This week, we're sharing the story of Ms. Mabel Hampton, in partnership with The Lesbian Herstory Archives. Ms. Hampton (1902-1989) was an African-American lesbian, an activist, a dancer, a singer, and a domestic worker. She was also a dear friend and mentor of Joan Nestle, one of The Lesbian Herstory Archives' founders. Between 1976 and 1988, Joan Nestle sat down with Ms. Hampton numerous times to record a series of oral history interviews. We've pulled bits and pieces from these tapes to share...
Jun 18, 2024•59 min
In 1963, white supremacist terrorists bombed the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing four young black girls. Despite the FBI and local investigators identifying four key perpetrators, no one was charged. Until 1977, when Pete Smith, a trans man, worked with the FBI to testify against and convict his uncle, Robert Chambliss. In partnership with Invisible Histories, we are releasing this 1988 interview with Pete. This episode is a part of a series we’re calling Cruising...
Jun 11, 2024•45 min
Happy Pride Month!! Starting this month, we will be releasing a series of episodes that we’re calling Cruising the Archives. We’re featuring extended interviews with LGBTQ+ icons from our own archives, as well as from the collections of queer and lesbian archives throughout the country. First up: Patricia McCombs. In December of 1974, Pat noticed that she and her Black and latinx friends were being discriminated against at CK’s, a North Side Chicago lesbian bar. In this interview, you’ll hear al...
Jun 04, 2024•49 min
Redz is a little known former lesbian bar in East LA, which opened in the 1950s and catered primarily to Chicana lesbians. This is the story of one woman in particular who called this space a home: Nancy Valverde. Nancy is most known for her long fought battle with the LAPD over masquerading laws, spending dozens of nights in jail throughout the 1950s for her refusal to wear typical women’s clothing. Nancy passed away in March of 2024 just six months after our interview with her. This episode is...
May 28, 2024•56 min•Season 2Ep. 14
There's a new dyke bar in Bushwick, and it's called The Bush! These are the stories of humans that run it, and the humans that call it a home. Thank you to everyone who shared their stories with us for this episode! This episode features interviews with: Nikke Alleyne, Justine LaViolette, Macon Reed, Loretta Andro Chung, and Sarah Hallonquist. Check out Macon's work here. Order Dyke Beer here. Thank you for listening to Cruising Podcast! -Reviews help other listeners find Cruising! If you like w...
May 07, 2024•44 min•Season 2Ep. 13
Our full interview with Summer, security at Doc Marie's. Thank you for listening to Cruising Podcast! -Support Cruising here! Cruising is an independent podcast. That means we're entirely funded by sponsors and listeners like you! -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 -Cruising is reported and produced by a small but mighty team...
Apr 30, 2024•47 min
In 2018, the Hershee Bar community showed up at a series of Norfolk City Council meetings to fight for their bar. This is the story of Hershee Bar, the humans that ran it, and the humans that called it a home. Thank you to everyone who shared their stories with us for this episode! This episode features interviews with: Annette Stone, Jennifer Alomari, Andria McClellan, and Mamie B Johnson, as well as excerpts from 2018 Norfolk City Council meetings featuring various members of the local LGBTQ+ ...
Apr 16, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Season 2Ep. 12
Cruising is a documentary podcast about lesbian bars, the humans that run them, and the humans that call them a home. Not sure where to start? You don’t have to listen in order! Pick your favorite city or your favorite bar and dive in.Season 1 follows creators Sarah Gabrielli, Rachel Karp, and Jen McGinity on their 2021 cross-country road trip to visit and document every lesbian bar in the U.S. Season 2 chronicles the current lesbian bar resurgence AND takes listeners back in time to historic le...
Apr 09, 2024•1 min
Alice Brady owned and ran various lesbian bars throughout New Orleans between 1952 and 1978. The most notable was called Alice Brady's. Thank you to everyone who shared their stories with us for this episode! This episode features interviews with: Ellen Frayle, Frank Perez, Diane DiMicelli, Randy Elwood, and Cindy 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 a...
Apr 02, 2024•58 min•Season 2Ep. 11
When Mara and Emily opened The Ruby Fruit in 2023, Los Angeles hadn't had a lesbian bar since 2017. It is named after Rita Mae Brown's iconic lesbian novel Rubyfruit Jungle, and self-described as "a strip mall wine bar for the sapphically inclined." Thank you to everyone who shared their stories with us for this episode! This episode features interviews with: Mara Herbkersman, Emily Bielagus, Denise Jones, and Anna Goodman. Thank you for listening to Cruising Podcast! -Support Cruising here! Cru...
Mar 19, 2024•40 min•Season 2Ep. 10
Established in 1965, Lost and Found was the longest running lesbian bar in Chicago until it was sold in 2008 and became Lizard's Liquid Lounge. Join us as we celebrate former Lost and Found regular Linda's 80th birthday at Lizard's, and hear the stories of the community members who've found a safe space at this bar over the years. Thank you to everyone who shared their stories with us for this episode. This episode features interviews with Linda Barsaloux, Tracey Baim, Michelle Jones, and Barb T...
Mar 05, 2024•55 min•Season 2Ep. 9
In February of 2020, Chicago's newest lesbian bar, Dorothy Downstairs first opened its doors. A month later, they were forced to close when the city shut down due to the Covid-19 pandemic. About 2 years later, they reopened, and they've been a staple of the Chicago queer community ever since! Thank you to everyone who shared their stories with us for this episode! This episode features interviews with: Lillian Faderman, Zoe Schor, Whitney LaMora, and Rainn Thomas. Zoe and Whitney are fundraising...
Feb 20, 2024•40 min•Season 2Ep. 8
Mona Sargent (born Mona Nystrom) is widely credited as the owner of the first lesbian bar in San Francisco, and perhaps the first public lesbian bar in United States. Between 1933 and 1950 she owned a series of bars in clubs in San Francisco: Mona's, Mona's Barrelhouse, Mona's 440 Club, The Paper Doll, and Mona's Candle Light. Thank you to everyone who shared their stories with us for this episode. This episode features interviews with Beth Lemke, Clay, and Lillian Faderman. The episode also fea...
Feb 06, 2024•1 hr•Season 2Ep. 7
Rikki Streicher opened Maud's in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco in 1966. The bar would be a fixture of the lesbian community there until it closed its doors in 1989. It's memorialized in the 1993 documentary Last Call At Maud's and in the hearts and minds of all those who called Maud's a home over the years! Thank you to everyone who shared their stories with us for this episode. This episode features interviews with Paris Poirier, Karen Kiss, Susan Fahey, Mandy Carter, and Jeanne ...
Jan 16, 2024•1 hr 8 min•Season 2Ep. 6
Our full interview with Ray, bartender at Doc Marie's. Thank you for listening to Cruising Podcast! -Support Cruising here! Cruising is an independent podcast. That means we're entirely funded by sponsors and listeners like you! -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 -Cruising is reported and produced by a small but mighty team o...
Jan 02, 2024•26 min
In the summer of 2022, the city of Portland excitedly awaited the opening of a new lesbian bar: Doc Marie's. It didn't go as planned. Join us as we uncover the full Doc Marie's story, exploring the dark side of the internet, the nuances of queer culture, and the unexpected challenges of opening a business. Thank you to everyone who shared their stories with us for this episode. This episode features interviews with Aundrenee Nash, Brandy Feit, Olga Bichko, Ken Batali, Robin, Anna, Danica, and Sh...
Dec 19, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Season 2Ep. 5
