Sherry Vine is a legendary drag queen that came up in the 90s, in NYC. She's aware of drag's super power: helping queer people escape from the pain of their lives. She was at the center of that during the AIDS crisis.

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In 2009, Annise Parker became the first openly gay mayor of a major American city. As mayor, her signature piece of equal rights legislation famously failed — but it drove her to help elect more LGBTQ+ Americans into office than ever before.

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Lori Branch was one of the pioneering DJs of house music in the 80s. She reflects on the queer origins of the genre, how this history was erased, and why house music still resonates with so many queer people today.

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Alex Espinoza is the author of the only official history on gay cruising: Cruising: An Intimate History of a Radical Pastime. He reflects on how cruising helped him find self confidence and led him to the love he had always been searching for.

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Studio 54 was much more than a club. It was the embodiment of disco — a movement that empowered LGBTQ+ Americans and prepared them for a fight they never saw coming. Hal Rubenstein, a fashion icon, was a regular there. He remembers how the highs of the 70s sustained him through the lows of the 80s.

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In Part 2 of our episode with Tabytha Gonzalez, she details the consequences of her sex work: a harrowing drug addiction followed by 16 years of incarceration. And she reflects on how years later, she’d return to The Stroll with a new purpose.

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Tabytha Gonzalez is a trans woman who worked on The Stroll in the 90s, a historic area of NYC known for sex work. She recounts the freedom that sex work gave her — and the costs that came with it.

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Danny Ingram was a gay soldier who had to stay closeted during the military’s ban on gay people in the 80s. But when his partner began to die of AIDS, he realized he couldn't stay silent any longer. He decided to fight to end the ban — and 17 years later, he would win.

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