1 00:00:01,680 --> 00:00:04,680 Speaker 1: Cool Zone Media. 2 00:00:05,360 --> 00:00:07,560 Speaker 2: Hello, and welcome to Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff, 3 00:00:07,680 --> 00:00:11,160 Speaker 2: your weekly podcast that when there's bad things, there's good 4 00:00:11,160 --> 00:00:14,640 Speaker 2: things too. I'm your host, Margaret Kiljoy, and my guest 5 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:18,239 Speaker 2: today is one of my favorite returning guests, Andrew Tea. 6 00:00:18,680 --> 00:00:21,400 Speaker 3: Oh thanks, Hi. 7 00:00:21,880 --> 00:00:24,959 Speaker 2: I always get excited when you're the guest, because well, 8 00:00:25,079 --> 00:00:27,000 Speaker 2: I like all my guests equally. Yeah, I can't. I 9 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:28,000 Speaker 2: can't show any preference. 10 00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:30,800 Speaker 3: Yeah, don't do that. There's no call for this line 11 00:00:30,840 --> 00:00:32,040 Speaker 3: of flattery. But thank you. 12 00:00:33,560 --> 00:00:35,479 Speaker 2: Enter t is the host of the podcast EO is 13 00:00:35,479 --> 00:00:39,839 Speaker 2: this racist? And also, okay, this specific flattery I think 14 00:00:39,840 --> 00:00:41,520 Speaker 2: I could do. You're my favorite guests to talk about 15 00:00:41,560 --> 00:00:42,319 Speaker 2: mutual aid with. 16 00:00:42,840 --> 00:00:45,360 Speaker 3: Oh, thank you. Yeah. 17 00:00:45,400 --> 00:00:47,680 Speaker 4: Well, I feel like I probably comment at it from 18 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:51,800 Speaker 4: a good place of I'm pretty new. 19 00:00:51,640 --> 00:00:54,880 Speaker 3: To it all things considered, and. 20 00:00:55,200 --> 00:00:57,760 Speaker 4: You know, I've kind of like been around, but there 21 00:00:57,800 --> 00:01:00,200 Speaker 4: have been times in my life when I was more 22 00:01:00,240 --> 00:01:03,520 Speaker 4: involved in less and yeah, i've been, you know lately 23 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:06,280 Speaker 4: because of how things have been going in LA and 24 00:01:06,360 --> 00:01:09,120 Speaker 4: I guess the world trying to really really double down 25 00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:13,800 Speaker 4: and just make sure whatever community we have is as 26 00:01:13,840 --> 00:01:14,720 Speaker 4: strong as it can be. 27 00:01:16,080 --> 00:01:17,959 Speaker 2: I mean that makes sense. I think that a lot 28 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:19,759 Speaker 2: of it isn't an EBB and a flow, Like I'm 29 00:01:19,800 --> 00:01:23,080 Speaker 2: not directly doing mutual aid right now, besides like some 30 00:01:23,120 --> 00:01:27,640 Speaker 2: specific friends or whatever here and there, you know. But yeah, okay, 31 00:01:27,680 --> 00:01:29,880 Speaker 2: So my question before I even get into the topic. 32 00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:33,280 Speaker 2: You live in a city that very famously didn't quite 33 00:01:33,319 --> 00:01:36,840 Speaker 2: burn down recently? Yeah, how's that going? How are mutual 34 00:01:36,920 --> 00:01:38,240 Speaker 2: aid efforts going out there? 35 00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:38,480 Speaker 1: Like? 36 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:39,479 Speaker 2: How things been? 37 00:01:40,040 --> 00:01:44,440 Speaker 4: I mean, I feel like from my perspective, it was 38 00:01:44,600 --> 00:01:48,200 Speaker 4: very impressive. I well, I guess I don't know, because 39 00:01:48,200 --> 00:01:50,200 Speaker 4: I feel like I'm more plugged in than I ever 40 00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:53,640 Speaker 4: have been. So I was able to be on through 41 00:01:54,240 --> 00:01:57,520 Speaker 4: Solidarity and snacks folks. I was able to which is 42 00:01:57,520 --> 00:02:01,800 Speaker 4: a group that I mostly do work with, and so 43 00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:03,520 Speaker 4: I was able to like kind of get in and 44 00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:06,000 Speaker 4: least see like a lot of the chat and the 45 00:02:06,080 --> 00:02:08,840 Speaker 4: chatter and the planning from the early side of things. 46 00:02:09,680 --> 00:02:11,880 Speaker 3: So that to me it was very impressive. I don't know. 47 00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:15,680 Speaker 4: Maybe I'm sure people with more experience this is maybe 48 00:02:15,919 --> 00:02:18,200 Speaker 4: pretty normal, but or maybe not. 49 00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:18,680 Speaker 3: I don't know. 50 00:02:18,760 --> 00:02:22,000 Speaker 4: I don't have any basis for evaluating how actually impressive 51 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:23,639 Speaker 4: it is, but it seemed. 52 00:02:23,400 --> 00:02:24,360 Speaker 3: Very impressive to me. 53 00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:28,080 Speaker 4: The thing I was mostly focused on was trying to 54 00:02:28,120 --> 00:02:30,560 Speaker 4: get masks out to. 55 00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:34,799 Speaker 3: The sort of larger population, especially on house. 56 00:02:34,600 --> 00:02:38,560 Speaker 4: Folks down on skid Row because the air quality was 57 00:02:38,639 --> 00:02:41,040 Speaker 4: so unbelievably bad. 58 00:02:41,720 --> 00:02:42,919 Speaker 3: I guess it still is, but. 59 00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:49,280 Speaker 4: Yeah, so but it was nice watching like warehouses essentially 60 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:52,000 Speaker 4: pop up at various like a lot of bike shops, 61 00:02:52,120 --> 00:02:56,120 Speaker 4: a lot of gallery spaces, a lot of little warehouse 62 00:02:56,320 --> 00:03:02,639 Speaker 4: like work type spaces, and seeing things get distributed as 63 00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:06,240 Speaker 4: efficiently I think as they could be. And also just 64 00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:09,480 Speaker 4: kind of being cognizant of what needs are much harder 65 00:03:09,480 --> 00:03:13,480 Speaker 4: to meet with just community, you know, obviously none of 66 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:16,520 Speaker 4: us had access. Maybe not obviously, and maybe I don't know, 67 00:03:16,840 --> 00:03:19,880 Speaker 4: maybe things have changed sort of muted the signal group 68 00:03:19,919 --> 00:03:23,080 Speaker 4: because it was pretty high traffic, what relatable you know, 69 00:03:23,160 --> 00:03:27,600 Speaker 4: we don't have things like bulldozers or like super high 70 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:32,920 Speaker 4: end ppe. Yeah, and so there were limits to what 71 00:03:32,960 --> 00:03:33,680 Speaker 4: could be done. 72 00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:37,000 Speaker 2: Well, let me give you a piece of advice about bulldozers. Yeah, 73 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:39,720 Speaker 2: they're all keyed the same based on the manufacturer. 74 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:45,080 Speaker 3: Just throwing that out there. Yeah, good to know, Good 75 00:03:45,120 --> 00:03:45,360 Speaker 3: to know. 76 00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:50,640 Speaker 4: Anyway, there also largely wasn't that type of need, so 77 00:03:50,920 --> 00:03:53,160 Speaker 4: who knows what would have happened if things needed to 78 00:03:53,160 --> 00:03:57,000 Speaker 4: truly happen. But it felt like watching the pieces come 79 00:03:57,040 --> 00:04:00,160 Speaker 4: into place. I was like, Okay, this is how this goes. 80 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:05,680 Speaker 4: And so I I guess I from from where I sit, 81 00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:10,400 Speaker 4: I don't have an amazing objective basis for evaluating how 82 00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:10,920 Speaker 4: it all went. 83 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:14,640 Speaker 3: But to my eyes, it seemed like it went well. 84 00:04:15,280 --> 00:04:16,960 Speaker 2: But I mean that's kind of the thing about something 85 00:04:16,960 --> 00:04:19,640 Speaker 2: like mutual aid. It's like not to say it always 86 00:04:19,640 --> 00:04:21,360 Speaker 2: goes well, but on some level it always goes well. 87 00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:26,039 Speaker 2: It always does. Whatever we can do is a positive thing. 88 00:04:26,400 --> 00:04:28,200 Speaker 3: Yeah, it's something that wasn't being done. 89 00:04:28,480 --> 00:04:32,120 Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly, exactly, Yeah. 90 00:04:31,320 --> 00:04:33,640 Speaker 4: Yeah, I think there there's an element of sort of 91 00:04:33,680 --> 00:04:36,240 Speaker 4: like I guess it is, you know, in the business 92 00:04:36,400 --> 00:04:39,159 Speaker 4: type world of managing expectations and. 93 00:04:39,080 --> 00:04:41,599 Speaker 3: Like, yeah, but it is. It is true. 94 00:04:41,640 --> 00:04:44,880 Speaker 4: It is like like pushing a boulder or any any 95 00:04:44,920 --> 00:04:46,760 Speaker 4: amount you push the boulder is a place where it 96 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:50,560 Speaker 4: wasn't before. Yeah, you know, is it better than if 97 00:04:50,560 --> 00:04:54,560 Speaker 4: we had a functional government that it took our took 98 00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:57,200 Speaker 4: our tax dollars and appropriately them. 99 00:04:57,640 --> 00:05:02,960 Speaker 3: Yeah I'm not sure. Yeah. Is it the most efficient? 100 00:05:03,040 --> 00:05:05,080 Speaker 3: I mean, you know it because of the. 101 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:09,600 Speaker 4: Decentralized nature I it was obviously not the most directly 102 00:05:09,640 --> 00:05:14,200 Speaker 4: efficient way to do everything. Yeah, but things absolutely did 103 00:05:14,240 --> 00:05:16,919 Speaker 4: get done. I will say, during during sort of the 104 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:21,039 Speaker 4: absolute thick of it, I was like, man, when when 105 00:05:21,040 --> 00:05:24,360 Speaker 4: the Mega people really got their heads up about Antifa 106 00:05:24,480 --> 00:05:27,760 Speaker 4: super soldiers. I think the biggest, the biggest problem with 107 00:05:27,920 --> 00:05:29,760 Speaker 4: you know, us as a fighting group is going to 108 00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:31,640 Speaker 4: be just making sure everyone shows up to the war 109 00:05:31,680 --> 00:05:35,200 Speaker 4: in time, which is gonna be a real fucking problem 110 00:05:35,240 --> 00:05:36,479 Speaker 4: when push comes a shop. 111 00:05:37,200 --> 00:05:43,240 Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree, And I mean it's funny because I 112 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:46,560 Speaker 2: was late to this recording, but usually I try very 113 00:05:46,560 --> 00:05:48,159 Speaker 2: hard to put the punk in punctual. 114 00:05:51,160 --> 00:05:53,200 Speaker 4: I was just like, damn, there's a lot of a 115 00:05:53,200 --> 00:05:55,360 Speaker 4: lot of sitting around in parking lots for me this week. 116 00:05:55,960 --> 00:05:58,440 Speaker 3: Yeah, everyone's everyone's about fifteen minutes late. 117 00:05:59,240 --> 00:06:04,400 Speaker 2: That's okay, Well that is actually oddly a good hm. 118 00:06:04,600 --> 00:06:06,039 Speaker 2: I'll just tell you what this episode is about. But 119 00:06:06,040 --> 00:06:07,839 Speaker 2: before I tell you what this episode is about, first, 120 00:06:07,880 --> 00:06:09,760 Speaker 2: I want to say we do have a producer, she's 121 00:06:09,880 --> 00:06:11,839 Speaker 2: not on the call right now. It is Sophie Lickterman. 122 00:06:12,360 --> 00:06:15,279 Speaker 2: We also have an audio engineer named Rory, and everyone 123 00:06:15,279 --> 00:06:16,239 Speaker 2: has to say hi to Rory. 124 00:06:16,360 --> 00:06:18,720 Speaker 3: Hi, Rory Hi, Rory. 125 00:06:18,720 --> 00:06:20,640 Speaker 2: And our theme music was written for us by unwoman. 126 00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:23,800 Speaker 2: And I was pondering this week. I was like, well, 127 00:06:23,800 --> 00:06:26,560 Speaker 2: what mutual aid story am I going to do? Because 128 00:06:26,560 --> 00:06:29,000 Speaker 2: I have Andrew as my guest nice and a friend 129 00:06:29,040 --> 00:06:31,799 Speaker 2: of mine brought up this story. It is a story 130 00:06:31,839 --> 00:06:34,279 Speaker 2: about mutual aid during just about as dark of a 131 00:06:34,320 --> 00:06:37,240 Speaker 2: time as you can imagine, the brightest lights in the 132 00:06:37,320 --> 00:06:40,640 Speaker 2: darkest darkes. It's my favorite kind of story. Yeah, this 133 00:06:40,720 --> 00:06:43,280 Speaker 2: is a story about all the people who stepped up 134 00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:45,840 Speaker 2: to care for people dying of AIDS in the nineteen eighties. 135 00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:52,800 Speaker 2: In particular, it's about the unbelievable number of lesbians who 136 00:06:52,839 --> 00:06:55,360 Speaker 2: came in to care for their queer brethren who were 137 00:06:55,360 --> 00:06:58,279 Speaker 2: abandoned by their families and society and the government and 138 00:06:58,320 --> 00:07:04,120 Speaker 2: the medical institutions. So this is my lesbians did amazing 139 00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:06,520 Speaker 2: shit during the AIDS crisis. Episode. I don't know if 140 00:07:06,520 --> 00:07:08,200 Speaker 2: it's gonna be called that. I probably can't cuss on 141 00:07:08,279 --> 00:07:09,000 Speaker 2: the title. 142 00:07:10,320 --> 00:07:11,240 Speaker 3: Amazing stuff. 143 00:07:11,640 --> 00:07:14,320 Speaker 2: Yeah, have you have you heard about this at all? 144 00:07:14,400 --> 00:07:15,120 Speaker 2: This this thing? 145 00:07:16,560 --> 00:07:21,200 Speaker 4: I feel like yes, but I mean not anything specific, 146 00:07:21,360 --> 00:07:24,280 Speaker 4: just that like sort of like the in you know, 147 00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:26,880 Speaker 4: mentioning unsung heroes type situations. 148 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:29,400 Speaker 3: I think totally just swhear it would have come up. 149 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:32,200 Speaker 2: Yeah, I think there's literally I didn't end up watching this. 150 00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:34,560 Speaker 2: I don't watch a lot of documentaries when I'm doing 151 00:07:34,560 --> 00:07:36,600 Speaker 2: my research, to try to stick to written sources overall, 152 00:07:37,160 --> 00:07:40,360 Speaker 2: but there's like different documentaries about many of these different groups. 153 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:42,400 Speaker 2: I think one of them is literally called Unsung Heroes. 154 00:07:42,840 --> 00:07:45,520 Speaker 2: I think that's the name of Well, we'll talk about 155 00:07:45,520 --> 00:07:49,840 Speaker 2: that one later. Sure, we've talked a bit about the 156 00:07:49,880 --> 00:07:52,120 Speaker 2: history of queer rights and queer people on this show. 157 00:07:52,160 --> 00:07:55,280 Speaker 2: I think this is an understatement. If you want the 158 00:07:55,280 --> 00:07:58,200 Speaker 2: best rundown of how social movements look before Stonewall Riots 159 00:07:58,240 --> 00:08:00,280 Speaker 2: of nineteen sixty nine, or the best rundown that I 160 00:08:00,320 --> 00:08:03,600 Speaker 2: have done, check out our episode on the Stonewall Riots 161 00:08:03,600 --> 00:08:06,800 Speaker 2: of nineteen sixty nine. But in general, I would say 162 00:08:07,360 --> 00:08:10,480 Speaker 2: that lesbian and gay activism started off as a bit 163 00:08:10,520 --> 00:08:14,280 Speaker 2: separate from each other, but they would often intersect. Maybe 164 00:08:14,320 --> 00:08:15,720 Speaker 2: the best way I can think to put it is 165 00:08:15,760 --> 00:08:19,160 Speaker 2: that as cultural spaces, the two would stay fairly distinct 166 00:08:19,320 --> 00:08:22,560 Speaker 2: lesbian and gay, but in terms of activism and advocacy, 167 00:08:22,680 --> 00:08:25,400 Speaker 2: queer folks of all types found common cause with each 168 00:08:25,400 --> 00:08:28,600 Speaker 2: other often enough, and that was kind of where I 169 00:08:28,600 --> 00:08:30,040 Speaker 2: was coming at from it, But then I was also 170 00:08:30,120 --> 00:08:32,800 Speaker 2: reading more and more about like even in terms of 171 00:08:32,840 --> 00:08:36,000 Speaker 2: cultural spaces, there was a lot of overlap too. I 172 00:08:36,040 --> 00:08:39,440 Speaker 2: have read plenty of examples of stories about lesbian's bartending 173 00:08:39,480 --> 00:08:43,240 Speaker 2: at gay mail bars, for example, or queer discothechs for 174 00:08:43,320 --> 00:08:46,520 Speaker 2: all comers. You know. So the best way I say 175 00:08:46,559 --> 00:08:49,680 Speaker 2: this is really messy the interaction between gay and lesbian 176 00:08:49,960 --> 00:08:54,360 Speaker 2: activism and culture. While researching this episode, I ran across 177 00:08:54,400 --> 00:08:57,880 Speaker 2: a lot of people, especially people who weren't there, including me. 178 00:08:57,920 --> 00:08:59,760 Speaker 2: I wasn't there. I mean, I was technically alive during 179 00:08:59,760 --> 00:09:03,000 Speaker 2: that but I was not particularly active as a four 180 00:09:03,120 --> 00:09:07,280 Speaker 2: year old, and I ran across a lot of people 181 00:09:07,320 --> 00:09:10,440 Speaker 2: who weren't there talking about how incredibly divided gay and 182 00:09:10,520 --> 00:09:14,760 Speaker 2: lesbian scenes and people were from one another. But the 183 00:09:14,760 --> 00:09:17,240 Speaker 2: more I did the research, the more I found this 184 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:20,800 Speaker 2: wasn't the case. There is a pattern that I've seen 185 00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:22,640 Speaker 2: a lot on the show, and I'm curious your opinion 186 00:09:22,679 --> 00:09:25,760 Speaker 2: about this pattern. But it seems like we have this 187 00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:28,960 Speaker 2: habit of looking back at history and emphasizing all the 188 00:09:29,000 --> 00:09:33,360 Speaker 2: divisions between various marginalized people instead of all the places 189 00:09:33,480 --> 00:09:36,000 Speaker 2: where we've worked in solidarity with each other and like 190 00:09:36,080 --> 00:09:40,280 Speaker 2: both things are true. Right. For example, I have read 191 00:09:40,360 --> 00:09:43,120 Speaker 2: so many things before I especially before I started doing 192 00:09:43,120 --> 00:09:45,040 Speaker 2: the show. I would read all the time about how 193 00:09:45,040 --> 00:09:47,640 Speaker 2: the early feminist movement was like wildly racist in the 194 00:09:47,720 --> 00:09:50,400 Speaker 2: United States. So those all white feminists who were just 195 00:09:50,920 --> 00:09:53,360 Speaker 2: pieces of shit in terms of race. Sure, and I 196 00:09:54,080 --> 00:09:56,880 Speaker 2: internalized that and I believed it, and absolutely there were 197 00:09:57,040 --> 00:10:00,400 Speaker 2: huge numbers of actively racist white feminists, especially in the 198 00:10:00,480 --> 00:10:04,160 Speaker 2: voting rights era of the early twentieth century. But then 199 00:10:04,200 --> 00:10:07,040 Speaker 2: as I would read nineteenth century history about the United 200 00:10:07,080 --> 00:10:10,840 Speaker 2: States and the abolitionist movements, a fock ton of the 201 00:10:10,840 --> 00:10:14,960 Speaker 2: early white abolitionists were women who were quite actively also 202 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:18,640 Speaker 2: fighting for the rights of women, and they're like the 203 00:10:18,720 --> 00:10:21,040 Speaker 2: same social circle more or less. 204 00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:25,719 Speaker 4: Yeah, I wonder, I mean, obviously, I think it's the 205 00:10:26,480 --> 00:10:30,720 Speaker 4: headline is more surprising. The divisions are emphasized just because 206 00:10:31,720 --> 00:10:35,680 Speaker 4: you know, in a vacuum without any external information, I 207 00:10:35,679 --> 00:10:38,320 Speaker 4: guess I would just, you know, war one would just 208 00:10:38,360 --> 00:10:41,920 Speaker 4: assume that like all queer people stick together and then 209 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:47,559 Speaker 4: so so it's like more notable the whatever divisions are there. 210 00:10:48,120 --> 00:10:50,000 Speaker 4: It would be my only guess, like. 211 00:10:51,240 --> 00:10:51,920 Speaker 3: That's so fair. 212 00:10:52,400 --> 00:10:55,520 Speaker 2: That makes sense I like I'm so cynical that I'm 213 00:10:55,559 --> 00:10:59,840 Speaker 2: like uncynical again where I'm like it helps the powers 214 00:10:59,840 --> 00:11:03,600 Speaker 2: that be to focus on our divisions, you know, yes, 215 00:11:03,960 --> 00:11:07,280 Speaker 2: but it also like like we shouldn't erase our differences. 216 00:11:07,280 --> 00:11:11,920 Speaker 2: We shouldn't pretend like yeah, fucking white feminists haven't been 217 00:11:11,920 --> 00:11:14,760 Speaker 2: really shitty or like that, like gay men can't be 218 00:11:14,800 --> 00:11:18,160 Speaker 2: misogynists or like, you know, yeah, but I. 219 00:11:18,080 --> 00:11:20,040 Speaker 4: Think it you're you're absolutely right, though I do think 220 00:11:20,040 --> 00:11:24,240 Speaker 4: it goes sort of both ways in that like whatever 221 00:11:24,320 --> 00:11:29,000 Speaker 4: interest is like peaked by the divisions absolutely also like 222 00:11:29,040 --> 00:11:33,120 Speaker 4: serves the setus quo. So like there's no like nothing 223 00:11:33,160 --> 00:11:35,200 Speaker 4: to like hit the brakes on that or tap the 224 00:11:35,200 --> 00:11:39,400 Speaker 4: brakes on on that, like instinct, like whether it's like 225 00:11:39,640 --> 00:11:43,600 Speaker 4: writerly or like from the publishing perspective, like they just 226 00:11:43,640 --> 00:11:46,160 Speaker 4: want to put that out there and it helps, you know, 227 00:11:46,360 --> 00:11:48,040 Speaker 4: the people in power for it to be put out 228 00:11:48,080 --> 00:11:48,600 Speaker 4: there as well. 229 00:11:49,120 --> 00:11:51,800 Speaker 2: Totally like kind of like how like Twitter is a 230 00:11:51,920 --> 00:11:57,640 Speaker 2: nightmareland that creates divisions between people because likes and reacts 231 00:11:57,679 --> 00:11:59,600 Speaker 2: and blah blah blah are like more useful to the 232 00:11:59,600 --> 00:12:02,559 Speaker 2: algorith them and so therefore people who are angry are 233 00:12:02,559 --> 00:12:05,040 Speaker 2: more likely to comment than people who are like oh yeah, no, 234 00:12:05,120 --> 00:12:06,640 Speaker 2: totally yeah, yeah, you know. 235 00:12:06,720 --> 00:12:10,400 Speaker 4: I mean it's the same way that like, like you know, 236 00:12:10,600 --> 00:12:13,880 Speaker 4: just on any the internet is clearly but like even 237 00:12:13,880 --> 00:12:17,760 Speaker 4: before the Internet, like one complaint, you get one complaint, 238 00:12:17,880 --> 00:12:20,840 Speaker 4: but you won't get you know, a hundred satisfied customers 239 00:12:20,840 --> 00:12:21,319 Speaker 4: that are like. 240 00:12:21,320 --> 00:12:26,719 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's that's it. And then also even like I 241 00:12:26,760 --> 00:12:28,960 Speaker 2: would never read the reviews of my own work, I 242 00:12:29,040 --> 00:12:31,680 Speaker 2: actually specifically try not to read the reviews of my 243 00:12:31,720 --> 00:12:34,680 Speaker 2: own work because I am very aware that I will 244 00:12:34,720 --> 00:12:38,920 Speaker 2: read ten reviews that will be like Margaret Kiljoy saved 245 00:12:39,160 --> 00:12:41,920 Speaker 2: my children from a burning building or whatever, I don't know, 246 00:12:42,080 --> 00:12:45,640 Speaker 2: and then I'll read like one that was like Margaret's 247 00:12:45,679 --> 00:12:48,040 Speaker 2: voice is bad or you know, I don't know, right. 248 00:12:48,040 --> 00:12:50,520 Speaker 3: And then I'm like it's like devastating. 249 00:12:50,920 --> 00:12:54,000 Speaker 2: Yeah, and so maybe that's it. Maybe we like we 250 00:12:54,120 --> 00:12:57,319 Speaker 2: hear about we hear about the racist and we're like, 251 00:12:57,360 --> 00:12:58,280 Speaker 2: well fuck this whole thing. 252 00:12:58,320 --> 00:13:01,800 Speaker 4: You know, it becomes extra silient. Yeah, I will say 253 00:13:02,120 --> 00:13:06,240 Speaker 4: as far as like Twitter goes. On the first big 254 00:13:06,280 --> 00:13:08,199 Speaker 4: show I worked on, it was a show called Mixed Dish, 255 00:13:08,400 --> 00:13:12,600 Speaker 4: and when it came out, I created not a Twitter bot, 256 00:13:12,679 --> 00:13:14,360 Speaker 4: but if I was better at coding, it would have 257 00:13:14,360 --> 00:13:17,600 Speaker 4: been a bot that was called not with the word 258 00:13:17,640 --> 00:13:20,400 Speaker 4: not crossed out the Mixtish writer's room, and every time 259 00:13:20,440 --> 00:13:24,120 Speaker 4: there was a negative comment, I would just write via 260 00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:27,600 Speaker 4: the bot or not the not bot, but by the account. Okay, 261 00:13:27,640 --> 00:13:31,520 Speaker 4: but we worked really hard on this one. Under every 262 00:13:31,520 --> 00:13:32,959 Speaker 4: negative comment on Twitter. 263 00:13:34,440 --> 00:13:37,760 Speaker 2: That is so relatable when people come like because people 264 00:13:37,760 --> 00:13:39,720 Speaker 2: have like things that they could be critical about about 265 00:13:39,760 --> 00:13:41,960 Speaker 2: the things I do. But sometimes on some level, I 266 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:44,280 Speaker 2: just always want to be like, do you know I 267 00:13:44,280 --> 00:13:46,240 Speaker 2: didn't sleep for like a week because I was trying 268 00:13:46,280 --> 00:13:48,880 Speaker 2: to get this right. And I know that I didn't 269 00:13:48,880 --> 00:13:51,680 Speaker 2: get it totally right, but like I have to put 270 00:13:51,679 --> 00:13:56,160 Speaker 2: out roughly two hours of history content every week, I 271 00:13:56,280 --> 00:13:59,120 Speaker 2: just don't sleep. Yeah. 272 00:13:59,320 --> 00:14:04,199 Speaker 4: Yeah, I think we're past the part of the Internet 273 00:14:04,200 --> 00:14:05,559 Speaker 4: where that could even work. 274 00:14:05,720 --> 00:14:07,800 Speaker 3: But it was very fun to me in the moment. 275 00:14:08,080 --> 00:14:12,120 Speaker 2: No, totally. Yeah, Okay. So gay rights in America before 276 00:14:12,160 --> 00:14:16,360 Speaker 2: the Stone, before Stonewall, most visible groups were very assimilationists 277 00:14:16,360 --> 00:14:19,400 Speaker 2: and pushing very hard for mainstream acceptance by like not 278 00:14:19,560 --> 00:14:22,320 Speaker 2: rocking the boat. But all along there were all these 279 00:14:22,400 --> 00:14:25,600 Speaker 2: kind of like unruly queers being unruly Stonewall was not 280 00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:28,200 Speaker 2: the first and not the last major riot by queers 281 00:14:28,200 --> 00:14:31,680 Speaker 2: who are sick of being mistreated by society. But after 282 00:14:31,720 --> 00:14:34,120 Speaker 2: some cops raided the Stonewall in in New York in 283 00:14:34,200 --> 00:14:38,360 Speaker 2: nineteen sixty nine, the gay liberation movement exploded onto the scene. 284 00:14:39,000 --> 00:14:42,120 Speaker 2: People were tired of asking nicely, and once people got 285 00:14:42,200 --> 00:14:46,480 Speaker 2: tired of asking nicely, shit started getting done. That's a 286 00:14:46,520 --> 00:14:48,720 Speaker 2: pattern you can see over and over again. As Frederick 287 00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:52,520 Speaker 2: Douglas the Black Abolitionists put it, power concedes nothing without 288 00:14:52,520 --> 00:14:57,120 Speaker 2: a demand. The seventies were a vital time in gay history, 289 00:14:57,120 --> 00:14:59,960 Speaker 2: as people started really coming out on moss and said 290 00:15:00,200 --> 00:15:03,240 Speaker 2: up all kinds of infrastructure that we rely upon today. 291 00:15:03,360 --> 00:15:05,600 Speaker 2: I remember I was talking to one of my friends 292 00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:09,160 Speaker 2: about this beforehand. I have relied on the infrastructure set 293 00:15:09,200 --> 00:15:11,720 Speaker 2: up by like gays fifty years ago, for like my 294 00:15:11,840 --> 00:15:15,880 Speaker 2: basic health care, completely unrelated to sexuality, just because I 295 00:15:15,960 --> 00:15:18,760 Speaker 2: was like broken, lived out of a backpack, you know, 296 00:15:19,640 --> 00:15:22,720 Speaker 2: and like I remember, I injured myself at one point 297 00:15:22,720 --> 00:15:25,160 Speaker 2: by having too heavy of a backpack I was living 298 00:15:25,200 --> 00:15:26,800 Speaker 2: out of and not being in my twenties anymore, It 299 00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:29,400 Speaker 2: turns out that you can carry a certain sized backpack 300 00:15:29,440 --> 00:15:31,920 Speaker 2: in your twenties that you can't carry onward, and I 301 00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:33,680 Speaker 2: like injured myself and so the only place that I 302 00:15:33,680 --> 00:15:37,400 Speaker 2: could go was this gay clinic and it was nice. 303 00:15:37,960 --> 00:15:39,960 Speaker 2: But then it's just like bonus points because they respect 304 00:15:39,960 --> 00:15:42,120 Speaker 2: my pronouns and it's nice and people are nice to you. 305 00:15:42,120 --> 00:15:46,120 Speaker 2: You know. I love gay infrastructure is the point, and 306 00:15:47,360 --> 00:15:49,000 Speaker 2: I think that gay infrastructure is one of the most 307 00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:51,760 Speaker 2: beautiful prefigurations of the world. I want everyone to get 308 00:15:51,760 --> 00:15:54,280 Speaker 2: to live in. A lot of that started getting set 309 00:15:54,320 --> 00:15:56,720 Speaker 2: up in the seventies. Unfortunately, a lot of it was 310 00:15:56,760 --> 00:15:59,880 Speaker 2: set up in the eighties because the eighties, yeah, were 311 00:16:00,400 --> 00:16:02,480 Speaker 2: the spoiler alert for history. 312 00:16:04,680 --> 00:16:09,080 Speaker 4: Real bad yeah, yeah, and bad at the time. But 313 00:16:09,200 --> 00:16:12,480 Speaker 4: also all the all the shit that's happening now got 314 00:16:12,480 --> 00:16:15,240 Speaker 4: started then or not, I got started before, but like 315 00:16:15,680 --> 00:16:18,640 Speaker 4: some of the major stuff really got rolling then, and 316 00:16:18,720 --> 00:16:21,760 Speaker 4: we're just kind of living with the results of how 317 00:16:21,920 --> 00:16:24,000 Speaker 4: how those people did the shit in the eighties. 318 00:16:24,520 --> 00:16:26,480 Speaker 2: I know, it's like we're listen, we're in like hyper 319 00:16:26,520 --> 00:16:29,880 Speaker 2: Reagan times. Like Reagan was like yeah you at the time, 320 00:16:29,880 --> 00:16:31,840 Speaker 2: I think people are like, I can't imagine something worse 321 00:16:31,880 --> 00:16:34,960 Speaker 2: than this, and you're like, then, fucking yeah. Pull my beer. 322 00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:35,920 Speaker 2: Trump comes in. 323 00:16:36,120 --> 00:16:41,400 Speaker 4: I know, I mean, we'll see, hopefully at the very minimum, 324 00:16:41,480 --> 00:16:44,880 Speaker 4: like Trump isn't sort of lionized in history. The way 325 00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:48,160 Speaker 4: that that is sort of the most infuriating thing is, Yeah, 326 00:16:48,320 --> 00:16:51,920 Speaker 4: people's at least at least in the nineties and two thousands. 327 00:16:51,960 --> 00:16:53,960 Speaker 4: I think people are coming around a little bit now. 328 00:16:54,000 --> 00:16:57,600 Speaker 4: But like their description of Ronald Reagan's like the fuck 329 00:16:57,640 --> 00:16:59,880 Speaker 4: out of here? The fuck are you talking about? 330 00:17:00,480 --> 00:17:02,480 Speaker 2: I was talking with one of my friends who works 331 00:17:02,480 --> 00:17:04,400 Speaker 2: in the piercing industry, and they were wearing, I can't 332 00:17:04,400 --> 00:17:06,719 Speaker 2: remember exactly, they were wearing a shirt that was like 333 00:17:07,440 --> 00:17:12,600 Speaker 2: Ronald Reagan's grave is a gender neutral bathroom. Yeah, And 334 00:17:12,680 --> 00:17:15,760 Speaker 2: someone that they work with was a piercer, a gay 335 00:17:15,760 --> 00:17:18,199 Speaker 2: man who survived the eighties in San Francisco, which is 336 00:17:18,320 --> 00:17:21,080 Speaker 2: a hard thing to have done. And was just like, 337 00:17:21,560 --> 00:17:25,320 Speaker 2: I'm so glad that people today still understand that Ronald 338 00:17:25,320 --> 00:17:26,440 Speaker 2: Reagan is a terrible person. 339 00:17:27,200 --> 00:17:31,400 Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, well and sort of even. 340 00:17:30,800 --> 00:17:34,320 Speaker 4: As he got like you know, no longer really there 341 00:17:35,040 --> 00:17:36,600 Speaker 4: and while he was still president. 342 00:17:37,160 --> 00:17:37,720 Speaker 3: That's the thing. 343 00:17:37,760 --> 00:17:42,199 Speaker 4: It's like, like, yeah, the Republican and right wing in 344 00:17:42,280 --> 00:17:46,600 Speaker 4: general like apparatus is this like he is a terrible person, 345 00:17:46,960 --> 00:17:51,320 Speaker 4: but it sort of doesn't matter, no, totally, like specifically him, Yeah, 346 00:17:51,560 --> 00:17:54,000 Speaker 4: like is this is what those folks want and we 347 00:17:54,040 --> 00:17:57,600 Speaker 4: are living with the consequences of not yeah, fucking taking 348 00:17:57,600 --> 00:17:58,920 Speaker 4: them seriously honestly. 349 00:17:59,600 --> 00:18:02,680 Speaker 2: Yeah, and then obviously like some people did, some people tried, 350 00:18:02,760 --> 00:18:05,520 Speaker 2: and just like not enough, but like yes, yes, yes, 351 00:18:06,080 --> 00:18:09,960 Speaker 2: and so in the eighties it was the dying time. 352 00:18:10,760 --> 00:18:13,879 Speaker 2: Gay men started showing up in hospitals as early as 353 00:18:13,920 --> 00:18:17,720 Speaker 2: about nineteen eighty one, well exactly nineteen eighty one, with 354 00:18:17,840 --> 00:18:21,359 Speaker 2: all kinds of rare cancers and diagnoses with what we 355 00:18:21,440 --> 00:18:25,520 Speaker 2: now understand as AIDS. Acquired immuno deficiency syndrome is caused 356 00:18:25,560 --> 00:18:30,359 Speaker 2: by an underlying virus HIV human immuno deficiency virus. They 357 00:18:30,400 --> 00:18:34,040 Speaker 2: didn't know that yet. The actual causes and means of 358 00:18:34,040 --> 00:18:36,240 Speaker 2: transmission were going to be a hot topic for years. 359 00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:40,200 Speaker 2: At first, doctors looked at what was happening and called 360 00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:46,639 Speaker 2: it GRID gay related immune deficiency. This crisis was completely 361 00:18:46,720 --> 00:18:49,120 Speaker 2: and shamefully ignored by the government. It was like till 362 00:18:49,160 --> 00:18:51,600 Speaker 2: nineteen eighty seven before Reagan i think, said the word 363 00:18:51,680 --> 00:18:57,000 Speaker 2: AIDS right. The treatment that people were receiving was shameful too. 364 00:18:58,160 --> 00:19:03,040 Speaker 2: When patients first started showing up destroyed immune systems. At first, 365 00:19:03,200 --> 00:19:06,080 Speaker 2: this makes some sense, doctors were rightfully afraid of getting 366 00:19:06,119 --> 00:19:08,800 Speaker 2: their patients any sicker, and so they wore head to 367 00:19:08,800 --> 00:19:13,480 Speaker 2: toe ppe in what was called colloquial as spacesuits. But 368 00:19:13,680 --> 00:19:17,720 Speaker 2: soon enough all kinds of healthcare professionals started wearing them 369 00:19:17,720 --> 00:19:20,440 Speaker 2: around AIDS patients out of fear for themselves instead of 370 00:19:20,480 --> 00:19:24,320 Speaker 2: the other way around. And the thing is, I've read 371 00:19:24,320 --> 00:19:27,240 Speaker 2: a couple of people like talking about, like how reasonable 372 00:19:27,320 --> 00:19:29,119 Speaker 2: was it of people to be afraid of AIDS patients 373 00:19:29,119 --> 00:19:31,760 Speaker 2: and stuff, And on some level, right, like, people didn't 374 00:19:31,800 --> 00:19:33,680 Speaker 2: know what this disease was. They didn't know how it spread, 375 00:19:33,720 --> 00:19:35,520 Speaker 2: and they knew that it had all one hundred percent 376 00:19:35,800 --> 00:19:38,639 Speaker 2: death rate, which is a really high death rate. You know, 377 00:19:38,760 --> 00:19:42,240 Speaker 2: it's about as high as it can get. Yeah, yeah, 378 00:19:42,400 --> 00:19:47,080 Speaker 2: But pretty early on, well, no one was quite sure 379 00:19:47,080 --> 00:19:51,240 Speaker 2: how the disease was spread. Doctors and epidemiologists were pretty 380 00:19:51,240 --> 00:19:53,560 Speaker 2: certain that it was not airborne and that it wasn't 381 00:19:53,560 --> 00:19:57,120 Speaker 2: spread by casual contact, just based on looking at the 382 00:19:57,680 --> 00:19:59,080 Speaker 2: I can't believe I wrote a script where I have 383 00:19:59,119 --> 00:20:02,240 Speaker 2: to say epidemiology a lot, but just based on the 384 00:20:02,359 --> 00:20:05,520 Speaker 2: like the spread of the disease, right. 385 00:20:05,880 --> 00:20:07,480 Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean it was. 386 00:20:07,560 --> 00:20:10,520 Speaker 4: It's a little bit in retrospect some of the COVID 387 00:20:10,600 --> 00:20:14,879 Speaker 4: stuff too, where it was likely, especially like the wiping 388 00:20:14,920 --> 00:20:18,399 Speaker 4: down your groceries business, and it's like, okay, but if 389 00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:21,840 Speaker 4: it was transmitted like that, we'd all, like, you know, 390 00:20:22,040 --> 00:20:25,679 Speaker 4: the city of Wuhan would have been completely obliterated. Like 391 00:20:25,800 --> 00:20:29,639 Speaker 4: it just doesn't work like that. Yeah, but totally, I 392 00:20:29,920 --> 00:20:33,000 Speaker 4: will say, you know, obviously have a sense of where 393 00:20:33,040 --> 00:20:34,400 Speaker 4: this is going, and you know. 394 00:20:35,040 --> 00:20:38,760 Speaker 3: I sort of understand the doctor's perspective, but yeah. 395 00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:41,560 Speaker 2: No, totally, Like at the very beginning, you're like, whoa, 396 00:20:41,640 --> 00:20:43,200 Speaker 2: I don't know what that is, and I don't want 397 00:20:43,200 --> 00:20:46,320 Speaker 2: to then spread it to everyone, and like, you know, 398 00:20:46,600 --> 00:20:49,960 Speaker 2: there's a there's a certain sense. But yeah, that was 399 00:20:50,000 --> 00:20:53,960 Speaker 2: only for a brief moment. The medical establishment knew better 400 00:20:54,520 --> 00:20:57,919 Speaker 2: really soon. They knew pretty much right away that it 401 00:20:57,920 --> 00:21:01,399 Speaker 2: wasn't casual contact or airborne, and then by nineteen eighty 402 00:21:01,440 --> 00:21:04,480 Speaker 2: three they realized it was blood born because of the 403 00:21:04,560 --> 00:21:08,000 Speaker 2: number of blood transfusion patients who were getting sick. And 404 00:21:08,040 --> 00:21:11,480 Speaker 2: this is the same year that researchers in France discovered 405 00:21:11,520 --> 00:21:16,120 Speaker 2: the virus underlying the disease HIV, but homophobia and fear 406 00:21:16,200 --> 00:21:21,880 Speaker 2: of disease worked really tightly together. Healthcare professionals were terrified 407 00:21:21,920 --> 00:21:25,280 Speaker 2: of catching gay cancer. No one would touch or breed 408 00:21:25,359 --> 00:21:30,040 Speaker 2: the same air as AIDS patients, so patients were completely isolated. 409 00:21:30,840 --> 00:21:33,800 Speaker 2: One aid's nurse, a guy named Guy Vanderberg, who is 410 00:21:33,840 --> 00:21:37,720 Speaker 2: himself hospitalized for a while, told ABC the food tray 411 00:21:37,800 --> 00:21:40,320 Speaker 2: was shoved into the room and everything was covered in plastic, 412 00:21:40,760 --> 00:21:43,399 Speaker 2: then everything was put into biohazard bags when it was 413 00:21:43,480 --> 00:21:46,160 Speaker 2: taken out. People were fully gowned when they came in, 414 00:21:46,480 --> 00:21:50,560 Speaker 2: even just to talk with me, And like, even if 415 00:21:50,680 --> 00:21:53,639 Speaker 2: this was reasonable, and there's very brief window where it was, 416 00:21:54,600 --> 00:21:56,480 Speaker 2: it's also just incredibly alienated and hard. 417 00:21:56,600 --> 00:21:56,800 Speaker 3: Yeah. 418 00:21:57,400 --> 00:22:01,800 Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean it's like, solitary confinement is torture, literal torture. 419 00:22:02,119 --> 00:22:02,760 Speaker 2: Yeah, totally. 420 00:22:03,040 --> 00:22:04,480 Speaker 3: That's even when you're not sick. 421 00:22:04,720 --> 00:22:09,359 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah. Absolutely. My personal anecdote around this is that 422 00:22:09,920 --> 00:22:13,359 Speaker 2: a close family friend of my family's has HIV and 423 00:22:13,600 --> 00:22:15,560 Speaker 2: he was diagnosed I think in the eighties, maybe the 424 00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:18,200 Speaker 2: early nineties, and he's this conservative man who goes to 425 00:22:18,240 --> 00:22:21,719 Speaker 2: a conservative church, and so when he went and told 426 00:22:21,880 --> 00:22:25,600 Speaker 2: the congregation that, you know, he had HIV. Everyone in 427 00:22:25,640 --> 00:22:28,400 Speaker 2: the congregation lined up to shake his hand like without gloves. 428 00:22:28,680 --> 00:22:32,919 Speaker 2: And this was like a huge fucking deal, you know, right, 429 00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:37,560 Speaker 2: because everyone consciously knew it was safe, but people were 430 00:22:37,560 --> 00:22:39,919 Speaker 2: still being real fucking shitty about it. 431 00:22:40,040 --> 00:22:40,240 Speaker 3: Yeah. 432 00:22:40,320 --> 00:22:46,480 Speaker 2: Yeah, Fortunately, queer people themselves, gay people and lesbians are 433 00:22:46,880 --> 00:22:51,280 Speaker 2: as I understand it overrepresented in the medical profession, much 434 00:22:51,480 --> 00:22:55,080 Speaker 2: like you might think that ads are overrepresented in this podcast, 435 00:22:55,160 --> 00:22:59,400 Speaker 2: But I would argue that they are that they are. Yeah, 436 00:22:59,400 --> 00:23:01,000 Speaker 2: that's what I would are you too, But if you 437 00:23:01,040 --> 00:23:03,080 Speaker 2: get cooler zone media, then you don't have to listen 438 00:23:03,119 --> 00:23:06,159 Speaker 2: to them. You can only listen to my ad transitions instead. 439 00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:18,400 Speaker 2: But here's the ads, and we're back. The lesbian community 440 00:23:18,520 --> 00:23:22,800 Speaker 2: rallied really hard, and they rode to Gondor's aid when 441 00:23:22,800 --> 00:23:25,119 Speaker 2: the beacons were lit. They did not ask where was 442 00:23:25,160 --> 00:23:29,240 Speaker 2: Gondor when the westfold fell? I have to somehow put 443 00:23:29,240 --> 00:23:31,840 Speaker 2: in a Lord of the room's reference in every episode. Yeah, no, 444 00:23:32,040 --> 00:23:36,320 Speaker 2: it's just it's important. And one gay man it's actually okay. 445 00:23:36,320 --> 00:23:38,119 Speaker 2: The comparisons are going to get really strong though, right 446 00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:41,080 Speaker 2: because there's well okay, yeah, one gay man in San 447 00:23:41,080 --> 00:23:44,280 Speaker 2: Francisco spoke anonymously to the I news and said, quote, 448 00:23:44,640 --> 00:23:47,520 Speaker 2: suddenly the hospitals were full of lesbians who were volunteering, 449 00:23:47,840 --> 00:23:50,520 Speaker 2: volunteering to go into those rooms and help my friends 450 00:23:50,520 --> 00:23:53,960 Speaker 2: who were dying. I remember being so moved by them 451 00:23:54,320 --> 00:23:57,440 Speaker 2: because gay men hadn't been too kind to lesbians. We'd 452 00:23:57,480 --> 00:23:59,560 Speaker 2: call them fish and make fun of the butcher dikes 453 00:23:59,560 --> 00:24:02,080 Speaker 2: in the bar, and yet there they were. 454 00:24:03,359 --> 00:24:06,280 Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean that is a you know, that that 455 00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:08,879 Speaker 4: is sort of like the differences and similarities that we 456 00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:11,240 Speaker 4: were talking about earlier right there, which is like there's 457 00:24:11,280 --> 00:24:13,720 Speaker 4: a difference between like poking fun at someone and like 458 00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:15,119 Speaker 4: a community. 459 00:24:14,640 --> 00:24:18,840 Speaker 2: Is dying totally totally. Yeah, like, yeah, we're going to 460 00:24:18,920 --> 00:24:21,119 Speaker 2: make fun of oh you got bad haircut. I'm going 461 00:24:21,160 --> 00:24:23,359 Speaker 2: to make fun of you until someone else messes with you. 462 00:24:23,440 --> 00:24:24,520 Speaker 2: Then it's a war, you know. 463 00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:26,280 Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, you know. 464 00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:32,840 Speaker 4: And without also like two needlessly tapping the present, we're 465 00:24:32,880 --> 00:24:36,080 Speaker 4: about to also enter into a time when the establishment 466 00:24:36,160 --> 00:24:41,560 Speaker 4: medical advice is about to be factually incorrect. Yeah, not 467 00:24:41,640 --> 00:24:44,080 Speaker 4: that it always hasn't been, sort of, but even more so, 468 00:24:45,480 --> 00:24:47,119 Speaker 4: I don't know, this is sort of an open question 469 00:24:47,160 --> 00:24:51,480 Speaker 4: to me, but it's like, whenever the next terrible thing 470 00:24:51,720 --> 00:24:55,399 Speaker 4: that is a probably virus hits, like probably, yeah, we 471 00:24:55,440 --> 00:24:59,440 Speaker 4: won't be able to necessarily, I mean, we probably pretty 472 00:24:59,440 --> 00:25:03,760 Speaker 4: actively won't be able to trust our CDC or NIH. 473 00:25:03,800 --> 00:25:06,960 Speaker 4: And again, with grains of salt, we never probably should 474 00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:11,480 Speaker 4: have wholly trusted them. However, they've mostly been correct, you know. 475 00:25:12,040 --> 00:25:16,840 Speaker 4: So whether it's you know, getting your measles vaccine or 476 00:25:17,440 --> 00:25:21,120 Speaker 4: you know, not trying to use nutrition to fight cancer 477 00:25:21,280 --> 00:25:23,920 Speaker 4: and mental mental health issues. 478 00:25:25,640 --> 00:25:26,040 Speaker 3: I don't know. 479 00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:28,439 Speaker 4: I don't know if there's like an EU like health 480 00:25:29,359 --> 00:25:32,280 Speaker 4: authority to follow or Chinese health authority to follow, but 481 00:25:33,240 --> 00:25:34,280 Speaker 4: don't follow the like. 482 00:25:34,280 --> 00:25:36,680 Speaker 3: And don't follow the American one, and don't let. 483 00:25:36,600 --> 00:25:40,200 Speaker 4: Their policies dictate your behavior, because we are going to 484 00:25:40,280 --> 00:25:42,480 Speaker 4: have to do stuff like this which is maybe not 485 00:25:43,240 --> 00:25:49,040 Speaker 4: technically advised or allowed by the establishment, but it is 486 00:25:49,040 --> 00:25:52,280 Speaker 4: the right thing to do, and you know, within reason. 487 00:25:52,320 --> 00:25:54,280 Speaker 4: I guess who knows what the next actual thing will be. 488 00:25:54,359 --> 00:25:57,239 Speaker 4: But just because they say you're safe doesn't mean you are. 489 00:25:57,400 --> 00:25:59,439 Speaker 4: Just because they say you're in peril doesn't mean you are. 490 00:25:59,600 --> 00:25:59,840 Speaker 3: I know. 491 00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:01,399 Speaker 2: And it's like hard because it's like, well, this is 492 00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:03,560 Speaker 2: going to make it even harder to get people to trust, like, 493 00:26:04,520 --> 00:26:07,240 Speaker 2: you know, I'm clearly not like a big like the 494 00:26:07,320 --> 00:26:09,879 Speaker 2: state is a really good way of forming society, person, 495 00:26:10,480 --> 00:26:15,200 Speaker 2: but yeah, institutions that get together to solve things, Yeah, 496 00:26:15,240 --> 00:26:18,199 Speaker 2: I absolutely believe in and many of those are governmental 497 00:26:18,560 --> 00:26:19,200 Speaker 2: and yeah. 498 00:26:19,240 --> 00:26:22,360 Speaker 4: Well it's like the difference between like the broadly speaking, 499 00:26:22,520 --> 00:26:27,680 Speaker 4: the state, but also like the state is unfortunately the 500 00:26:27,720 --> 00:26:29,480 Speaker 4: best way to do some of these. 501 00:26:29,240 --> 00:26:32,120 Speaker 2: Things, Like yeah, definitely that we have available to us. Yeah. 502 00:26:32,240 --> 00:26:35,000 Speaker 3: Yeah, so yeah, it would be nice if it worked. 503 00:26:35,359 --> 00:26:37,680 Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, it's like they're getting rid of all that part. 504 00:26:37,720 --> 00:26:40,040 Speaker 2: They're like, it's like, stop making the state look good, 505 00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:43,800 Speaker 2: you weird right wing libertarians. Yeah, like you're gutting all 506 00:26:43,800 --> 00:26:45,720 Speaker 2: the good parts of the state and you're keeping the 507 00:26:45,800 --> 00:26:47,720 Speaker 2: fucking cops in the military. 508 00:26:48,320 --> 00:26:49,719 Speaker 3: Yeah all right. 509 00:26:49,760 --> 00:26:54,520 Speaker 2: Well, so lesbians step up in so many ways during 510 00:26:54,520 --> 00:26:57,440 Speaker 2: this that it's overwhelming and I won't get into all 511 00:26:57,480 --> 00:27:01,760 Speaker 2: of it, but we'll start with blood, because starting in 512 00:27:01,800 --> 00:27:04,600 Speaker 2: nineteen eighty three, men who have sex with men were 513 00:27:04,640 --> 00:27:07,320 Speaker 2: banned from donating blood in order to stop transmission through 514 00:27:07,359 --> 00:27:12,080 Speaker 2: blood transfusions. There's there's some logic here, right, HIV tests 515 00:27:12,080 --> 00:27:16,480 Speaker 2: weren't available yet, but this ban went on way too long. 516 00:27:16,880 --> 00:27:19,080 Speaker 2: Do you want to guess what year men who had 517 00:27:19,119 --> 00:27:22,560 Speaker 2: sex with men were able to donate blood again without 518 00:27:22,560 --> 00:27:24,640 Speaker 2: discrimination in the United States. 519 00:27:24,960 --> 00:27:30,600 Speaker 4: I only know this because I was asked in my 520 00:27:31,480 --> 00:27:36,399 Speaker 4: adulthood so deep into the twenty to two thousand somethings, 521 00:27:37,480 --> 00:27:38,160 Speaker 4: Is that right. 522 00:27:38,800 --> 00:27:43,199 Speaker 2: Two years ago? Twenty twenty three? Okay, yeah, yeah, no, 523 00:27:43,240 --> 00:27:46,639 Speaker 2: that's actually a good point. Yeah, all of us have gone. Yeah. 524 00:27:47,040 --> 00:27:51,159 Speaker 2: In twenty twenty fucking three, they finally changed the rules. 525 00:27:51,359 --> 00:27:53,879 Speaker 2: In twenty twenty, men who have sex with men were 526 00:27:53,920 --> 00:27:55,600 Speaker 2: allowed to donate blood if they hadn't had sex in 527 00:27:55,640 --> 00:27:59,840 Speaker 2: the last three months. Nowadays, the rule is anyone regardless 528 00:27:59,840 --> 00:28:02,000 Speaker 2: of extra gender, can donate blood, so long as they 529 00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:04,520 Speaker 2: haven't had anal sex with a new partner or slept 530 00:28:04,520 --> 00:28:07,439 Speaker 2: with multiple new partners in the past three months, and 531 00:28:07,480 --> 00:28:11,840 Speaker 2: that I'm not an expert here. That sounds reasonable. Yeah, 532 00:28:12,040 --> 00:28:14,600 Speaker 2: make it across the board and not about sexuality. That 533 00:28:14,680 --> 00:28:15,840 Speaker 2: seems good. I don't know. 534 00:28:16,160 --> 00:28:19,399 Speaker 3: Yeah. But also it feels like we could also just 535 00:28:19,760 --> 00:28:22,280 Speaker 3: screen for I. 536 00:28:22,320 --> 00:28:24,879 Speaker 4: Mean, if you're just worried about HIV, it's like, just 537 00:28:25,040 --> 00:28:26,520 Speaker 4: check if there's HIV there. 538 00:28:26,840 --> 00:28:28,600 Speaker 2: I think, but I could be wrong. I think it's 539 00:28:28,680 --> 00:28:31,119 Speaker 2: because there's a roughly a three month period for the 540 00:28:31,160 --> 00:28:32,600 Speaker 2: efficacy of the testing. 541 00:28:32,640 --> 00:28:34,160 Speaker 3: Oh sure, sure, okay. 542 00:28:34,359 --> 00:28:36,480 Speaker 2: But I don't know how it relates to like bottled 543 00:28:36,520 --> 00:28:37,440 Speaker 2: blood or whatever. 544 00:28:37,480 --> 00:28:37,720 Speaker 3: It is. 545 00:28:37,880 --> 00:28:42,000 Speaker 2: Sure, but in nineteen eighty three men were suddenly told 546 00:28:42,040 --> 00:28:45,800 Speaker 2: that they couldn't donate blood. But AIDS patients need a 547 00:28:45,840 --> 00:28:49,640 Speaker 2: lot of blood transfusions, especially back then, so their own 548 00:28:49,680 --> 00:28:54,200 Speaker 2: immediate community couldn't support them. Fortunately, LGBT is a thing 549 00:28:54,240 --> 00:28:56,800 Speaker 2: for a reason. All of us letters are in it together. 550 00:28:57,280 --> 00:29:00,280 Speaker 2: The l stepped up the most famous group is probably 551 00:29:00,360 --> 00:29:03,600 Speaker 2: the most famous because branding is so important to being 552 00:29:03,640 --> 00:29:05,760 Speaker 2: remembered in history, is what I'm learning on this show too. 553 00:29:07,400 --> 00:29:11,480 Speaker 2: They were called the blood Sisters. Yeah, like you don't 554 00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:12,600 Speaker 2: forget the blood sisters. 555 00:29:13,480 --> 00:29:17,760 Speaker 4: Oh man, And just speaking of this is it's just 556 00:29:17,880 --> 00:29:20,760 Speaker 4: nice to get a Warhammer forty K reference in there. 557 00:29:21,160 --> 00:29:23,240 Speaker 2: Oh are there blood sisters and Warmmer? I'm a D 558 00:29:23,280 --> 00:29:24,080 Speaker 2: and D girl. 559 00:29:24,120 --> 00:29:25,880 Speaker 3: I don't think. I think so. 560 00:29:26,600 --> 00:29:28,680 Speaker 4: Hell yeah, it might be a Sisters of Blood or 561 00:29:28,720 --> 00:29:31,320 Speaker 4: something like that, just the bloody angels anyway. 562 00:29:31,680 --> 00:29:35,200 Speaker 2: Hell yeah, So the Warhammer forty K girls stepped. 563 00:29:34,840 --> 00:29:37,400 Speaker 3: To the fuck uh. 564 00:29:37,440 --> 00:29:41,280 Speaker 2: The Women's caucus of the San Diego Democratic Club set 565 00:29:41,360 --> 00:29:43,800 Speaker 2: up a deal with a private blood bank to allow 566 00:29:43,880 --> 00:29:47,560 Speaker 2: donors to designate the recipients, so basically people could go 567 00:29:47,600 --> 00:29:50,520 Speaker 2: in and say, this is blood for people with HIV 568 00:29:50,640 --> 00:29:54,320 Speaker 2: and AIDS. Then they called for a blood drive on 569 00:29:54,440 --> 00:29:57,920 Speaker 2: July sixteenth, nineteen eighty three, and called on all the 570 00:29:57,960 --> 00:30:01,520 Speaker 2: lesbians in San Diego, being that like fifty people would come, 571 00:30:01,960 --> 00:30:04,800 Speaker 2: but the very first blood drive, two hundred people came 572 00:30:04,920 --> 00:30:10,320 Speaker 2: with a line around the block. Peggy Heathers, a blood sister, said, quote, 573 00:30:11,600 --> 00:30:14,320 Speaker 2: women came out of the woodwork, women that didn't want 574 00:30:14,360 --> 00:30:16,680 Speaker 2: to have anything to do with men, even gay men. 575 00:30:17,840 --> 00:30:21,880 Speaker 2: And I fucking love that. Even the hardcore lesbian separatists 576 00:30:21,920 --> 00:30:24,080 Speaker 2: were like, look, I don't want to live with men, 577 00:30:24,400 --> 00:30:26,160 Speaker 2: I don't want to date men. I don't want to 578 00:30:26,280 --> 00:30:29,360 Speaker 2: organize with men. I'm not going to see them fucking 579 00:30:29,520 --> 00:30:31,800 Speaker 2: die abandoned because of their sexuality. 580 00:30:32,600 --> 00:30:35,400 Speaker 4: Yeah, like, well, I mean it also is just sort 581 00:30:35,440 --> 00:30:39,360 Speaker 4: of like the right triangulation. It's like, listen, even if 582 00:30:39,400 --> 00:30:42,480 Speaker 4: I don't want anything to do with men, the worst 583 00:30:42,520 --> 00:30:45,160 Speaker 4: men are the ones that are perpetrating this upon gay men. 584 00:30:45,640 --> 00:30:50,120 Speaker 2: Like totally, totally, there's still the real enemy. 585 00:30:50,200 --> 00:30:53,120 Speaker 4: Let's not let's not and never be confused about who 586 00:30:53,160 --> 00:30:54,200 Speaker 4: the real enemy. 587 00:30:53,960 --> 00:30:57,239 Speaker 2: Is yeah, totally, and I just like, I love that. 588 00:30:57,280 --> 00:30:59,000 Speaker 2: I love that they were like, yeah, like you know, 589 00:30:59,240 --> 00:31:01,680 Speaker 2: you're still as being separatists and we're still coming to 590 00:31:01,680 --> 00:31:05,800 Speaker 2: help you. The Blood Sisters continued for years. I have 591 00:31:05,880 --> 00:31:07,840 Speaker 2: read that they continued before this is my favorite part 592 00:31:07,880 --> 00:31:10,960 Speaker 2: about multiple sources, and I've read that they continue for 593 00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:13,520 Speaker 2: four years. I've read that they continued until nineteen ninety six. 594 00:31:14,560 --> 00:31:17,920 Speaker 2: Either way they stayed, I'm guessing that they stayed particularly 595 00:31:18,000 --> 00:31:20,360 Speaker 2: active until the very first treatments of the late eighties 596 00:31:20,400 --> 00:31:24,240 Speaker 2: kicked in, and then active to some degree for a 597 00:31:24,280 --> 00:31:26,800 Speaker 2: decade after that until about nineteen ninety six. Is when 598 00:31:26,800 --> 00:31:29,320 Speaker 2: you get the well I keep saying about in nineteen 599 00:31:29,360 --> 00:31:32,840 Speaker 2: ninety six, you get the sort of cocktail three drug 600 00:31:33,560 --> 00:31:37,480 Speaker 2: regimen that started dramatically improving peoples odds, you know. 601 00:31:37,520 --> 00:31:39,520 Speaker 4: And the other side of it is like whether they 602 00:31:39,560 --> 00:31:43,440 Speaker 4: were like continuing as a Blood Sister's like you know, 603 00:31:43,600 --> 00:31:46,640 Speaker 4: under the Blood Sister's banner. There is the thing, you know, 604 00:31:46,840 --> 00:31:50,640 Speaker 4: sort of mirroring my story, which is like once you 605 00:31:50,880 --> 00:31:54,960 Speaker 4: get started, you do more like totally and I do 606 00:31:55,080 --> 00:31:58,360 Speaker 4: think like a you know, the tiny silver lining for 607 00:31:58,480 --> 00:32:02,880 Speaker 4: these crises is it does get regular people or maybe 608 00:32:02,880 --> 00:32:05,160 Speaker 4: even slightly apathetic people and to like be like, Okay, 609 00:32:05,160 --> 00:32:08,640 Speaker 4: I gotta do fucking something then like something that gets 610 00:32:09,280 --> 00:32:12,720 Speaker 4: you know something else. No, yeah, enough of the time 611 00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:14,520 Speaker 4: that you know, things become real. 612 00:32:14,960 --> 00:32:16,360 Speaker 2: No, that's a good point. Yeah, you just got to 613 00:32:16,400 --> 00:32:19,200 Speaker 2: like get people into the inertia of trying to help. 614 00:32:19,320 --> 00:32:20,800 Speaker 3: Mm hmm. Yeah. 615 00:32:20,840 --> 00:32:22,880 Speaker 2: And I don't know if the blood Sisters were the 616 00:32:22,920 --> 00:32:24,760 Speaker 2: first or if they were the one that gets written 617 00:32:24,800 --> 00:32:27,000 Speaker 2: about the most because they have a sick name. The 618 00:32:27,040 --> 00:32:32,160 Speaker 2: idea spread. Lesbians ran blood drives in at least San Francisco, Denver, Boston, 619 00:32:32,200 --> 00:32:36,200 Speaker 2: Los Angeles, Baltimore, Memphis, and DC. I suspect it's more 620 00:32:36,240 --> 00:32:38,880 Speaker 2: than that, because I've read about lesbian support and a 621 00:32:38,880 --> 00:32:42,400 Speaker 2: bunch of other cities beyond that. The San Francisco blood 622 00:32:42,440 --> 00:32:45,000 Speaker 2: drive was led by the National Organization of Women, and 623 00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:47,880 Speaker 2: they would put up flyers that say, our boys need 624 00:32:47,920 --> 00:32:52,560 Speaker 2: our blood fucking good. 625 00:32:53,080 --> 00:32:57,480 Speaker 4: And it's also like, because I do think just to 626 00:32:57,520 --> 00:33:00,760 Speaker 4: like reach kind of the normal people, you do got 627 00:33:00,800 --> 00:33:03,680 Speaker 4: to do essentially war propaganda for stuff like this. 628 00:33:03,800 --> 00:33:06,280 Speaker 2: Yeah, totally. And also, I mean this whole thing we're 629 00:33:06,280 --> 00:33:07,760 Speaker 2: gonna talk about a little later, This whole thing is 630 00:33:07,760 --> 00:33:12,000 Speaker 2: strangely like war, you know. Yeah, well yeah, and queer 631 00:33:12,040 --> 00:33:15,400 Speaker 2: newspapers continued to say basically like, hey, lesbians, please donate 632 00:33:15,440 --> 00:33:17,960 Speaker 2: blood or to quote the newspaper coming out, which I 633 00:33:17,960 --> 00:33:21,080 Speaker 2: believe is San Francisco paper, they should do it, to 634 00:33:21,280 --> 00:33:24,320 Speaker 2: quote stand by our brothers and fighting the AIDS epidemic. 635 00:33:24,760 --> 00:33:25,560 Speaker 3: Yeah. 636 00:33:25,680 --> 00:33:27,560 Speaker 2: An author named Jennifer Wilde, who was writing for the 637 00:33:27,640 --> 00:33:32,120 Speaker 2: queer Irish magazine GCN, put it like this, the drives 638 00:33:32,160 --> 00:33:35,000 Speaker 2: also gave more than just blood. They were also away 639 00:33:35,040 --> 00:33:37,920 Speaker 2: for the men suffering to know that they were loved 640 00:33:37,920 --> 00:33:40,480 Speaker 2: and part of a supportive community that will always do 641 00:33:40,520 --> 00:33:42,520 Speaker 2: what must be done to overcome adversity. 642 00:33:43,680 --> 00:33:44,200 Speaker 3: Yeah. 643 00:33:44,240 --> 00:33:48,640 Speaker 2: It's the kind of thing where like real almost cheesy 644 00:33:48,880 --> 00:33:51,920 Speaker 2: like phrasing, it's just appropriate. You're like, yeah, no, that's 645 00:33:51,960 --> 00:33:54,800 Speaker 2: what happened. They absolutely We were like, you're part of 646 00:33:54,800 --> 00:33:57,440 Speaker 2: a supportive community. We don't want you to die alone. 647 00:33:57,720 --> 00:33:59,040 Speaker 2: Like yeah. 648 00:33:59,200 --> 00:34:02,160 Speaker 4: Well, and also it is like like this is such 649 00:34:02,160 --> 00:34:06,640 Speaker 4: a wonderful example of like laws and power are just 650 00:34:06,800 --> 00:34:10,680 Speaker 4: people doing shit to other people. And like as bad 651 00:34:10,680 --> 00:34:14,040 Speaker 4: as the stuff gets and as has been, like you know, 652 00:34:14,120 --> 00:34:17,239 Speaker 4: when gay men weren't allowed to donate blood, really what 653 00:34:17,280 --> 00:34:20,640 Speaker 4: this means is they just they need blood, like blood 654 00:34:20,680 --> 00:34:26,239 Speaker 4: is needed, and if we can get blood in this 655 00:34:26,320 --> 00:34:29,560 Speaker 4: instance to people, then it sort of is a counteraction 656 00:34:29,840 --> 00:34:33,640 Speaker 4: to the bigotry and the fucking hate that is out there. 657 00:34:33,680 --> 00:34:36,160 Speaker 4: Like you can just reverse it, yeah, or you can 658 00:34:36,200 --> 00:34:37,400 Speaker 4: try or you do something. 659 00:34:37,719 --> 00:34:43,759 Speaker 2: Yeah, but you know what, we can't reverse the continued 660 00:34:44,200 --> 00:34:49,879 Speaker 2: march of all of the brilliant products and services who 661 00:34:50,120 --> 00:34:50,759 Speaker 2: I love. 662 00:34:51,480 --> 00:34:54,080 Speaker 4: We can try. Are you going to listen to the 663 00:34:54,120 --> 00:34:55,239 Speaker 4: ad first to figure out how? 664 00:34:55,600 --> 00:35:00,680 Speaker 2: Yeah? No, your enemy listen to these ads. Actually some 665 00:35:00,719 --> 00:35:02,319 Speaker 2: of them are probably for good things. That's the hard 666 00:35:02,320 --> 00:35:04,120 Speaker 2: part is that sometimes we get ads for nice things, 667 00:35:04,440 --> 00:35:07,399 Speaker 2: like other podcasts. I like podcasts. I don't mind learning 668 00:35:07,440 --> 00:35:08,800 Speaker 2: about podcasts through podcasts. 669 00:35:08,800 --> 00:35:12,360 Speaker 4: That seems fine, yes, yes, but that does start to 670 00:35:12,360 --> 00:35:14,080 Speaker 4: feel like a Ponzi scheme a little bit. 671 00:35:14,520 --> 00:35:15,040 Speaker 3: That's true. 672 00:35:15,400 --> 00:35:19,080 Speaker 4: Podcast advertising on other podcasts feels like hold on, well 673 00:35:19,160 --> 00:35:19,440 Speaker 4: right now. 674 00:35:19,440 --> 00:35:21,120 Speaker 2: And then people are like, how come all your guests 675 00:35:21,120 --> 00:35:24,200 Speaker 2: are podcasters? And I'm like, I see your point, But 676 00:35:24,680 --> 00:35:26,840 Speaker 2: all my guests are podcasters because they know how to podcast, 677 00:35:26,840 --> 00:35:29,480 Speaker 2: because it's actually a trained skill that takes effort and 678 00:35:29,560 --> 00:35:32,160 Speaker 2: also takes equipment, and not all of our guests are 679 00:35:32,200 --> 00:35:35,640 Speaker 2: podcasters anyway, but all of our guests listen to ads. 680 00:35:35,640 --> 00:35:37,640 Speaker 2: Actually that's not true. We don't listen them while we're recording, 681 00:35:37,760 --> 00:35:39,800 Speaker 2: but here they are, you can listen to them. Let's go. 682 00:35:47,280 --> 00:35:47,799 Speaker 3: And we're back. 683 00:35:49,560 --> 00:35:52,960 Speaker 2: So lesbian stepped up to donate blood, and lesbian doctors 684 00:35:52,960 --> 00:35:55,600 Speaker 2: and nurses stepped up to directly care for AIDS patients. 685 00:35:55,680 --> 00:35:59,200 Speaker 2: But it went even deeper than that. In nineteen eighty one, 686 00:35:59,560 --> 00:36:02,560 Speaker 2: a game and named Howie Dare He was a fourth 687 00:36:02,600 --> 00:36:05,759 Speaker 2: grade teacher with a master's degree in counseling, and a 688 00:36:05,840 --> 00:36:09,960 Speaker 2: lesbian therapist named Candy Markham started a gay counseling center 689 00:36:09,960 --> 00:36:12,960 Speaker 2: in Dallas after seeing clinics in New York and Houston 690 00:36:13,040 --> 00:36:16,040 Speaker 2: that were counseling centers for gay folks. This is before 691 00:36:16,160 --> 00:36:19,319 Speaker 2: it was going to be an HIV thing. Everyone needs 692 00:36:19,360 --> 00:36:21,920 Speaker 2: counseling and therapy sometimes, right, But if you're part of 693 00:36:21,920 --> 00:36:25,000 Speaker 2: a criminalized community, that puts extra stress on your life, 694 00:36:25,800 --> 00:36:28,800 Speaker 2: and most therapists that were available weren't exactly queer competent, 695 00:36:28,880 --> 00:36:32,920 Speaker 2: let alone queer friendly. So they start up this hotline. 696 00:36:33,160 --> 00:36:36,200 Speaker 2: They opened up the Oaklawn Counseling Center in the gahborhood 697 00:36:36,640 --> 00:36:38,600 Speaker 2: and then they went around to bars and wherever people 698 00:36:38,680 --> 00:36:41,759 Speaker 2: hung out to tell people about it. Then the two 699 00:36:41,800 --> 00:36:44,440 Speaker 2: of them went to a gay mental health conference in Houston, 700 00:36:44,520 --> 00:36:47,239 Speaker 2: because hell yeah, queer infrastructure. There was a gay mental 701 00:36:47,280 --> 00:36:50,359 Speaker 2: health conference in Houston in nineteen eighty one, and they 702 00:36:50,440 --> 00:36:52,960 Speaker 2: learned about this shitty new thing called Grid that was 703 00:36:53,040 --> 00:36:57,040 Speaker 2: killing gay men and trans women on the coasts. So 704 00:36:57,080 --> 00:36:59,319 Speaker 2: they decided to turn one of their phone lines into 705 00:36:59,360 --> 00:37:03,560 Speaker 2: a GRID hotline. Even before Grid hit the city. Candy 706 00:37:03,719 --> 00:37:06,799 Speaker 2: was like, we don't know anything about this disease yet. 707 00:37:07,120 --> 00:37:11,040 Speaker 2: I'm paraphrasing her, but how he said, and I quote, yes, 708 00:37:11,200 --> 00:37:14,440 Speaker 2: I know, but we will and we need to be prepared. 709 00:37:15,440 --> 00:37:19,440 Speaker 2: So I really like this man because he is a handsome, prepper, 710 00:37:19,520 --> 00:37:22,879 Speaker 2: leather daddy school teacher with a master's degree and like 711 00:37:23,600 --> 00:37:24,600 Speaker 2: was a mental health king. 712 00:37:25,360 --> 00:37:27,360 Speaker 3: He's fucking cool, amazing. 713 00:37:27,880 --> 00:37:29,479 Speaker 2: Yeah, you can read all kinds of like I didn't 714 00:37:29,480 --> 00:37:31,960 Speaker 2: put all of it in here, but like he wrote 715 00:37:31,960 --> 00:37:35,759 Speaker 2: a lot. Well, I'll get to it, okay. Within a 716 00:37:35,800 --> 00:37:40,080 Speaker 2: few months, AIDS came to Dallas. And the thing is 717 00:37:40,080 --> 00:37:42,440 Speaker 2: is that AIDS untreated kills more or less everyone who 718 00:37:42,440 --> 00:37:46,760 Speaker 2: gets it, and there were no treatments for years. I 719 00:37:46,800 --> 00:37:49,279 Speaker 2: don't know if I've read anything quite so much like 720 00:37:49,440 --> 00:37:53,200 Speaker 2: war as the AIDS crisis. Every account I've read about 721 00:37:53,200 --> 00:37:55,800 Speaker 2: this time in any city or town talks about people 722 00:37:55,840 --> 00:37:58,719 Speaker 2: going to multiple funerals a week, and that the gay 723 00:37:58,760 --> 00:38:03,440 Speaker 2: accepting churches were running two to three services a day. Actually, 724 00:38:03,440 --> 00:38:06,479 Speaker 2: the specific I think it was called the MCC the church, 725 00:38:06,560 --> 00:38:10,320 Speaker 2: the Queer accepting church in Dallas at this time lost 726 00:38:11,080 --> 00:38:15,840 Speaker 2: i think a third of its own clergy days. The 727 00:38:15,880 --> 00:38:18,759 Speaker 2: hotline that they had set up, this grid hotline was 728 00:38:18,800 --> 00:38:22,240 Speaker 2: staffed at first mostly by gay men. The quote worried 729 00:38:22,320 --> 00:38:24,640 Speaker 2: well because it's like if you're a gay man and 730 00:38:24,680 --> 00:38:27,760 Speaker 2: this time you're either sick or you're the worried well right, 731 00:38:27,840 --> 00:38:29,600 Speaker 2: because you're like, well, I don't know what it's going 732 00:38:29,640 --> 00:38:29,920 Speaker 2: to be me. 733 00:38:30,440 --> 00:38:31,440 Speaker 3: Yeah. 734 00:38:31,520 --> 00:38:33,960 Speaker 2: Anytime anyone got sick, they were like, oh fuck, Like 735 00:38:34,080 --> 00:38:37,000 Speaker 2: I got a cold, I might be dead now, you know, right. 736 00:38:37,920 --> 00:38:40,320 Speaker 2: The community centered around this health clinic set up a 737 00:38:40,360 --> 00:38:43,400 Speaker 2: buddy system where sick men would be placed with healthy 738 00:38:43,400 --> 00:38:46,000 Speaker 2: folks who could care for them. They had more than 739 00:38:46,000 --> 00:38:48,920 Speaker 2: one hundred registered buddies. These were sort of in addition 740 00:38:49,040 --> 00:38:51,640 Speaker 2: to if you have like a full time caretaker, like 741 00:38:51,680 --> 00:38:53,200 Speaker 2: if you live with your partner, or you live with 742 00:38:53,239 --> 00:38:56,160 Speaker 2: your parents, or someone else's like caretaking for you. You 743 00:38:56,200 --> 00:38:58,279 Speaker 2: also have a buddy system on top of that to 744 00:38:58,320 --> 00:39:02,960 Speaker 2: help relieve that careme taking right, and this model of 745 00:39:03,000 --> 00:39:07,359 Speaker 2: direct care and mutual laid spread to other cities. They 746 00:39:07,400 --> 00:39:10,480 Speaker 2: also set up an adult day care center so that 747 00:39:10,520 --> 00:39:12,759 Speaker 2: people with AIDS could come and be taken care of 748 00:39:12,800 --> 00:39:15,360 Speaker 2: in the center during the day so that their caretakers 749 00:39:15,400 --> 00:39:19,920 Speaker 2: could catch a break. All the while how He is 750 00:39:20,360 --> 00:39:24,600 Speaker 2: running all this shit alongside Candy. He's also teaching math 751 00:39:24,680 --> 00:39:29,400 Speaker 2: to incarcerated people at the county jail. In addition to 752 00:39:29,440 --> 00:39:32,000 Speaker 2: be like he's like a college teacher, a fourth grade teacher, 753 00:39:32,760 --> 00:39:40,280 Speaker 2: institutionalized people teacher, and a bartender and running a counseling service. 754 00:39:41,880 --> 00:39:43,720 Speaker 2: He fucking burned the candle of both ends. 755 00:39:44,160 --> 00:39:48,560 Speaker 3: Jesus, that's so exhausting. But I know good. I know. 756 00:39:50,320 --> 00:39:53,080 Speaker 2: In nineteen eighty five, when how He was thirty seven 757 00:39:53,160 --> 00:39:57,000 Speaker 2: years old, he was diagnosed with HIV. It was his 758 00:39:57,000 --> 00:40:01,080 Speaker 2: friend and co worker, Candy, the other therapist who was 759 00:40:01,120 --> 00:40:03,640 Speaker 2: his buddy in the buddy system, who was assigned to him. 760 00:40:04,840 --> 00:40:06,879 Speaker 2: His mom was a nurse and took care of him too, 761 00:40:07,520 --> 00:40:10,359 Speaker 2: and He died in nineteen eighty six at thirty eight 762 00:40:10,440 --> 00:40:14,279 Speaker 2: years old, with his mother by his bedside, as were 763 00:40:14,320 --> 00:40:17,440 Speaker 2: his wishes. His ashes were spread and his mother's rose garden. 764 00:40:19,120 --> 00:40:22,440 Speaker 2: And I was like, as I was writing this, I 765 00:40:22,440 --> 00:40:23,560 Speaker 2: was like, I don't know, I'm gonna be able to 766 00:40:23,560 --> 00:40:30,279 Speaker 2: read this without crying. Like Candy kept going. All of 767 00:40:30,280 --> 00:40:32,600 Speaker 2: her male friends were dying, and she spent all of 768 00:40:32,600 --> 00:40:35,400 Speaker 2: her time doing pro bono therapy in hospitals and in 769 00:40:35,440 --> 00:40:38,280 Speaker 2: home care, and then would go and speak at their funerals. 770 00:40:38,800 --> 00:40:42,000 Speaker 2: And this wasn't easy for her. The group that she 771 00:40:42,120 --> 00:40:44,359 Speaker 2: was working with would set up housing for everyone who's 772 00:40:44,400 --> 00:40:47,040 Speaker 2: being kicked out by their families for being gay and sick. 773 00:40:48,040 --> 00:40:51,080 Speaker 2: And she talks about how often she would have therapy 774 00:40:51,120 --> 00:40:55,480 Speaker 2: clients who would bring their families and the poor client 775 00:40:55,760 --> 00:40:57,959 Speaker 2: right who would have to come out both as gay 776 00:40:58,600 --> 00:41:03,719 Speaker 2: and dying in the same conversation. And Candy's job in 777 00:41:03,760 --> 00:41:06,360 Speaker 2: that situation, as best as I can tell, was to 778 00:41:06,400 --> 00:41:08,760 Speaker 2: try and convince the family to have a basic fucking 779 00:41:08,840 --> 00:41:12,520 Speaker 2: human decency right and like love and care for their child. 780 00:41:14,760 --> 00:41:18,560 Speaker 4: So fucking you know, I guess like it's grim to 781 00:41:18,600 --> 00:41:23,200 Speaker 4: think about that, and like grim to see like how. 782 00:41:23,960 --> 00:41:27,560 Speaker 3: Little humanity some folks have. But I guess you also 783 00:41:27,600 --> 00:41:28,160 Speaker 3: just never know. 784 00:41:29,400 --> 00:41:33,359 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I like I come from a family where 785 00:41:33,360 --> 00:41:37,040 Speaker 2: I like, can't imagine that having happened to me. Yeah, 786 00:41:37,480 --> 00:41:41,239 Speaker 2: I can imagine family or relatives or whatever who would 787 00:41:41,280 --> 00:41:43,400 Speaker 2: be like shitty to me or make fun of me, 788 00:41:43,800 --> 00:41:46,680 Speaker 2: or not know how to talk about it and be 789 00:41:46,760 --> 00:41:50,960 Speaker 2: awkward or like it's gender me and god, I'm not 790 00:41:50,960 --> 00:41:53,160 Speaker 2: trying to talk shit to my family. I could imagine 791 00:41:53,200 --> 00:41:56,239 Speaker 2: all of these things. Yeah, yeah, but the like you 792 00:41:56,360 --> 00:41:58,319 Speaker 2: are not our child to get out of here, which 793 00:41:58,320 --> 00:42:05,319 Speaker 2: happens still happens to so many fucking queer kids. I 794 00:42:05,480 --> 00:42:09,239 Speaker 2: just like I can't. I'm like, yeah, Like it's it's 795 00:42:09,239 --> 00:42:12,520 Speaker 2: like could you could you have we put the bar 796 00:42:12,760 --> 00:42:15,799 Speaker 2: on the floor, like could you step over it? Hell, 797 00:42:15,840 --> 00:42:18,120 Speaker 2: it might even be buried under the ground. You just 798 00:42:18,160 --> 00:42:20,880 Speaker 2: have to walk normal. Yeah, And instead they're like, no, 799 00:42:20,920 --> 00:42:22,560 Speaker 2: I'm gonna dig up that bar and trip on it. 800 00:42:22,640 --> 00:42:24,520 Speaker 4: You have to dig. You have to dig to be 801 00:42:24,719 --> 00:42:27,200 Speaker 4: to be that bad. But yeah, or maybe you don't 802 00:42:27,200 --> 00:42:30,799 Speaker 4: because it is reflexive for so many people clearly like that, 803 00:42:30,960 --> 00:42:32,680 Speaker 4: Like yeah. 804 00:42:32,600 --> 00:42:34,720 Speaker 3: Yeah, And. 805 00:42:36,280 --> 00:42:39,640 Speaker 2: Basically, as best as I can tell, what happened in 806 00:42:39,680 --> 00:42:41,479 Speaker 2: the eighties is you have all of these queer health 807 00:42:41,520 --> 00:42:45,160 Speaker 2: services and counseling services and general infrastructure projects, right that 808 00:42:45,200 --> 00:42:47,439 Speaker 2: people have been building for a while or maybe built 809 00:42:47,480 --> 00:42:50,200 Speaker 2: specifically around AIDS, but like often have been building for 810 00:42:50,239 --> 00:42:53,400 Speaker 2: a long time, and then one by one all of 811 00:42:53,440 --> 00:42:58,239 Speaker 2: the men in them would die, and so it would 812 00:42:58,239 --> 00:43:00,920 Speaker 2: be lesbians who would step up. Sometimes also straight women. 813 00:43:00,960 --> 00:43:02,520 Speaker 2: I'm not to to totally cut them out of this picture. 814 00:43:02,600 --> 00:43:04,239 Speaker 2: Especially in San Francis, go end up reading about a 815 00:43:04,239 --> 00:43:05,839 Speaker 2: bunch of straight women who also a lot, but this 816 00:43:05,920 --> 00:43:09,239 Speaker 2: particular episode's focused on lesbians, and so you just have 817 00:43:09,280 --> 00:43:11,560 Speaker 2: this thing where like, like I've read all these people 818 00:43:11,560 --> 00:43:13,840 Speaker 2: who weren't there arguing about like, oh, why did women 819 00:43:13,920 --> 00:43:15,799 Speaker 2: have to do all the unpaid labor or whatever? The 820 00:43:15,840 --> 00:43:19,520 Speaker 2: fuck fuck you all of that shit, but like, yeah, 821 00:43:19,600 --> 00:43:22,520 Speaker 2: why couldn't the men take care of themselves because they 822 00:43:22,520 --> 00:43:23,000 Speaker 2: were dead? 823 00:43:23,320 --> 00:43:23,560 Speaker 4: Yeah? 824 00:43:23,640 --> 00:43:26,239 Speaker 3: Yeah, Like I don't know what. 825 00:43:26,200 --> 00:43:26,560 Speaker 2: To tell you. 826 00:43:27,600 --> 00:43:30,480 Speaker 4: I mean, it's like, you know, of course that the 827 00:43:30,520 --> 00:43:33,160 Speaker 4: grain of truth is in there, that is, that is 828 00:43:33,520 --> 00:43:37,080 Speaker 4: the work that falls to women so much, but absolutely 829 00:43:37,440 --> 00:43:38,680 Speaker 4: there is also an explanation. 830 00:43:39,160 --> 00:43:42,160 Speaker 2: Yeah, and also like gay men are also over represented 831 00:43:42,160 --> 00:43:45,799 Speaker 2: in carrying fields. Yes, yes, Like when I'm reading about 832 00:43:45,800 --> 00:43:48,040 Speaker 2: a lot of the like early health clinics and stuff, 833 00:43:48,080 --> 00:43:50,839 Speaker 2: it's like, oh, it's gay men and lesbians who staffed them, right, 834 00:43:50,880 --> 00:43:53,280 Speaker 2: and then it was just lesbians left for some weird reason, 835 00:43:53,440 --> 00:43:56,160 Speaker 2: you know, right. But yeah, no, totally. There is still 836 00:43:56,160 --> 00:43:57,719 Speaker 2: a little bit of a like, yeah, you know, it's 837 00:43:57,760 --> 00:44:00,759 Speaker 2: like carrying work et cetera as gender. But like you 838 00:44:00,800 --> 00:44:03,439 Speaker 2: know what, like some work that is gendered is good 839 00:44:03,440 --> 00:44:09,319 Speaker 2: when people do it, like yeah, and so many nonprofit 840 00:44:09,400 --> 00:44:12,600 Speaker 2: leaders were dying in this period that Candy and other 841 00:44:12,680 --> 00:44:16,360 Speaker 2: folks set up a six month seminar series to onboard 842 00:44:16,440 --> 00:44:21,960 Speaker 2: lesbians to lead nonprofits. Right When she was interviewed later, 843 00:44:22,400 --> 00:44:24,120 Speaker 2: when she was asked what she would do have done 844 00:44:24,160 --> 00:44:28,399 Speaker 2: differently about her life, she says, you know what comes 845 00:44:28,440 --> 00:44:30,120 Speaker 2: to mind is I'd make a lot more money and 846 00:44:30,160 --> 00:44:33,160 Speaker 2: give it away. But you know, I worked as hard 847 00:44:33,160 --> 00:44:35,239 Speaker 2: as I could. I don't think I could have done 848 00:44:35,280 --> 00:44:39,000 Speaker 2: anything different. Like I said, I'm filled up from what happens. 849 00:44:39,440 --> 00:44:41,960 Speaker 2: I think it is the story of my life. I'm 850 00:44:41,960 --> 00:44:46,680 Speaker 2: pretty happy. Yeah, And so how do you have a 851 00:44:46,680 --> 00:44:50,160 Speaker 2: good life? You fucking find a way to help and 852 00:44:50,160 --> 00:44:53,960 Speaker 2: then you just fucking do it. Like, She's not the 853 00:44:54,000 --> 00:44:57,000 Speaker 2: only person I've read this week who's talking is looking 854 00:44:57,040 --> 00:45:01,120 Speaker 2: back on a life of helping people in this horrible crisis, 855 00:45:01,160 --> 00:45:03,000 Speaker 2: and a lot of the people I'm reading are like, yeah, 856 00:45:03,000 --> 00:45:05,879 Speaker 2: we all have PTSD now, or like, you know, it 857 00:45:05,960 --> 00:45:09,319 Speaker 2: majorly impacted them, but overall, the people who survived, who 858 00:45:09,360 --> 00:45:12,799 Speaker 2: were doing things are like, I'm I'm pretty proud of 859 00:45:12,800 --> 00:45:15,040 Speaker 2: myself in my community, and I've lived the best life 860 00:45:15,080 --> 00:45:16,400 Speaker 2: I could and I'm doing okay. 861 00:45:16,920 --> 00:45:20,560 Speaker 4: Yeah, or look, everything comes with a cost, but you know, 862 00:45:20,680 --> 00:45:25,239 Speaker 4: there's also be like, however, like PTSD you might have, 863 00:45:26,000 --> 00:45:28,800 Speaker 4: I do think doing nothing would probably have made it worse, 864 00:45:29,320 --> 00:45:31,360 Speaker 4: totally right, And you know what, and that's not a guarantee, 865 00:45:31,360 --> 00:45:35,560 Speaker 4: of course, like different circumstances. But one of the bigger 866 00:45:35,600 --> 00:45:41,000 Speaker 4: benefits of you know, mutual aid is this is for you. 867 00:45:41,040 --> 00:45:45,560 Speaker 2: Too, absolutely, like and that's literally in the name mutual aid. 868 00:45:45,600 --> 00:45:48,600 Speaker 2: Yeah right, it's like, no, we're just people taking care 869 00:45:48,640 --> 00:45:51,160 Speaker 2: of each other. And right now it's me taking care 870 00:45:51,200 --> 00:45:55,160 Speaker 2: of you, you know. And it won't necessarily be exact reciprocal, 871 00:45:55,320 --> 00:45:58,160 Speaker 2: like oh well tomorrow you take care of me, yeah, 872 00:45:58,200 --> 00:46:00,799 Speaker 2: but someone will take care of me, yeah, you know. 873 00:46:01,400 --> 00:46:04,359 Speaker 3: Yeah, it works. It worked. If everyone didn't, it just 874 00:46:04,440 --> 00:46:06,080 Speaker 3: would work. Society would work. 875 00:46:06,480 --> 00:46:08,719 Speaker 2: I know. It's one of the most frustrated things in 876 00:46:08,719 --> 00:46:10,600 Speaker 2: the world, is like, once you start seeing it happen, 877 00:46:11,320 --> 00:46:13,080 Speaker 2: you can unsee it, you know. 878 00:46:13,560 --> 00:46:14,040 Speaker 3: Yeah. 879 00:46:14,440 --> 00:46:17,359 Speaker 2: Yeah, people want to take care of each other. 880 00:46:18,320 --> 00:46:22,640 Speaker 3: Yeah, well some of us don't, but that's true. Yeah, 881 00:46:22,719 --> 00:46:23,640 Speaker 3: it's yeah. 882 00:46:23,840 --> 00:46:29,239 Speaker 2: Yeah, well that's what we got for part one. But 883 00:46:30,160 --> 00:46:32,120 Speaker 2: when we come back on part two, we're going to 884 00:46:32,160 --> 00:46:35,000 Speaker 2: talk about a whole bunch of other people helped, including 885 00:46:35,040 --> 00:46:36,560 Speaker 2: more lesbians and some nuns. 886 00:46:37,480 --> 00:46:37,960 Speaker 3: Amazing. 887 00:46:38,480 --> 00:46:41,719 Speaker 2: Yeah. Do you got anything you want to plug here 888 00:46:41,760 --> 00:46:44,720 Speaker 2: at the end of your podcast, your mutual group, anything 889 00:46:44,719 --> 00:46:48,040 Speaker 2: that TV shows we should watch that you wrote. 890 00:46:48,920 --> 00:46:54,360 Speaker 3: Nothing. I don't know, Yo's is racist, our premium shows 891 00:46:54,400 --> 00:46:56,280 Speaker 3: called YO. Can we Live? Or we don't talk about 892 00:46:56,960 --> 00:46:58,560 Speaker 3: stuff that is horrible. 893 00:46:59,520 --> 00:47:01,479 Speaker 2: That I haven't listened to that yet. 894 00:47:01,880 --> 00:47:06,279 Speaker 4: Just you know, just a way to decompress a little bit. Yeah, 895 00:47:06,400 --> 00:47:09,279 Speaker 4: that's about it. I don't know, I'm around. 896 00:47:09,320 --> 00:47:12,319 Speaker 2: Okay, Well, if you want to keep up with me, 897 00:47:13,200 --> 00:47:14,680 Speaker 2: I don't know. I say that every single time. I 898 00:47:14,719 --> 00:47:17,400 Speaker 2: guess I probably probably when this comes out, I'm probably 899 00:47:17,440 --> 00:47:19,839 Speaker 2: in the middle of kickstarting a book, which means I'm 900 00:47:19,840 --> 00:47:22,839 Speaker 2: probably if this is March twenty twenty five that you're 901 00:47:22,880 --> 00:47:25,160 Speaker 2: listening to it, I'm probably kickstarting the third book in 902 00:47:25,160 --> 00:47:28,440 Speaker 2: the Danielle Kine series, The Immortal Choir Holds Every Voice, 903 00:47:28,680 --> 00:47:31,960 Speaker 2: and it is available either through Kickstarter or if you're 904 00:47:31,960 --> 00:47:33,399 Speaker 2: listen to this in the future, you can just buy 905 00:47:33,440 --> 00:47:37,359 Speaker 2: it probably, And there's audiobooks of all three books, so 906 00:47:37,520 --> 00:47:40,400 Speaker 2: if you haven't heard the other ones, you can start 907 00:47:40,400 --> 00:47:43,120 Speaker 2: with the audiobooks, or are the regular books which you 908 00:47:43,160 --> 00:47:46,439 Speaker 2: can just get and I'll talk to you all soon. 909 00:47:51,600 --> 00:47:54,120 Speaker 1: Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff is a production of 910 00:47:54,160 --> 00:47:57,240 Speaker 1: cool Zone Media. A more podcasts on cool zone Media, 911 00:47:57,400 --> 00:48:00,920 Speaker 1: visit our website Coolzonemedia dot com. Check us out on 912 00:48:00,960 --> 00:48:03,640 Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 913 00:48:03,800 --> 00:48:04,960 Speaker 2: You get your podcasts.