LGBTQ&A

Latest Episodes:

Shatzi Weisberger: The 91-Year-Old Death Educator | LGBTQ+ Elders Project Apr 26, 2022

Show notes

Spoiler alert: You are going to die. Shatzi Weisberger works with people to dismantle their fears and worries around dying, helping them to approach their deaths with intentionality. A lifelong activist and former nurse, Shatzi was born in 1930.

This is part of our new LGBTQ+ Elders Project. Click here to listen to our recent interview with the 87-year-old trans elder, Barbara Satin.

LGBTQ&A is hosted by Jeffrey Masters and produced by The Advocate magazine, in partnership with GLAAD. A condensed transcript of each week's interview is posted on The Advocate's website in the afternoon (or earlier, if I get enough coffee). Follow us on Twitter: @lgbtqpod

Greg Louganis: This Is What HIV Looks Like | LGBTQ+ Elders Project Apr 19, 2022

Show notes

"When I was in the pool, HIV/AIDS didn't exist. That was a sanctuary for me. It was a place that I could go to, really to seek refuge from the stress of the HIV diagnosis."

Four-time Olympic gold medal winner, Greg Louganis joins us to talk about his infamous concussion at the Seoul Olympics in 1988, sharing his HIV status with the world in 1995, and what life's been like since retiring from diving.

This is part of our new LGBTQ+ Elders Project. Click here to listen to our recent interview with the titan of trans history, Jamison Green.

Greg's bestselling memoir, Breaking The Surface, was co-written by Eric Marcus, host of the Making Gay History podcast.

LGBTQ&A is hosted by Jeffrey Masters and produced by The Advocate magazine, in partnership with GLAAD. A condensed transcript of each week's interview is posted on The Advocate's website in the afternoon (or earlier, if I get enough coffee). Follow us on Twitter: @lgbtqpod

Alexandra Billings: Transgender Acting Legend | LGBTQ+ Elders Project Apr 12, 2022

Show notes

Alexandra Billings is redefining what is possible for our community. Before making a name for herself in the Chicago theatre scene and landing her breakout role in the TV show, Transparent, Alexandra was a showgirl and sex worker struggling with addiction. "I ate, I breathed oxygen, I had sex, and I did drugs, all with great, reckless abandon."

There is zero precedent for Alexandra's remarkable career—she is currently starring in The Conners on ABC and just completed a run as Madame Morrible in Wicked on Broadway—and she joins us on the podcast to talk about recording it all in her new memoir, This Time For Me.

This is part of our new LGBTQ+ Elders Project. Click here to listen to our recent interview with the 87-year-old trans elder, Barbara Satin.

LGBTQ&A is hosted by Jeffrey Masters and produced by The Advocate magazine, in partnership with GLAAD. A condensed transcript of each week's interview is posted on The Advocate's website in the afternoon (or earlier, if I drink enough coffee). Follow us on Twitter: @lgbtqpod

Tracey 'Africa' Norman: The Trailblazing Model | LGBTQ+ Elders Project Apr 05, 2022

Show notes

After being discovered at a casting for Italian Vogue, Tracey "Africa" Norman's modeling career skyrocketed. In 1975, she memorably appeared as the face on a box of Clairol hair dye sold in drugstores across the U.S. In the middle of this formidable rise, Tracey was outed while on a shoot for Essence magazine. "And that's the day my career ended," she says. "Because the next day I called my agency and there was nothing." Tracey joins us to look back on her legendary modeling career, talk about how being outed affected her relationship with both the Black and LGBTQ+ communities, and says the fashion world has still not fully embraced women of color. "I'm not seeing anyone of color do the things that I have done and sign contracts. It's only been my white counterpart who are working, who are doing the shows, who are on the covers of major magazines." This is part of our new LGBTQ+ Elders Project. Click here to listen to our recent interview with the 87-year-old trans elder, Barbara Satin. LGBTQ&A is hosted by Jeffrey Masters and produced by The Advocate magazine, in partnership with GLAAD. A condensed transcript of each week's interview is posted on The Advocate's website. Follow us on Twitter: @lgbtqpod [This interview was originally recorded in December 2020.]

Jamison Green: Where Are All The Trans Men? | LGBTQ+ Elders Project Mar 29, 2022

Show notes

Jamison Green has spent his career fighting to make the healthcare world a safer, more accessible place for transgender people.

He talks about the seeming invisibility of trans men, gives the best explanation I've ever heard for why people feel threatened by gender nonconformity, and talks about coming into his bisexuality in his 50s. Jamison is the former president of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (formerly the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association) and the author of the very excellent memoir, Becoming A Visible Man. He was born in 1948.

This interview is part of our new LGBTQ+ Elders Project. You can also listen to our recent interview with Harvey Fierstein.

LGBTQ&A is hosted by Jeffrey Masters and produced by The Advocate magazine, in partnership with GLAAD. A condensed transcript of each week's interview is posted on The Advocate's website in the afternoon (or earlier, if I get enough coffee). Follow us on Twitter: @lgbtqpod

Ruthie Berman: An Old-Fashioned Lesbian Love Story | LGBTQ+ Elders Project Mar 22, 2022

Show notes

Ruthie Berman shares her epic, decades-long love story with her wife, Connie Kurtz. She talks about how they fell in love in the 1970s, successfully sued the New York City Board of Education for domestic partner benefits in 1988, and reflects on how much has and hasn't changed for LGBTQ+ people since she came out 50 years ago.

"I deserve better in my golden years than what I have now. The world sucks. America is in the worst place in my history that it's ever been and I'm concerned about my community."

This is part of our new LGBTQ+ Elders Project. You can also listen to our recent interview with Harvey Fierstein here.

Ruthie Berman was born in 1934.

The full video of Ruthie and Connie's appearance on The Phil Donahue Show can be seen on our Instagram page here: @jeffmasters1

Ruthie And Conne: Every Room In The House is a fantastic documentary (streaming for free on Vudu) that you can watch.

Harvey Fierstein: Makes Broadway (And Queer) History | LGBTQ+ Elders Project Mar 15, 2022

Show notes

When Torch Song Trilogy opened on Broadway in 1982, Harvey Fierstein became the first and, at the time, only out gay leading man on Broadway. He made further history by winning the Tony Award for Best Play and Best Actor in a Play for Torch Song Trilogy. One year later he won a third Tony Award for La Cage aux Folles and 20 years after that he won a fourth for playing Edna Turnblad Hairspray. Harvey joins us to talk about his unexpected life in theatre, his lifelong "gender issues", and his new memoir, I Was Better Last Night. This is part of our new LGBTQ+ Elders Project. You can listen to our interview with the 87-year-old, Barbara Satin. You can also listen to recent interviews with ACT UP's Peter Staley and Dr. Charles Silverstein. A condensed transcript of each week's interview is posted on The Advocate's website in the afternoon (or earlier if I get enough coffee). Come find us on Instagram (@lgbtqpod) to see the photos that Harvey shared with us, including one with his friend, Marsha P. Johnson. LGBTQ&A is hosted by Jeffrey Masters and produced by The Advocate magazine, in partnership with GLAAD. Follow us on Twitter: @lgbtqpod

Tanya Asapansa-Johnson Walker: Her Harrowing Fight for Trans-Affirming Health Care | LGBTQ+ Elders Project Mar 08, 2022

Show notes

Tanya Asapansa-Johnson Walker talks about serving in the military in the '80s before Don't Ask, Don't Tell, survival sex work, living with HIV, and the immense barriers she's faced trying to access gender-affirming health care in the U.S. This is part of our new LGBTQ+ Elders Project. You can listen to our interview with the 87-year-old, Barbara Satin here. A condensed transcript of each week's interview is posted on The Advocate's website in the afternoon (or earlier if I drink enough coffee). You can watch the full U.S. House Financial Services Committee hearing "There's No Pride in Prejudice: Eliminating Barriers to Full Economic Inclusion for the LGBTQ+ Community" with Tanya here. LGBTQ&A is hosted by Jeffrey Masters and produced by The Advocate magazine, in partnership with GLAAD. Follow us on Twitter: @lgbtqpod

Barbara Satin: The Trans Ministry of Presence | LGBTQ+ Elders Project Mar 01, 2022

Show notes

Our new LGBTQ+ elders project is here! Barbara Satin talks about her "ministry of presence", making sure that trans people are a loud and visible part of the LGBTQ+ community. After coming out in the late '90s, Barbara quickly learned that it was "important for them to have an understanding of who we are and to actually see somebody and interact with somebody and to know and respect a trans person as a positive role model."

Barbara Satin is 87 years old.

Click here to listen to the full interview with Cleve Jones that is excerpted in this episode.

A condensed transcript of each week's interview is posted on The Advocate's website in the afternoon (or earlier if the coffee hits right). LGBTQ&A is hosted by Jeffrey Masters and produced by The Advocate magazine, in partnership with GLAAD. Follow us on Twitter: @lgbtqpod

Introducing Our LGBTQ+ Elders Project ✨ Feb 27, 2022

Show notes

This is a time machine!!!!!!! We're launching a new series on the podcast dedicated exclusively to the stories of LGBTQ+ elders. Over the last five years, it's the interviews with the oldest members of our community that have connected the most with our listeners. And that goes for me too. Speaking to people like Miss Major Griffin Gracy, Magora Kennedy, Cleve Jones, Charles Silverstein, and Tracey "Africa" Norman is where I've found the most inspiration.

This Tuesday (3/1), we're kicking things off with Barbara Satin, a faith leader and 87-year-old trans woman from Minneapolis. If you have any suggestions for LGBTQ+ elders who have amazing stories that you think we should know about, shoot me a message. I'd love to hear about them.

Here are links to the different voices heard in this episode: Mark Segal, Charles Silverstein, Ben Daniels (from The National Theatre in London's production of A Normal Heart), Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, and Kate Bornstein.

LGBTQ&A is hosted by Jeffrey Masters and produced by The Advocate magazine, in partnership with GLAAD. Follow us on Twitter: @lgbtqpod

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