Long before Stonewall, LGBTQ+ people were finding community, nightlife, and ways to live openly—even during Prohibition. In this video, we explore gay speakeasies and queer nightlife in 1920s America, from Greenwich Village and Harlem to the drag performers and underground clubs that helped create vibrant LGBTQ+ communities despite police harassment, discrimination, and the risks of Prohibition.
Learn how gay speakeasies helped create spaces for LGBTQ+ people to socialize, perform, and find one another in the 1920s, and why queer history existed long before Stonewall.
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Listen to the full podcast episode: https://www.ajadedgay.com/136-closets-cocktails-the-secret-history-of-gay-speakeasies-with-chris-holcombe/
Read more on the topic in my blog: https://www.ajadedgay.com/blog/gay-speakeasies-of-the-1920s-the-hidden-history-of-queer-resistance-expression-and-community/
Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ajadedgay
Sources:
Learn More About Chris Holcombe: https://www.chrisholcombe.com/
Follow Chris on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thechrisholcombe/
Support Chris on Patreon: http://patreon.com/ChrisHolcombeAuthor
Order the Hidden Gotham Series: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09N41NSDB?binding=kindle_edition&qid=1654001598&sr=1-1&ref=dbs_dp_rwt_sb_pc_tukn
Subscribe to Chris’s Monthly Emails: http://www.chrisholcombe.com/sign-up
Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World, 1890-1940: https://www.amazon.com/Gay-New-York-Culture-1890-1940/dp/1541699211/ref=sr_1_1?crid=WJSX56HPYMEV&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.CUvBr017OJeT1f5qvGyrCz44QK34Ozr8HOeC8QwAR2A1fG0wOa5ZEXsXhBI0itKjm1VVZ2A-iIA1MuNKGzbZAtfllwS8jsVe5ug33VwAJEObjwCClxb2fLc52yyxNsmb8p7aFzSPIrvtkdD2_74z8iJnVmGdPJmhOQMCD0TQaIk5XY2jjtrQ2XddLSTBKiH2fjk4V57i5I189-8CzYvTniqbV2BdGPJx5qQZ5yc9dQY.hV4SSSrmof_Etfp9sZXN3z-vZfoLYjZEiSGmrhiseHE&dib_tag=se&keywords=george+chauncey&qid=1736167273&sprefix=george+chauncey%2Caps%2C97&sr=8-1
Bulldaggers, Pansies, and Chocolate Babies: https://www.amazon.com/Bulldaggers-Pansies-Chocolate-Babies-Triangulations/dp/0472034898/ref=sr_1_1?crid=8HW7MMDE8P9P&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.iPQRsZuf4wL2ztZUYynvc_7id-54vCg1fQnF21MtDik.7WQj57gOmTRzgGdF6s7s382c4D5Eg9sfRDthEBPvVgw&dib_tag=se&keywords=bulldaggers%2C+pansies%2C+and+chocolate+babies&qid=1736167332&sprefix=pansies+bullda%2Caps%2C116&sr=8-1
The Speakeasy Glossary – Queer Slang of the Prohibition Era: https://dannyashkenasi.com/2015/08/26/the-speakeasy-glossary-queer-slang-of-the-prohibition-era/
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