In the midst of the current conservative backlash against LGBTQ+ freedom of expression, Periodically Queer Season 2, Ep. 2 travels back to the 1950s to unravel the stories behind One Institute’s own ONE Magazine, celebrating its seventieth anniversary this year. 

Featuring archival clips of ONE’s founders and contributors, interviews with staff from our partners at the USC Libraries, and voice-acted letters to the magazine, this episode brings to life our predecessors’ ambitious worldmaking efforts through publishing. Stay tuned for a behind-the-scenes story of our organization’s historic triumph in ONE, Inc. v. Olesen, the groundbreaking Supreme Court case that marked the first legal battle for LGBTQ+ freedom of speech.

Periodically Queer is a project by One Institute (formerly ONE Archives Foundation), the oldest active LGBTQ+ organization in the United States.

 Find the transcript for this episode along with magazine excerpts on oneinstitute.org/periodicallyqueer

In the first episode of Periodically Queer Season 2, host traci kato-kiriyama reminds us of the courageous power of LGBTQ+ youth by uncovering the inspiring history of Vanguard Magazine. In San Francisco’s Tenderloin District in the mid 1960s, Vanguard served as an epicenter of activist publication and organizing by queer and trans street youth facing  discrimination, neglect, and abuse at the hands of society and the police.

Interviews with historians Joseph Plaster and Jeremy Sass detail how Vanguard organizers forged a political consciousness through fusing activism, queer sensibility, and religion. Activist Megan Rohrer touches on the role of Glide Memorial Church in Vanguard’s history and the radical, misfit spirit of expression infused in the pages of Vanguard Magazine. 

Periodically Queer is a project by One Institute (formerly ONE Archives Foundation), the oldest active LGBTQ+ organization in the United States.

 Find the transcript for this episode along with magazine excerpts on oneinstitute.org/periodicallyqueer

One Institute (formerly ONE Archives Foundation) presents Season Two of Periodically Queer, a podcast delving into the history of LGBTQ+ print media from the 1950s & 1960s. The new season will premiere is onset to release June 21, in honor of Pride Month, on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and other major audio streaming platforms.

In Episode 3 of Periodically Queer, host Jaime Shearn Coan interviews four women who were instrumental to the founding of COLORLife!: The Lesbian, Gay, Twospirit & Bisexual People of Color Magazine. From 1992 – 1994, in New York City, COLORLife! published news stories, personal letters, poetry, reviews, events, report-backs, and opinion pieces from a wide range of perspectives, offering a magazine with intersectional and radical politics to its readers.

Each interviewee offers a piece of the story of COLORLife!, each woven into their life’s story. Lissette Cheng reveals the backstory of the cover of the first issue. Sheilah Mabry speaks of writing as a way to advocate for the visibility of bisexual women of color such as herself. Mariana Romo-Carmona lays out the ecosystem of activism, including the Lesbian and Gay People of Color Steering Committee. Vondora Wilson speaks about how it felt to actually practice one’s politics (it was hard!).

Find the transcript for this episode along with magazine excerpts on onearchives.org/periodicallyqueer

In this episode of Periodically Queer, host Erik Adamian takes listeners on a journey to learn about Homan, an organization and magazine formed to advocate for the rights of Iranian LGBTQ people living abroad. Erik speaks with Albert Maghbouleh and Payam Ghassemlou, co-founders of Homan Los Angeles, about their efforts to support the LGBTQ Iranian community worldwide and confront homophobia within the larger Iranian community. 

Albert shares the story of bringing Homan with him on a trip to Iran, reflecting on the risks he took to distribute the magazine in the 1990s and early 2000s. Payam speaks out about the importance of LGBTQ representation in creating visibility and hope for future generations.

Find the transcript for this episode along with magazine excerpts on onearchives.org/periodicallyqueer

In the first episode of Periodically Queer, host and producer Umi Hsu unwinds the history and stories behind Lavender Godzilla, the newsletter and magazine published by GAPA, the GLBTQ+ Asian Pacific Alliance (formerly known as the Gay Asian Pacific Alliance). Umi interviews Dino Duazo, editor and co-founder, about what it was like to be a member of GAPA in the late 1980s and 1990s. Dino reflects on how Lavender Godzilla provided diverse perspectives on issues like sexuality, family, and immigration through the lens of the queer Asian experience. 

Speaking with John Silva, a historian and contributing writer of Lavender Godzilla, Umi attempts to trace the ancestry of queer kinship, asking questions like “How can we find us?” John describes one path he found in a historical photograph of a gay ancestor from the Philippines in a rare book published in 1870.

Find the transcript for this episode along with magazine excerpts on onearchives.org/periodicallyqueer

ONE Archives Foundation is presenting a new podcast: Periodically Queer. Periodically Queer dives into the history of queer community building, through the lens of LGBTQ printed media from the 1980s, 1990s, and the early 2000s, from Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York.