Primary Sources: LGBTQ+: Music & Dance

Audio recordings from the 1930s-1940s of Rae Bourbon, a female impersonator, who performed in various gay nightclubs during the so called "Pansy Craze."

"Entering the 21st century, gay Americans are fighting for more rights: the right to marry, the right to share benefits, even the right to have children and create a different kind of family.
For instance, rock star Melissa Etheridge and her partner, filmmaker Julie Cypher, recently publicly named the father of their two young children: rock star David Crosby.

The announcement raised questions about family values, gay parents and how the unusual arrangement would affect the two children. To find out more about their arrangement, Charlie Rose interviewed Etheridge, Cypher and Crosby."

Interview with Melissa Etheridge, musician. Another interview with Margaret Cho, comedian.

"Fifth Harmony's Lauren Jauregui Pens Open Letter to Donald Trump Voters."

Discusses Gladys Bentley and others undergoing medical treatments to "fix" their sexuality.

"Dwight Fiske was an unusual gay entertainer from the 1930s. He studied classical music in Europe and was discovered by Tallulah Bankhead, who brought him to America for his concert debut in New York."

"A personal narrative is presented which explores the author's unhappy experiences as a child which led her to having gender issues and a sudden change in her life after she found happiness in love after medical treatment."

"The article presents an interview with former 'N SYNC singer Lance Bass, who has revealed that he is gay. Bass discusses telling his family and friends about his sexual orientation and his relationship with reality TV star Reichen Lehmkuhl. After 'N SYNC broke up, Bass was most notable for his abortive attempt to be the first pop star in space. INSET: Who's Reichen?."

"Joan Nestle started recording Mabel's oral histories in the late seventies, realizing the importance of documenting Mabel's life story as an example of racial and sexual freedom. In these histories--many of which are featured on this website--Mabel discusses her relationships with women, her struggles with racism, and her identity as an African-American lesbian in the twentieth century. Mabel died of pneumonia in 1989 at the age of eighty-seven. Her life as an advocate, activist, performer, and storyteller lives on in the images and oral histories collected by the Lesbian Herstory Archives."

"The Media History Digital Library digitizes collections of classic media periodicals that belong in the public domain for full public access. The project is supported by owners of materials who loan them for scanning, and donors who contribute funds to cover the cost of scanning."

"From January 2000 until March 2015 "Queer Music Heritage" was both a radio show and a website, and the goal of both was to preserve and share the music of our culture. Each month's page gives the playlist and additional pages of info, and you can stream or download every show. Although the programming has stopped the site will continue as a resource for the history of LGBT music."