From 1930-1933, an unexpected craze swept American cities: everyone loved drag queens. In this episode of Historically Accurate, Dawn-Michelle is joined by Sushma Saha, theme song vocalist/lyricist and actor, to talk about the Pansy Craze, which is just one blip in the long and super gay history of America - a history you probably never learned about.
Dawn-Michelle and Sushma talk about how the Great Depression and Prohibition sparked the rise of gay bars in America, at a time when even mainstream fashion promoted wearing gender non-conforming clothing. From the drag balls at Harlem’s Hamilton Lodge to the musical stylings of Gladys Alberta Bentley, a black lesbian blues singer who wore tuxedos on stage, there is so much to learn about the history of queerness in America -- and the laws (like Hollywood’s Haze Code) that silenced this history for so long.
Tune in this week for unexpected historical connections and lots of gay pride!
Quotes:
“We know what caused the Great Depression, and it was not gay people.” (29:41-29:46)
Sources:
The title is also the name of a hit song from the 1930s
“Stonewall 50: Rise and Fall of the 'Pansy Craze' (Episode 1, Part 1).” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 10 June 2019, www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/stonewall-50-the-revolution-episode-1-part-1-61596741892.
Chauncey, George. Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Makings of the Gay Male World, 1890-1940. Basic Books, 1994.
Harbin, Billy J., et al. The Gay & Lesbian Theatrical Legacy: a Biographical Dictionary of Major Figures in American Stage History in the Pre-Stonewall Era. University of Michigan Press, 2007.
Smith, Reiss, et al. “The Pansy Craze: Where LGBTQ Nightlife Began.” PinkNews, 26 June 2019, www.pinknews.co.uk/2017/10/20/a-brief-history-of-the-pansy-craze-the-beginning-of-lgbtq-nightlife/.
Links
https://www.ringofkeys.org/
Instagram @ringofkeysorg
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Theme Song Composed by: Daniel Dorty
Lyricist and Vocalist: Sushma Saha
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sushmasahahaha/
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