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Society & Culture

Bonus: Ceyenne & Jay Look Back at the Queer Underground

podcast August 12, 2025


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Before Pride was corporate. Before protections. Before visibility. There was survival—and there was community.

In this bonus episode, we sit at the feet of two living legends of New York’s queer underground. First Ceyenne Doroshow – the performer, activist, researcher and the unstoppable force behind G.L.I.T.S. – takes us back to Brooklyn in the ‘70s and ‘80s, where she came of age as a young Black trans girl. She shares stories of unlikely protectors, neighbors who supported her in unexpected ways, the nightclubs she’ll never forget, and how she met her community mother –  an icon in her own right. 

Then Stonewall veteran, activist, and self-identified Super Butch, Jay Toole drops us straight into their life on the streets as a teenager – sleeping in Washington Square Park and finding family among queer kids who the world left behind. Plus, they share a queer love story for the ages. Jay also wants to shout out LGBTQ+ organizations carrying the work forward today: The Audre Lorde ProjectTransgender Law Center, and The Trevor Project.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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