Category: Key Locations

Locations and cultures that were or are instrumental in changing our perception of LGBTQ identity.

  • Episode 12 – Masks, Magazines, and a Movement: Mattachine, the Daughters of Bilitis, and the Homophile Era

    Episode 12 – Masks, Magazines, and a Movement: Mattachine, the Daughters of Bilitis, and the Homophile Era

    August 13, 2025 · Season 1 · Episode 12

    Masks, Magazines, and a Movement: Mattachine, the Daughters of Bilitis, and the Homophile Era

    45 Min, 23 Sec · By The Dot Femme Podcast

    In 1950s California, two radical groups quietly redefined what it meant to be queer in America — and changed history forever.

    Long before Pride parades and rainbow crosswalks, queer activists were organizing behind closed doors, under pseudonyms, and in sensible heels. In this episode, Claire and Dany step into 1950s California to explore the birth of the homophile movement and the two trailblazing organizations at its heart: the Mattachine Society and the Daughters of Bilitis.

    With help from history, they uncover:

    • The meaning behind the word homophile—and why it mattered.
    • Harry Hay’s masked inspiration for the Mattachine Society.
    • How Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon created a safe haven for lesbians far from police raids.
    • The rise, achievements, and eventual decline of both groups as queer activism evolved.
    • The legacy these organizations left for today’s fight for LGBTQ+ rights.

    From masked medieval jesters to nationally distributed queer magazines, the Mattachine Society and the Daughters of Bilitis helped unify a scattered community, educate the public, and lay the groundwork for the movement to come.

    → Join us on Patreon.com/DotFemme
     → Follow us on Bluesky at dotfemme.bsky.social

    Music by Master Planned Music

    Other Episodes you might enjoy:

    Episode 8 – Kicklines & Cop Cars: The Stonewall Uprising

  • Episode 10 – The Mayor of Castro Street: Harvey Milk, Part 1

    Episode 10 – The Mayor of Castro Street: Harvey Milk, Part 1

    July 16, 2025 · Season 1 · Episode 10

    The Mayor of Castro Street: Harvey Milk, Part 1

    32 Min, 33 Sec · By The Dot Femme Podcast

    How a loud, campy, camera shop owner became a civil rights icon.

    Dany and Claire head to San Francisco’s Castro District in the late 1970s to meet Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man elected to public office in the United States. But before he was a political icon, Milk was a long-haired, opera-loving math nerd who bounced between coasts and careers — from Navy diver to Goldwater Conservative to anti-establishment agitator.

    In this first part of our deep dive into the life of Harvey Milk, we explore the cultural history of the Castro, Milk’s unexpected political awakening, and how he built a coalition of queers, hippies, and union workers to become known as the Mayor of Castro Street. Along the way, we talk gayborhoods, white flight, Navy resignations, camera stores, and the hard work of hope.

    → Join us on Patreon.com/DotFemme
     → Follow us on Bluesky at dotfemme.bsky.social

    Music by Master Planned Music

    Other Episodes you might enjoy:

    Episode 1 – Compton’s Cafeteria

    Episode 8 – Kicklines & Cop Cars: The Stonewall Uprising

  • Episode 8 – Kicklines & Cop Cars: The Stonewall Uprising

    Episode 8 – Kicklines & Cop Cars: The Stonewall Uprising

    A patron of the Stonewall Inn confronts New York City police at the Stonewall Uprising. Photo Credit: Bettye Lane

    June 18, 2025 · Season 1 · Episode 8

    Kicklines & Cop Cars: The Stonewall Uprising

    40 Min, 39 Sec · By The Dot Femme Podcast

    We are the Stonewall Girls – And we brought receipts.

    This week on Dot Femme, Dany Gonzalez and Claire Michelle find themselves on a sweltering summer night in 1969 New York City, to break down the Stonewall Uprising and the birth of the Gay Liberation Front.

    We bust some long-held myths (no, it wasn’t about Judy Garland), spotlight key players like Stormé DeLarverie, and dig into cops, kicklines, and the queer rage that would spark a queer political revolution.

    You’ll hear how the Gay Liberation Front emerged from the uprising with a bold new vision for queer activism: intersectional, anti-capitalist, and unapologetically revolutionary. Come for the history, stay for the lyrics to the official riot anthem.

    ✨ Support queer history, one fragmented lyric at a time:
    → Join us on Patreon
    → Follow us on Bluesky

    Music by Master Planned Music

    Other Episodes you might enjoy:

    Episode 1 – Compton’s Cafeteria

    Episode 7 – Sylvia, Marsha, and STAR

  • Episode 6 – Sappho of the Lesbian Isle

    Episode 6 – Sappho of the Lesbian Isle

    Sappho of Lesbos (c. 630-570 BCE). Painting by John William Godward (1904). Through her poetry which included love between women, she gave the term "lesbian" its modern meaning.

    May 21, 2025 · Season 1 · Episode 6

    Sappho of the Lesbian Isle

    32 Min, 16 Sec · By The Dot Femme Podcast

    Poetess. Icon. Queer auntie energy.

    This week on Dot Femme, Dany Gonzalez and Claire Michelle sail back to ancient Greece to meet the legendary Sappho — the lyrical poet from the island of Lesbos whose words still echo through time (even if most of them are missing) .

    We dig into what we know (and don’t know) about her life: her wealth, her exile, her family drama. Then we explore her poetry, her influence, and how her name and homeland became permanent fixtures in the queer lexicon.

    You’ll learn what made Sappho such a revolutionary voice, why her words were almost lost to history, and how “sapphic” and “lesbian” became more than just geographical and artistic descriptors.

    ✨ Support queer history, one fragmented lyric at a time:
    → Join us on Patreon
    → Follow us on Bluesky

    Music by Master Planned Music.

  • Episode 2 – Magnus Hirschfield

    Episode 2 – Magnus Hirschfield

    Photo of Magnus Hirschfield and two transgender patients of the Institute for Sexual Science.

    April 9, 2025 · Season 1 · Episode 2

    Magnus Hirschfield

    38 Min, 41 Sec · By The Dot Femme Podcast

    “Justice through science.”

    This week on Dot Femme, hosts Danielle Gonzalez and Claire Michelle travel to turn-of-the-century Berlin to uncover the extraordinary life and legacy of Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld — physician, sexologist, and queer trailblazer.

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  • Episode 1 – Compton’s Cafeteria

    Episode 1 – Compton’s Cafeteria

    Compton's Cafeteria. Photo of transgender woman with raised fist in front of a protest sign reading "Drag it out in the open!" during 1969 San Francisco protest. Berkeley Tribe clipping, Raymond Broshears papers (1996-03) Courtesy of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society

    April 9, 2025 · Season 1 · Episode 1

    Compton’s Cafeteria

    25 Min, 13 Sec · By The Dot Femme Podcast

    It didn’t start at Stonewall.

    In this debut episode of Dot Femme, hosts Danielle Gonzalez and Claire Michelle rewind to 1966 San Francisco, where a 24-hour diner in the Tenderloin became the unlikely spark for the first militant uprising for LGBTQ rights in U.S. history.

    Read More