Queer Margins

This week's episode is with the co-founder of Queer Britain, the UK’s first national LGBTQ+ museum, Joseph Galliano. Joseph and I spoke over the phone in the first half of 2020. It's the first time I've spoken to him but I've been to a couple of Queer Britain's events over the last few years- and they're always brilliant. I've been so excited about Queer Britain ever since I first heard about it a few years ago- so it was great to talk to Joseph about all their plans for the future. We spoke...

Lisa Power's achieved so much during her life: she helped set up Stonewall, worked at Switchboard, was the policy director at the Terrence Higgins Trust and is now on the board at Queer Britain and was a consultant on Russell T Davies' new series 'It's a Sin' (more of which in the interview). When I spoke to people for series one Lisa's name popped up so many times in various places and times- so I knew I wanted to talk to her. So towards the start of lockdown in 2020 I called her for an...

HAPPY LGBT HISTORY MONTH Making Gay History has been a top listen of mine for years, so when I started doing this series I knew that I wanted to ask Eric Marcus to join me for an episode. I've listened to the Making Gay History podcast and Eric's soothing voice so many times, so when he said he's be on the Queer Margins I was over the moon. We spoke about Making Gay History (obviously), his life in the 80s, living through the AIDs epidemic, his life now, lockdown (again, obviously),...

This episode I talk with the owner of Attitude Magazine Darren Styles. Attitude is the biggest gay magazine in the UK and has been around for 26 years. Darren bought Attitude back in 2016 when it was failing. Since then it's gone from strength to strength, with subscription numbers, followers on social media and online monthly user growing all the time- that and with the continued success of the Attitude Awards- the magazine has never looked better. I spoke to Darren about whether Britain...

Welcome back to a brand new series: Queer Margins in Quarantine. This series I'm focusing on talking to some of the most interesting people working within the LGBTQ+ community. I wanted to talk to these people during lockdown to find out how their work is changing but also to chat about what their lives are like normally. You can read more about that on the instagram page at @QueerMargins. This episode I'm talking to A Man To Pet. They're an amazing, hilarious drag performer who I first saw...

This is the last episode of the series Old Queens. And in this episode I'm talking to Dr Rupert Whitaker. Colin from episode one introduced me to Rupert when we were at an event for the National HIV story trust. And a week or so later I went round Rupert’s house in South London to chat to him. Rupert’s a psychiatrist and has been living with HIV since the early 80s and he helped set up- what is now- the UKs leading HIV charity after his partner Terry Higgins died at the age of 37. On the day...

This episode is the penultimate one of the first series and I wanted to post it as part of Lesbian Visibility Day. Diana messaged me on Twitter to tell me that I didn’t have enough trans people on the podcast, so I asked if I could talk to her for an episode. Diana told me she knew she was different from the other people in her class from a young age and when she was able to she went through her transition a lot quicker than trans people do today. In the episode we spoke about what it’s like...

I met Chris last year at an event at the City of London Guildhall linked with the project AIDS Since the 80s. We started talking at the cloakroom and it transpired that he had a lot of stories so I met up with him a few weeks later in his house in Vauxhall and chatted over his dining table. The film that Chris mentions he worked on which raised a lot of awareness about HIV can be found here: https://bloomsburynetwork.co.uk/event/a-life-beyond-screening/ And an article he mentions is here:...

Peter Tatchell is a human rights campaigner whose work has meant the LGBTQ+ community have taken HUGE steps forwards over the decades. You probably know he’s been massively influential in the queer movement and has been involved in so many groundbreaking campaigns. I got into contact with Peter Tatchel a couple of months ago. I feel like I’ve always been aware of his activism but our conversation really made me realise just what he and others like him have done for us and he continues to do...

I met Marc at an event at the Guildhall thrown by the organisation Aids Since the 80s. Jonathan Blake introduced us both and suggested I talk to Marc for this series. A few weeks later I went to Marc’s house in Brixton to chat to him. He lives just across the garden from Jonathan and when I got there I was greeted by a very excited dog and a cup of tea. We spoke about Marc’s upbringing in Brixton, his HIV diagnoses and his work as co-editor of Black Out UK as well as a lot more. It was a...

Ruth was suggested to me by Gaby and Liz from episode 9. Liz put me in touch with Ruth and I’m really glad she did. At 81 Ruth was the oldest person to go through gender reassignment surgery in Britain and possibly the world. She’s 85 now and has been living full-time as a woman since her 70s. We met in the lobby of her hotel chatted for a bit before heading up to her room for the interview. She's got so many amazing stories which are funny and touching in equal measure! If you enjoyed...

This year marks the 45th birthday of Switchboard- the LGBT+ helpline. To mark the anniversary their Co-Chair Natasha Walker spoke to me about the kind of things Switchboard are faced with today. I also spoke to some people from previous and future episodes of Old Queens who have worked at (and have called) Switchboard over the years, including, Janet, Femi, Julian, Tony and Andy. Switchboard has been helping all people LGBT+ since it opened in 1974. It runs on a tiny budget and it’s only...

George has been been living with HIV and Aids for 40 years, he’s had three different types of cancer and he hasn’t been able to work for decades. We spoke about his diagnosis, his love life and his time as a sex worker while he was a teenager, plus a lot more. He was recommended to me by Jonathan Blake. In fact during mine and Jonathan’s conversation George called about half way through. He’s 70 now and lives with two handsome and very small dogs who joined us for the interview, so if you...

Singer of 'Crying These Cock Sucking Tears' the album 'Lavender Country'. Patrick was suggested to me by the podcast producer Dan Taberski, who made the shows 'Missing Richard Simmons' and Surviving Y2K' (www.headlongpodcast.com). Dan made a film about Patrick called 'These Cock Sucking tears' a few years ago (http://www.thesec-cksuckingtears.com) and told me I should interview 'the best old queen you've ever met'. So I followed his advice. Patrick released the first gay themed country album...

Gaby and Liz have been in a relationship since the 80s but the last few years have been difficult for them both. Gaby told me her cancer is incurable and will kill her eventually, although no one knows when and shortly after her cancer diagnosis Liz found out she had breast cancer. Liz is one of the editors for an online journal called Murmurations and when I was talking to them they were working on a piece together which focused on facing death. You can find the journal by searching...

This is the second part of the conversation from episode three with Jonathan Blake. Jonathan's partner Nigel spent more time with us during this part of the interview and contributed when he could. He suffered a stroke a couple of years ago so spoke when he had the energy to do so. Nigel and Jonathan met shortly after Jonathan found out he was HIV positive. More (full length) episodes will continue to be posted weekly from next Tuesday.

Janet suggested I speak to Tony. He's been busy all his life, whether that was with traveling around the world or working on important queer issues. He worked on Switchboard, he was the first chairperson on the Terrence Higgins Trust and he was fired from his first job for taking part in a documentary about gay life in Brighton. This sparked protest across the country. Tony's lived with HIV for many years and has been left almost blind due to complications to do with the virus. Tony's life...

George Montague is 95-years-old, he’s the self proclaimed ‘Oldest Gay in the Village’ and he has a book by the same name. If you've been to Brighton Pride you might have seen him because every year he leads the parade in his mobility scooter. George has spent the past few years campaigning to the government to apologise for giving him a criminal conviction for being gay. You can find his apology from the Home Office, along with photos of George on the Instagram page @QueerMargins and on...

Andy Piccos from episode 4 recommending I meet up with Femi to hear her stories and it was really good advice. I headed over to Femi's offices for our chat. Unfortunately she's a very busy woman... like really busy, so we didn't have a lot of time together. But the time we did have together was definitely worth the trip. Her stories of what it was like to be a young, out, black lesbian who was part of the women's movement, working on Switchboard and partying regularly are so insightful. She...

Maggie has lived in the closet for the majority of her life. When she was in her early 20s she married a man and lived in Swansea in South Wales. She says that everyday was torture for her. She knew she was with the wrong person and living in the wrong place. She gave birth to two children, but says the best day of her life was when her husband walked out on her. That’s when her new life began and she hasn’t looked back since. A few years after that she packed up, sold her house in Wales for...