PODCAST ON MAGAZINES, NEWSLETTERS, AND COMMUNITY BULDING
What’s the wisdom behind LGBTQ+ community building? What the stories are behind the print pages?
For this year’s Pride season, ONE Archives Foundation is thrilled to launch a new podcast project — Periodically Queer. Periodically Queer unravels the stories about LGBTQ+ print media and periodicals such as magazines and organizational newsletters, as a way to learn about queer community building. This podcast provokes questions like: What type of courage do we need for build a queer community? How do we find LGBTQ ancestors? What is the wisdom behind intersectional LGBTQ+ coalition-building?
Periodically Queer’s pilot season focuses on LGBTQ+ organizations of color with publications circulating in the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s. The pilot episodes feature conversations with founding members, editors, and contributors to Lavender Godzilla (1988-present), Homan Magazine (1991-2002), and COLORLife! (1992-1994). Hosted by a member of the ONE Archives Foundation team, each episode dives deep into the history and stories around each publication and organization.
Periodically Queer is produced by Umi Hsu, with episodes hosted by Umi Hsu, Erik Adamian, and Jaime Shearn Coan. Edited and engineered by Quincy Surasmith. Music by Analog Tara. Research support by Jaime Shearn Coan and Ambika Nuggihalli. Graphic design by Maxwell Fong. Production support by Shei Yu and Fati Zulaikha.
Full credits for each episode will be available on the episode pages.
PERIODICALLY QUEER EP. 1 – “IN SEARCH OF QUEER ANCESTORS” – ON LAVENDER GODZILLA
“‘Is there anybody else? Am I the only one?’ Only to find out, it’s stretched back to history.”
In the first episode of Periodically Queer, host and producer Umi Hsu unwinds the history and stories behind Lavender Godzilla, the newsletter and magazine published by GAPA, the GLBTQ+ Asian Pacific Alliance (formerly known as the Gay Asian Pacific Alliance). Umi interviews Dino Duazo, editor and co-founder, about what it was like to be a member of GAPA in the late 1980s and 1990s. Dino reflects on how Lavender Godzilla provided diverse perspectives on issues like sexuality, family, and immigration through the lens of the queer Asian experience.
Speaking with John Silva, a historian and contributing writer of Lavender Godzilla, Umi attempts to trace the ancestry of queer kinship, asking questions like “How can we find us?” John describes one path he found in a historical photograph of a gay ancestor from the Phillippines in a rare book published in 1870.
This episode of Periodically Queer is produced and hosted by Umi Hsu; edited and engineered by Quincy Surasmith. Music by Analog Tara. Research support by Jaime Shearn Coan and Ambika Nuggihalli. Graphic design by Maxwell Fong. Production support by Shei Yu and Fati Zulaikha
Click here to listen
PERIODICALLY QUEER EP. 2 – “A BEACON OF HOPE” – ON HOMAN
“We’re becoming more visible. We are provoking. We are getting people to react and we were on the right track.”
In this episode of Periodically Queer, host Erik Adamian takes listeners on a journey to learn about Homan, an organization and magazine formed to advocate for the rights of Iranian LGBTQ people living abroad. Erik speaks with Albert Maghbouleh and Payam Ghassemlou, co-founders of Homan Los Angeles, about their efforts to support the LGBTQ Iranian community worldwide and confront homophobia within the larger Iranian community.
Albert shares the story of bringing Homan with him on a trip to Iran, reflecting on the risks he took to distribute the magazine in the 1990s and early 2000s. Payam speaks out about the importance of LGBTQ representation in creating visibility and hope for future generations.
Featured Guests
Albert Maghbouleh was born in Iran to a Jewish family in 1958. In 1975, he moved to Eugene, Oregon where he finished his senior year of high school and received a MS in Computer Science from the University of Oregon. Albert moved to Los Angeles for a job in 1981 and has been living there since then. He became involved with Homan organization in the 1990s.
Payam Ghassemlou MFT, Ph.D. is a psychotherapist (licensed marriage and family therapist) in private practice in West Hollywood who specializes in working with the LGBTQ+ community. As a writer, speaker, and activist, he addresses concerns such as climate justice, women’s rights, LGBTQ+ liberation, and racial equity.
This episode of Periodically Queer is hosted by Erik Adamian; produced by Umi Hsu; edited and engineered by Quincy Surasmith. Music by Analog Tara. Research support by Jaime Shearn Coan and Ambika Nuggihalli. Graphic design by Maxwell Fong. Production support by Shei Yu and Fati Zulaikha.
This episode of Periodically Queer is hosted by Erik Adamian; produced by Umi Hsu; edited and engineered by Quincy Surasmith. Music by Analog Tara. Research support by Jaime Shearn Coan and Ambika Nuggihalli. Graphic design by Maxwell Fong. Production support by Shei Yu and Fati Zulaikha.
Click here to listen