For how hard colonialism has tried to erase LGBTQ histories and contributions, and for how that is an ongoing process in our educational system in the US and abroad, shows like this one are so important. Not only are the excellent hostesses entertaining and fun, but they do a great job including cultures from around the world, different racial groups, all sorts of identities, etc. Wonderful podcast!

Love that you made this thank you again💗💗💗💗💗

There are so many things I love about this podcast, but the hosts awkward whiteness is not one of them. As a lesbian who is also a WOC I often find myself mildly uncomfortable in queer spaces because they center whiteness in both direct and passive ways. This podcast does make an effort to deconstruct many of the colonial/white supremacist mindsets that also happen to be homophobic, but the hosts too regularly make… weird comments that passively center their whiteness (just in the comments they make, the way they talk over BIPOC guests, minimize certain issues and maximize others etc)

Your interview with Barbara Bloemink is fantastic! She talks about Florine with contagious enthusiasm, and it’s a delight to to a biographer — or anyone, really, who’s so knowledgeable and so passionate. I’d love to hear her talk about other women Modernists! Mark Doty

I absolutely love this podcast it makes me laugh and I’m learning things I never knew :)

I mean like… ever hear about Greek myths? That says it all lol

I’m not queer, but I am a supporter of the LGBTQ+ community, and I love this podcast! Thanks for making me laugh and educating me on this amazing community! Five stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I love this it makes me so happy and I like to listen to it when I play games

i never write reviews but these ladies have kept me entertained on my drive from ga to va & back. such a great podcast

I have been feeling sad and this helps a lot idk why dis episode is late but that ok I love the show still and hope it comes back soon 🤟🏼🤟🏼🤟🏼🤟🏼🤟🏼🤟🏼💓💓💓💓💓💓❤️❤️🍄🍄🍄❤️❤️❤️❤️🍄❤️✨🦕🦕🪑🪑🌈🌈🌈🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🦦🦦🦦🦦💗💗💗💗🐍🐍🍄🍄❤️🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃😘😘😘🥰🥰🥰

I was already going to give this show five stars. That line ensured I stopped what I was doing to go and rate this show.

As a history student and queer lady, this is one of my favorite shows! The jokes, puns, and most of all the content is enthralling.

Every episode is full of things I never knew and beyond the facts comes the implications of them. It's just an interesting and relevant adventure of a podcast. It doesn't hurt to dispel myths that somehow everyone was hetero either.

This podcast is incredibly educational, and the hosts are super fun people to just hear talk for hours on end. One of their episodes, Buldaggers and Lady Lovers features Ma Rainey, whom a movie was made about on Netflix. Their info is factual and interesting and definitely a Queer hit! Their content warnings are especially helpful for those who aren’t ready for hearing about things like suicide, abuse, sexy stuff, among other things. Thank you so much Leigh, and I can’t wait for your next episodes!

Such a great podcast for the LGBTQ community and our allies! Each episode is well researched and tells an important story. Thanks for preserving and speaking our history!

I just want to say you are the best

Please do an episode on Rosetta Tharpe. No one talks about the amazing queer WOC who had a huge influence on American and British Rock music. Get the word out! People give Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters credit for influencing “white” rock (aka having it stolen from them), but Rosetta is always left out of the story. She influenced Chuck Berry (and Elvis), and she played with Muddy in England influencing British rock.

this is amazing have you done achillies and patroclus?

I’m maybe ten episodes in and I LOVE this podcast. Everything is so interesting and amusing, and more than that, I’ve never felt more connected to the queer community. To hear all this history about people like me is pretty incredible, especially since I knew practically nothing about all these queer people from history! If my teachers included material like this in their lessons, I’d have felt a lot less alone. Ten out of ten—completely recommend.

This podcast is so awesome, that I actually attended TGIF/F (a convention to celebrate ladies loving ladies) to watch their live episode!!! Leigh and Gretchen are sweet, humble, intelligent and hilarious podcasters and human beings!! The amount of high-quality content packed into these episodes suffice for an AP history class. I discovered this podcast a few months ago and I’ve watched all the episodes up till now, perfect for my long 1 hr commutes to and from work. I love how Leigh and Gretchen acknowledge context difference across various cultures/time periods. You can hear the passion and enthusiasm in their voices and it's clear they have a lot of fun diving head first into such esoteric topics/detailed biographies. They deserve a reward for unearthing these queer fossils of knowledge and for putting all the puzzle pieces together! As a Chinese person, I was pleasantly surprised by episode 3 which talks about same-sex relationships (unfortunately not many records of lesbian relationships) in aristocratic societies during ancient dynasties. The hosts also post the artwork from those time periods, and additional sources/links on their website if you wish to further the research. This podcast will get you thinking about how much truth is withheld from us and how classroom curriculums need to change! It's a great way to fuel discussions about the existence and justices/injustices that queer people have faced for a long long time. These two are doing god’s work. History Is Gay is a blessing.

Through this wonderful podcast I have begun to realize some things about myself that I hadn't known before. I knew I was queer, and trans, and different - but this podcast has allowed me to fully embrace those aspects of myself, and with that acceptance, move on to opening even more doors. It did this by proving that I am not an anomaly, that all I am has been around as long as humanity itself. And not only has this historical queerness existed, but it has flourished! History is Gay clued me in to the fact that I can be more than a trans man, more than gay, I can be everything and anything.

This is a podcast I drop everything to listen to when a new episode comes out. The hosts are hilarious and their subjects are well-researched and engrossing. I also appreciate that they include a wide spectrum of queer experiences through the ages—knowing that trans and genderqueer folks have existed and been living their lives throughout recorded history gives me a sense of hope and empowerment. Love this show.

Awesome as hell and super informative!! Thanks for all the information on history we didn’t learn growing up!!

I love this podcast SO much. The episodes are always so well researched and they give both historical context and modern examination of such a wide variety of people and events, while also recognizing that the language used now may not always match up to historical identities. Plus the hosts are hilarious. Always good for a laugh and some great info. I even recognized Claude Calhoun in a novel I was reading before he was introduced because HIG did such a great job setting the stage and describing his work and life.

Very well researched and delivered well. I highly recommend if you’re looking for some history you haven’t heard before

This podcast is amazing. I love learning about the queer aspects that have been hidden. As a teacher it makes me wish it was in the mainstream history curriculum!

History is Gay is a fun podcast covering LGBTQ history, which is often neglected and overlooked. This show is a fabulous resource, with wonderful conversation.

A+ people, A+ content, A+ podcast!

This is the only podcast I listen to! It’s so informative, interesting, and well researched! The coasters are amazing and deserve your attention!

Hearing the two of you talking about gay history is exactly like hearing an average conversation between be and my friends. You. Guys. Rock. Also, have you guys done an episode on Alan Turing yet? Cos if you haven’t, PLEASE DO IT! He’s amazing beyond belief!

Sounds as though they are condoning pedophilia, disgusting.

It’s so refreshing to finally have a podcast that shares my history! I listen to plenty of history podcasts and it’s so sad how often our history gets erased or just left out. I cannot praise this podcast enough for all that it does to uncover and share queer history! It’s also just a lot of fun! I love it and I recommend it to all of my friends!

I know this has nothing to do with your podcasts.. but I’ve been thinking. The history books say that Einstein didn’t have any partners. And if he did he didn’t respect them. What if because he never was much interested in women is because he doesn’t like them?? 🤭 So, I enjoy your podcasts in all there queer range and I’m excited to see more. -your friendly neighborhood queer leader 🏳️‍🌈 ♥️

Ive been wanting to learn more about this stuff for a long time now, but my school doesn’t have a gay history class (cries in gay), so this has been really nice. I’ve never really been engaged in much history stuff, but this has really gotten me to love it. Also I’ve been listening to this while making pride flag friendship bracelets.

Gay people have been around since people have been around, the problem is the history books and classes don't really talk about them. Thankfully, there's this incredible podcast to help educate you. The two-cohosts have a great rapport and even though the episodes are long (over an hour) it's all great material and completely fascinating. The show kicks off with gay pirates and follows it up with gay monks and gay nuns. The creators do an incredible job of research and presenting sources that I can actually feel myself getting smarter with each episode. Do yourself a favor and start learning about gay history!

i love how much information yall give & your personalities 👌🏽👌🏽👌🏽👌🏽👌🏽 (i hope yall are able to deal w everything u need on the hiatus but i cant wait for more eps)

Thank you

Hey ya’ll, I love your podcast! I stumbled across it looking for history podcast, and I’m having a great time listening. It makes me so happy when people site their sources. I’m a librarian, and you guys have inspired me to teach a class about podcasts at my library.

I don't normally listen to podcasts, because I find myself getting bored about ten or so minutes in, but these two hold my attention for the full duration of the podcast! They're intelligent and absolutely love what they're researching and talking about. They present their finding and opinions in a fun way that makes me love every second.

This show is as charming as it is informative. The hosts have a fantastic dynamic and an abundance of passion for the subject matter. I'm learning a lot and loving every minute of it!

The episodes are well researched and focus on many different cultures, sub cultures, and time periods. The hosts seem to have a deep and genuine love for knowledge and it really shows in the quality of their work. As a queer person I honestly cannot express how happy I have been while listening to these episodes. I’ve never been to pride because I’m a very quiet person but I think this must be what that feels like. Just joy and connection on a whole new level. Through this podcast I felt connected to queer people I’ll never meet in cultures very different from my own and to those in my own culture’s history that have always been hidden from me or brushed aside. I highly recommend this to anyone straight or LGBTQ+ looking to expand their understanding of queer people in history.

I love this podcast so much, it is so well put together and interesting. I just really cannot convey how much I enjoy listening. It is like reading a book in the sense that each episode takes me far away to another time and place. Thinking about how queer history has literally been erased and /or skipped over/rewritten brings me to tears, but this podcast brings me tears of joy. As an older (36) woman who is just now embrassing my queerness and sexuality, I wish that I had known these things earlier. I will tell anyone who will listen about this podcast and/or about my newly aquired historical knowledge.

For a podcast with gay in the title they seem to have a bit of a grudge against lesbians for existing. Sorry that there are women on earth who don’t want to sleep with men but...we exist. There was a tone of anger when discussing how lesbian just recently came to mean exclusive attraction to women which was kind of shocking but not really since apparently the hosts think that gay is an umbrella term.

Did you know that there has been some really cool and interesting queer people through out history? You didn't? Well then listen to this awesome podcast!

Heard Leigh over on CC&C and was excited to come over here and listen!

Excellent pod focusing in on the historic contributions of queer people throughout time. Helps bridge gaps between LGBTQ rights and other related causes such as labor rights and other forms of social justice. History hasn’t always recorded our stories in full, but with pods like this, we can start putting more of the pieces of our history together, and capture our history now for future generations to rely on and be empowered by. Great job!

I love this podcast so much

Not only are the episodes wonderfully thoroughly researched, but the hosts are ineffably articulate about a topic that rarely gets much light in the public sphere. They never lose their lighthearted attitude, even when discussing some pretty dark stuff (it certainly earns the explicit rating). After all, when you're dedicating a podcast to talking about the erased history of a group, the erased history is often not pleasant. On a more personal note, the presentation of this podcast, particularly "3 Genders? In Ancient Egypt?" and "F is for Friend..." really helped me contextualize my own experiences and come to terms with my genderfluidity. I have no greater praise for a podcast than "it helped me understand myself," and for that the hosts have my gratitude. And have me wishing that there was an option for something better than a 5/5.

History is Gay is a lovely podcast that portrays the development of humankind in a masterful way. It brings to light individuals who had a profound aspect on civilization that *gasp* happened to also be gay. Bravo!

This podcast is the best! Wonder about queer pirates?nuns? Blues culture? Yes, it's all here and so much more that you don't know about yet. Fascinating and told by with infectious delight by the hosts.