Call Me Mother

Author and journalist Shon Faye talks with LGBTQ trailblazers who have something important, interesting or enlightening to say about what it means to be queer in the world today. Featuring conversations with queer elders, Call Me Mother gives you the language you need to grapple with “new” experiences by showing that you belong to a much broader history.

Shon speaks with a 73 year-old who travelled across America living with the Amish, the Baha'i and Church of Scientology in a quest to better understand their gender identity.

Shon speaks with a 60 year-old whose life's work has mirrored the tumultuous highs and lows that have rocked the queer community over the years.

Shon speaks with a 52 year-old whose life changed instantly after a chance 10 minute consultation.

Shon speaks with a 61 year-old air force officer who overcame enormous personal and professional barriers in a quest to pursue her passion.

Shon speaks with a 67 year-old actor who was forced to hide a key part of her identity for 40 years.

Shon speaks with a 55 year-old queer, femme filmmaker and the founder of Riot Productions, who's fighting to preserve the hidden history of London's lesbian punk rebels.

Shon speaks with a 70 year-old actor turned activist, who turned to campaigning after a landmark on-screen kiss.

Shon speaks with a 65 year-old lawyer, whose lives as a campaigner and a father came to be tightly entwined.

Whilst we work to bring you more episodes of Call Me Mother, we thought you'd enjoy this taster of another excellent series on queer history - The Log Books. In this episode, the team examine the AIDS epidemic through the calls made to an LGBT+ helpline Switchboard.

Shon Faye returns with the new series of Call Me Mother, sharing a fresh collection of conversations with queer trailblazers that are packed with warmth and wisdom. Find out more: https://www.novel.audio/shows/call-me-mother

Shon speaks to Donna Personna, an American trans campaigner and writer who, as a teenager, frequented the famous Gene Compton's Cafeteria in San Francisco. In 1966, three years before the Stonewall Riots in New York, it became the site of the Compton's Cafeteria riots – one of the first-known LGBTQ+ riots in the USA. When Donna finds out about the protests 40 years later, she vows to keep the memories of the trans women she met at Compton's alive.For more from Novel visit novel.audio Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

Shon speaks to British activist and Stonewall co-founder Lisa Power. When Lisa accidentally finds herself outed in the local newspaper, she chooses to embrace queer life and the myriad experiences that come with it. For more from Novel visit novel.audio Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

Shon meets Lavinia Co-op, former member of the BLOOLIPS, a British radical drag troupe. After landing a job as a dresser in London's West End, Lavinia is thrust into a new world of opportunity, and a decades-long performance career.For more from Novel visit novel.audio. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

Shon speaks to American author Sarah Schulman, who began her career as a reporter for New York's queer and feminist press before going on to pen over 20 novels, plays and works of non-fiction. Sarah discusses her life and work as an out lesbian writer, and her compulsion to document the queer experience.For more from Novel visit novel.audio. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

Shon speaks to Zsa-Zsa Fisher, a South African campaigner and healthcare worker. Searching for a better sense of herself, Zsa-Zsa visits a Johannesburg club called Simply Blue and meets a drag queen who will change her life.For more from Novel visit novel.audio. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

Shon speaks to British performer and artist David Hoyle, who created the anti-drag character The Divine David. Reeling from the impact of the AIDS crisis, David searches for a way to channel his anger and ends up with a surprisingly upbeat take on our mortality.For more from Novel visit novel.audio Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

Shon speaks to British-Nigerian Reverend Jide Macaulay, who founded House of Rainbow, an LGBTQ+ inclusive church and support organisation for queer people of faith. When Jide is excommunicated from his church for being gay, he vows to find a way to reconcile his faith with his sexuality.For more from Novel visit novel.audio Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

Shon speaks to New York-based drag artist and DJ, Kevin Aviance.When Kevin first found himself in Washington D.C.'s nightlife scene during the club kid era, he didn't expect drag to become his life or to be welcomed into the le-gen-dary ‘House of Aviance'. And he certainly didn't expect his brief feature in a Madonna music video to catapult him to fame.If this series is about meeting queer icons, Kevin Aviance is indeed that. His performances epitomise the dance culture of the 1990s and 2000s, when parties lasted all day and night, and dance floors were packed with the cities queer cliques.His story is also tinged with darkness and is a stark reminder of the threats our community still faces today but, as Kevin shows, you can't keep a good queen down.For more from Novel visit novel.audio Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

Shon speaks to Rupert Raj, a Canadian trans activist and psychotherapist who has dedicated his life to creating a world that's better educated on – and safer for – trans people everywhere.Rupert opens up on losing his parents at 16 years old, just as he was starting to grapple with understanding his identity, his fight to medically transition, the intersection of his gender experience and sexual identity, activism burnout, and using his career to forge community and support young trans, non-binary and queer people in Canada.For more from Novel visit novel.audio Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

Shon speaks to Argentinian American health worker and trans advocate Cecilia Gentili. When Cecilia gets a week's internship at a New York health centre, she realises she has the skills to help young trans people have better choices than the ones she faced.For more from Novel visit novel.audio. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you enjoyed Call Me Mother, we thought you might like a brand new series which has just launched — it's called Sissy. In this episode, Ryan Best wants to find a way to fight back against bullies, bigots and homophobes. The solution he settles on is effective... if a little unorthodox.If you like what you hear, don't forget to follow the show by searching for "Sissy" in your podcast app, or clicking the link: https://podfollow.com/sissy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.