Summer School - classes are now in session, y’all.

Before we get into it — yes, we’re going biweekly for the summer (because Pride season is Pride‑ing), but don’t panic. We’ll be back to weekly episodes before ya know it. In the meantime, I’m booked, busy, and SO honored to be serving as Grand Marshal New York Pride March, and season three of Survival of the Thickest wil be back. Hot queer summer energy only.

Now — onto today’s ‘lesson’.

Let me begin by saying I could not be more proud of co-host and friend the brilliantHugh Ryan. This week we are talking about his new memoir, My Bad: A Personal History of the Queer ’90s and Beyond — out today!! Also available as an audiobook read by Hugh himself (which I love).

We get into why the 1990s were such a pivotal moment in queer history:
- The shift from analog life to the early internet.
- From queer invisibility to mainstream visibility post‑AIDS crisis.
- From mega‑clubs and nightlife freedom to the always‑online world we live in now.

Hugh shares a seventh‑grade classroom moment that shaped how he understood queerness, what it felt like to grow up queer in the ’90s, and how New York City nightlife became a sanctuary.

We talk about queer isolation, remix culture, disappearing before social media (remember privacy?), and the complicated trade‑offs of mainstream acceptance.

If you’ve ever wondered how the queer ’90s shaped the world we’re living in now — this one is for you.

📚 Click here to order your copy of My Bad now.

Follow us at:

• @peppermint247
• @hughoryan
• @pridehousemedia

Write to us at:

• questions@queer101podcast.com

Hey y’all. It’s me, Peppermint.

This week on Queer 101, Hugh and I are doing what I call a real ‘Pep Talk’— because let’s be honest, the attacks on LGBTQIA+ people (especially trans folks) are escalating, organized, and intentional.

We’re not imagining it.

From the DOJ arguing that queer legal protections are somehow “anti‑Christian,” to the 197‑page blueprint to roll back Biden‑era LGBTQ+ policies, to a counterterrorism strategy that literally labels “transgender ideology” as a threat — we are watching a coordinated attempt to dehumanize trans people and strip away rights.

And yes. We name it.

We talk about:

• Project 2025 and what it actually means for trans rights
• The smear campaign around “transgender ideology”
• Copycat ID laws like Mississippi’s targeting trans people
• Schools like Smith College being investigated for admitting trans women
• Pride censorship — including attempts to block tributes to Marsha P. Johnson
• J.K. Rowling’s ongoing anti‑trans rhetoric and why it matters
• Billionaire power, culture‑war distractions, and destabilization tactics
• Why the Met Gala optics matter (hi Bezos 👀)
• The “Ball Without Billionaires” calling out labor exploitation

And most importantly — what we do about it. (Call the Govenor)

Because this episode is not about doom.

We are not powerless.

We are organized.
We are informed.
And we are not going back.

Let’s get into it.

AND CALL THE GOVERNOR HOCHUL’S OFFICE 518-474-8398

Follow us at:

• @peppermint247
• @hughoryan
• @pridehousemedia

Write to us at:

• questions@queer101podcast.com

Okayyyy y’all Pride season is officially ON — and we are starting with a Queer 101 deep dive into the ICONIC ’90s downtown New York City queer nightlife scene that literally shaped mainstream culture.

Yes. I said literally.

Hugh the Historian and I get into how queer artists, trans pioneers, club kids, and AIDS activists built the culture everyone copies today.

We’re talking:

✨ Wigstock
✨ Ballroom culture
✨ Club Kids
✨ DIY queer fashion
✨ ’90s drag and nightlife performance
✨ AIDS activism
✨ The origins of Silence = Death

And of course we discuss Hugh’s new book “My Bad” (availabe now for pre-order).

I share stories about the LEGENDARY Connie Fleming and Lina Bradford — from door culture to runways to George Michael’s “Too Funky.” Meanwhile, Hugh breaks down how over 120 interviews helped uncover the truth about how queer labor in downtown clubs fueled fashion, gender expression, political activism, and eventually… pop culture.

Yes, Madonna. Yes, brands raiding the clubs. Yes, Giuliani cracking down on nightlife.

And we also talk about something real: how much queer history was almost lost — because of AIDS, pre-digital culture, and systemic erasure.

This episode is about queer history, trans visibility, Pride, activism, nightlife culture, and why what we create right now still matters.

Because queer art doesn’t just reflect culture.

It builds it!

—------------------

Click here to pre-order Hugh’s book “My Bad”

Follow us at:

• @peppermint247
• @hughoryan
• @pridehousemedia

Write to us at:

• questions@queer101podcast.com