SARAH: 1994 WAS A BIG YEAR FOR ANNIE CALTEAUX. IN THE PROCESS OF DIVORCING HER HUSBAND, SHE MET HER FUTURE WIFE. HERE’S BECKY MILLER, ANNIE’S WIFE.

BECKY: I was in real estate at the time. And she needed a market analysis done on her house. And she was actually getting it for a divorce. This market analysis, so that they could settle a divorce. That was our first real, real meeting. And so we sat at her kitchen table and went over all the details…. And that, that kitchen table ended up becoming my kitchen table about five years later.

SARAH: SHIRLEY J DIDN’T REALIZE SHE WAS GAY UNTIL SHE WENT TO HER FIRST GAY BAR. THIS WAS THE EARLY 1970s, CHICAGO, AND SHIRLEY WAS 30 YEARS OLD.

SHIRLEY: What gave me is the first gay bar was like, Whoa, you know? They're, you know, I was like, made me feel like oh, there are people here that feel the way I was thinking okay.

SARAH: FROM THERE, SHIRLEY BECAME ENGRAINED IN LGBT NIGHTLIFE IN CHICAGO.

SHIRLEY: what appealed to me was that you can be free, you know, you want your own kind so to speak.

SARAH: HI, LISTENERS. THIS IS SARAH. BEFORE WE GET INTO THE EPISODE, I WANTED TO TALK FOR A SECOND ABOUT WHAT YOU’RE ABOUT TO HEAR. AT THE BACK DOOR WE INTERVIEWED A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT DRAG PERFORMERS: KINGS, QUEENS, AND GENDERQUEER OF ALL DIFFERENT GENDER IDENTITIES. AND THEIR IDENTITIES BECAME A BIG PART OF THIS STORY. SO WE ARE GOING TO USE THE TERMS AMAB AND AFAB A LOT…

SARAH: HI LISTENERS, AND WELCOME BACK TO ANOTHER BONUS EPISODE OF CRUISING. WE INTERVIEWED LILLIAN FADERMAN AT THE VERY BEGINNING OF THIS PROCESS, BEFORE COVERING ANY OF THE BARS. LILLIAN IS A LONGTIME SCHOLAR OF LESBIAN AND LGBTQIA+ HISTORY. SHE PUBLISHED HER FIRST BOOK ON THE SUBJECT IN 1981, SURPASSING THE LOVE OF MEN, AND HER MOST RECENT BOOK CAME OUT IN 2018, HARVEY MILK: HIS LIVES AND DEATH. BUT ONE OF THE MOST INTERESTING THINGS TO US, IS THAT LILLIAN HAS BEEN GOING TO LESBIAN BARS SINCE THE 1950s. LET’S GET INTO IT…

SARAH: DEB GORDON MOVED TO OHIO TO FOLLOW A WOMAN.

DEB: I was young, I was a teenager but I knew I was in love with her and she told me she was in love with me and it just kind of blossomed.

SARAH: HI LISTENERS. THIS IS SARAH WITH A SPECIAL EPISODE OF CRUISING. WE HAVE SO MANY QUEER STORIES THAT DON'T MAKE IT INTO THE MAIN EPISODES. SO, ON OUR OFF WEEKS, WE'RE GOING TO START RELEASING SOME OF OUR FULL INTERVIEW TAPES. FIRST I WANTED TO SHARE MY INTERVIEW WITH DEB GREENBERG, THE BARTENDER FROM CUBBYHOLE. NOW, THIS WAS BACK IN APRIL, CUBBYHOLE HAD JUST REOPENED, AND WE ACTUALLY WEREN'T ALLOWED TO HANG OUT INSIDE BECAUSE OF COVID. THAT'S WHY YOU'RE GOING TO HEAR SOME TRAFFIC AND CONSTRUCTION. WE'RE SITTING OUTSIDE, ON THE WOODEN FLOOR OF CUBBYHOLE'S NEW, OUTDOOR PATIO. PLEASE ENJOY, AND REACH OUT TO LET US KNOW WHO YOU WANT TO HEAR MORE FROM NEXT TIME.

SARAH: AT A LEAGUE OF HER OWN, DC’S ONLY LESBIAN BAR, THE BEST WAY TO MAKE FRIENDS IS TO SET UP CAMP AT THE STOOL CLOSEST TO THE BARTENDER. THIS IS ACCORDING TO LAUREL POWELL, A REGULAR THERE.

…BEFORE DEB OR EVEN TANYA HAD MADE THEIR MARKS ON LESBIAN NIGHTLIFE, THE WEST VILLAGE WAS HOME TO ANOTHER LESBIAN BAR CALLED CUBBY HOLE. SAME NAME. SAME THEME. TOTALLY DIFFERENT BAR. THIS ONE WAS LOCATED ABOUT A HALF MILE SOUTH, ON HUDSON STREET…

SARAH: PICTURE THIS: YOU’RE 15 YEARS OLD AND YOU ALWAYS END UP KISSING OTHER GIRLS AT PARTIES. YOUR CLASSMATES DON’T REALLY GET IT. THEY THINK YOU’RE LOOKING FOR ATTENTION. AND THEY CALL YOU FREAKY. AFTER SCHOOL ONE DAY THIS LITTLE GREEN STOREFRONT CATCHES YOUR EYE…

SARAH: IN THE 1980S, THERE WERE AN ESTIMATED 200 LESBIAN BARS OPEN IN THE US…