Queering the Lone Star State

Introducing Queering the Lone Star State

Introducing Queering the Lone Star State, a podcast about the struggle for queer equality in Texas. Hosted by historian Wesley Phelps.
Queering the Lone Star State is funded in part by a grant from Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Additional support is provided by the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, Willis Library’s Special Collections Division, and the departments of history and media arts at the University of North Texas. You can find more episodes, a selection of our sources, and a teaching guide at our website, queeringthelonestarstate.com. The series is produced and edited by Sarah Lyngholm. Clare Robnett and Rodrigo Triana are our research assistants. Morgan Reese designed our website. Our theme music was composed by Nicolas Neidhardt.

1. Buchanan v. Batchelor

In 1969, Dallas police officers arrested Alvin Buchanan twice for having sex with another man in violation of the Texas sodomy law. After being sentenced to a five-year prison term, Buchanan challenged his conviction through a federal lawsuit. But could he convince a federal court that the sodomy statute violated the US Constitution? And how did Buchanan v. Batchelor contribute to the state legislature’s approval of an even more discriminatory law in 1973?
Queering the Lone Star State is funded in part by a grant from Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Additional support is provided by the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, Willis Library’s Special Collections Division, and the departments of history and media arts at the University of North Texas. You can find more episodes, a selection of our sources, and a teaching guide at our website, https://www.queeringthelonestarstate.com/. The series is produced and edited by Sarah Lyngholm. Clare Robnett and Rodrigo Triana are our research assistants. Morgan Reese designed our website. Our theme music was composed by Nicolas Neidhardt.
Audio of Dallas County District Attorney Henry Wade provided courtesy of the University of North Texas Libraries Special Collections.
Audio of Judge Sarah T. Hughes provided courtesy of KERA-TV in Dallas.
Audio of Frank Kameny is from Before Stonewall: The Making of a Gay and Lesbian Community, directed by Greta Schiller and Robert Rosenberg (First Run Features, 1984), used by permission.
Additional music for this episode was composed by Jon Hansson.

2. Risher v. Risher

In 1974, Mary Jo Risher, a mother of two boys who lived with her partner Ann Foreman in Garland, received notice that her ex-husband was challenging her custody rights. Her ex-husband argued that Mary Jo was a serial violator of the state sodomy law and therefore incapable of providing an acceptable home environment for children. Would this be enough for a court to revoke Mary Jo’s custody rights? Could the state sodomy law really justify this kind of blatant discrimination? 
Queering the Lone Star State is funded in part by a grant from Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Additional support is provided by the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, Willis Library’s Special Collections Division, and the departments of history and media arts at the University of North Texas. You can find more episodes, a selection of our sources, and a teaching guide at our website, https://www.queeringthelonestarstate.com/. The series is produced and edited by Sarah Lyngholm. Clare Robnett and Rodrigo Triana are our research assistants. Morgan Reese designed our website. Our theme music was composed by Nicolas Neidhardt.
Audio of Mary Jo Risher on the Studs Terkel Radio Hour is from the Studs Terkel Radio Archive, courtesy of the Chicago History Museum and WFMT.
Audio of Betty Friedan is from the National Organization for Women Collection at Harvard University's Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America.
Audio of Mary Jo Risher's press conference following the appellate decision not to hear her case provided courtesy of the University of North Texas Libraries Special Collections.
Additional music for this episode was composed by Ernst August Quelle and Jon Hansson.

3. Cyr v. Walls

In June 1974, Fort Worth activist Ken Cyr organized the first Texas Gay Conference, a gathering of queer rights organizations from across the state. The Fort Worth Police Department also took notice of the conference, and they recorded the license plates of attendees for their surveillance files. Infuriated and unwilling to accept this continued harassment, Cyr filed a federal lawsuit against the city’s police chief. Could he convince a judge that this was a violation of privacy and freedom of association?
Queering the Lone Star State is funded in part by a grant from Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Additional support is provided by the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, Willis Library’s Special Collections Division, and the departments of history and media arts at the University of North Texas. You can find more episodes, a selection of our sources, and a teaching guide at our website, https://www.queeringthelonestarstate.com/. The series is produced and edited by Sarah Lyngholm. Clare Robnett and Rodrigo Triana are our research assistants. Morgan Reese designed our website. Our theme music was composed by Nicolas Neidhardt.
Excerpt of Frank Kameny in conversation with Eric Marcus courtesy of Making Gay History. Find the Making Gay History podcast on all major podcast platforms and at makinggayhistory.com.
Additional music for this episode was composed by Jon Hansson.

4. Longstaff v. INS

Richard Longstaff immigrated to the United States from England in 1965 and soon settled in Dallas as a small business owner in the predominantly queer neighborhood of Oak Lawn. But when he applied to become a naturalized US citizen in 1976, INS officials rejected him because he was gay. Longstaff appealed the INS decision, but could he convince a federal judge that the country’s immigration policies were discriminatory against queer immigrants?
Queering the Lone Star State is funded in part by a grant from Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Additional support is provided by the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, Willis Library’s Special Collections Division, and the departments of history and media arts at the University of North Texas. You can find more episodes, a selection of our sources, and a teaching guide at our website, https://www.queeringthelonestarstate.com/. The series is produced and edited by Sarah Lyngholm. Clare Robnett and Rodrigo Triana are our research assistants. Morgan Reese designed our website. Our theme music was composed by Nicolas Neidhardt.
Audio of Karen Wisely's interview with Richard Longstaff provided courtesy of the University of North Texas Oral History Program.
Audio from Supreme Court oral arguments in Boutilier v. INS provided by Oyez.
Additional music for this episode was composed by Jon Hansson.

5. The State of Texas v. Richard Schwiderski

In October 1979, Dallas police officers raided the Village Station nightclub in Oak Lawn and arrested ten patrons for public lewdness. Unlike most gay bar raids before 1979 when arrestees would quietly plead guilty and pay a fine, this time eight men fought their charges in court. One of those defendants was Richard Schwiderski, whose trial attracted the most media attention. What was the outcome of this case? And how did this event become known as “Dallas’s Stonewall?”
Queering the Lone Star State is funded in part by a grant from Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Additional support is provided by the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, Willis Library’s Special Collections Division, and the departments of history and media arts at the University of North Texas. You can find more episodes, a selection of our sources, and a teaching guide at our website, https://www.queeringthelonestarstate.com/. The series is produced and edited by Sarah Lyngholm. Clare Robnett and Rodrigo Triana are our research assistants. Morgan Reese designed our website. Our theme music was composed by Nicolas Neidhardt.
Audio of Michael Cline Interview by Wesley G. Phelps and Morgan Davis Gieringer provided courtesy of the University of North Texas Libraries Special Collections.
Audio of Don Maison provided courtesy of The Dallas Way.
Audio from KXAS-NBC 5 provided courtesy of the University of North Texas Libraries Special Collections.
Additional music for this episode was composed by Charles Blaker and Kevin Hiatt, Jon Hansson, and William Jay Bergman.

6. Baker v. Wade

In 1979, Dallas activist Don Baker filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the state sodomy law, which he claimed violated the privacy and equal protection rights of all gay and lesbian Texans. Three years later, the case made headlines when it became the first time a federal court determined that a state law was unconstitutional based on the rights of gay and lesbian citizens. But would the favorable ruling withstand the appeals process?
Queering the Lone Star State is funded in part by a grant from Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Additional support is provided by the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, Willis Library’s Special Collections Division, and the departments of history and media arts at the University of North Texas. You can find more episodes, a selection of our sources, and a teaching guide at our website, https://www.queeringthelonestarstate.com/. The series is produced and edited by Sarah Lyngholm. Clare Robnett and Rodrigo Triana are our research assistants. Morgan Reese designed our website. Our theme music was composed by Nicolas Neidhardt.
Audio of Don Baker in the documentary Finding Our Voice provided courtesy of KERA.
KXAS-NBC 5 audio provided courtesy of the University of North Texas Libraries Special Collections.
Audio of Harryette Ehrhardt and Dick Peeples provided courtesy of The Dallas Way.
Additional music for this episode was composed by Alan Jay Reed.

7. Gay Student Services v. Texas A&M University

In 1976, Texas A&M University students created an organization called Gay Student Services and applied for university recognition. When administrators rejected their application, arguing that its goals were not consistent with those of the university, the students filed suit in federal district court in Houston. The case marked the first time that a gay and lesbian student organization sued a Texas university for official recognition. Could they convince a federal judge that the university violated their rights?
Queering the Lone Star State is funded in part by a grant from Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Additional support is provided by the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, Willis Library’s Special Collections Division, and the departments of history and media arts at the University of North Texas. You can find more episodes, a selection of our sources, and a teaching guide at our website, https://www.queeringthelonestarstate.com/. The series is produced and edited by Sarah Lyngholm. Clare Robnett and Rodrigo Triana are our research assistants. Morgan Reese designed our website. Our theme music was composed by Nicolas Neidhardt.
Audio of SWAMP event used by permission and provided by Kevin Bailey.
Additional music for this episode was composed by Citokid.

8. Morales v. Texas

In 1989, five plaintiffs launched a new legal challenge to the Texas sodomy law, but this time they argued that the law violated the state constitution. Texas district and appellate courts agreed and struck down the sodomy statute for violating state constitutional guarantees of privacy and equality. But then the case reached the Texas Supreme Court. Would the state’s highest civil court agree that the sodomy law violated the state constitution?
Queering the Lone Star State is funded in part by a grant from Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Additional support is provided by the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, Willis Library’s Special Collections Division, and the departments of history and media arts at the University of North Texas. You can find more episodes, a selection of our sources, and a teaching guide at our website, https://www.queeringthelonestarstate.com/. The series is produced and edited by Sarah Lyngholm. Clare Robnett and Rodrigo Triana are our research assistants. Morgan Reese designed our website. Our theme music was composed by Nicolas Neidhardt.
KXAS-NBC 5 audio provided courtesy of the University of North Texas Libraries Special Collections.
Additional music in this episode was composed by Citokid, Christian Larssen, Jon Hansson, and Johannes Huppertz.

9. Lawrence v. Texas Part 1

In 1998, Harris County sheriff’s deputies arrested John Lawrence and Tyron Garner near Houston for allegedly violating the state sodomy statute. The two working-class men, who were not activists and lived very private lives, quickly became the public faces of one final effort to eradicate sodomy laws across the country. Lawrence and Garner pursued a constitutional challenge to the law all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Would this be the final victory over the state sodomy law?
Queering the Lone Star State is funded in part by a grant from Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Additional support is provided by the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, Willis Library’s Special Collections Division, and the departments of history and media arts at the University of North Texas. You can find more episodes, a selection of our sources, and a teaching guide at our website, https://www.queeringthelonestarstate.com/. The series is produced and edited by Sarah Lyngholm. Clare Robnett and Rodrigo Triana are our research assistants. Morgan Reese designed our website. Our theme music was composed by Nicolas Neidhardt.
Audio of Joseph Quinn provided courtesy of Radiolab/WNYC Studios.
Additional music for this episode was composed by Christian Larssen and Jon Hansson.