Queer Serial, the acclaimed LGBTQ+ history podcast produced and hosted by 2021 GLAAD Award nominee Devlyn Camp, returns Monday, April 12, with its final season. Season 3 picks up in 1963, as militant gay activists, taking cues from the Civil Rights Movement, step out onto the first gay picket lines, beginning with the White House. Following the police raid of a massive queer ball in San Francisco, a heist in the offices of a leading gay magazine, and a CBS exposé revealing America's seedy gay underworld, queer activists in the 1960s are forced to go toe-to-toe against the doctors, ministers, and government officials who discredit them as sick, sinners, and criminals.
Queer Serial brings some of the most famous events of queer history to life in the style of a radio docudrama, including the Compton's Cafeteria riot, the Mattachine Society's "Sip-in," and the Stonewall Riots. The Stonewall uprising episode will air on the 52nd anniversary this June.
The podcast features authentic archival audio of major events and pioneering activists such as Ernestine Eckstein and Barbara Gittings, as well as writings by leaders such as Frank Kameny and Valerie Taylor performed by a cast of more than 80 voice actors. Notable performers include Sam Pancake (Transparent, Gilmore Girls), founding Radical Faeries, journalist Albert Williams, and Chicago actors Salvio Gado and Tina Muñoz Pandaya. Through the soapy intrigue of serialized episodes, this podcast will entertain while also teaching listeners about the true story of a rising minoritythe raids, riots, and romance that brought them out of the bars and into the streets.
"From the beginning of this series I aimed to tell the story of American queer liberation before Stonewall," says producer Devlyn Camp, who launched the podcast in 2018. "I'm excited to march this story to her dramatic finale on the 52nd anniversary of the Stonewall Riots." Queer Serial has been called "Spectacularly compelling and informative" by the Chicago Tribune. The podcast has been presented at the GLBT Historical Society Museum in San Francisco and earned Camp a place on the Windy City Times' 2018 "30 Under 30" list. Camp also produces and hosts Sidetrack's OutSpoken LGBTQ Storytelling podcast. Camp was nominated for a 2021 GLAAD Award in the category of Outstanding Online Journalism for their writing on them.us' "Queer Spaces Project" series.
New episodes of Queer Serial can be heard every Monday over 13 weeks, free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Follow along on Instagram @queerserial through the season to see photos of the real activists and events featured in every episode.