S2 E8
"Peddled Like Pornography"
βWhom Should We Tell?β
And who wonβt find out once the biggest scandal in homophile history breaks?
Down at Mary's First and Last Chance, spies from the SF Alcoholic Beverage Control Board take notes on local lesbians.
In Denver, Elver Barker makes a case for the Mattachine to go public at the organization's sixth convention, while a San Francisco mayoral candidate quietly infiltrates the gathering for his own agenda. The biggest scandal in homophile history is about to break!
Original release: July 29, 2020
Mary's First & Last Chance bar
6th Annual Mattachine Convention
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Season 2 Bonus episodes
"The Dogcatcher"
Listen here
Subscribe on Patreon or Apple Podcasts to listen to this bonus episode from spin-off podcast Forgotten Fairy Talesβand many more from Mattachine Meeting, Randy Wicker Radio, Infamous Crimes: White Night Riot Interviews, and more!
Check out these free bonus episodes from season 2:
βLive and Let Live:
6 Decades Laterβ
Interview w/ Randy Wickeβͺrβ¬
Featuring Sylvia Rivera, Randyβs friend Michael, and stories about Marsha P. Johnson, the Mattachine, and radical activism.
Recorded in Hoboken, New Jersey, January 16, 2020.
βReturn to Normalcyβ
β’
2020 Election Day bonusβͺ!
The 1920 presidential election proves yet again that history repeats itself, from fear-mongering to political scandal, and even a sitting president infected by the pandemic he downplayed. Make sure you have a plan to vote!
βTrans-sexuals and the Policeβ
on KPFA,
April 10, 196βͺ8β¬
Three transgender San Franciscans discuss police problems and their work as members of C.O.G., Conversion our Goal, with Police Community Relations Officer Elliot Blackstone of the San Francisco Police Department. Herb Kutchins of the San Francisco Bail Project moderates.
βA Step Higherβ
w/ Mattachino
Wendell Sayers
Historian Eric Marcus interviews Wendell Sayers, an attorney, the first Black assistant attorney general for the state of Colorado, and one of few Black members of the Mattachine Society.
He attended the 6th annual Mattachine convention in 1959, a dramatic event featured in S2 E8.
Instagram @queerserial
the wolden scandal
& the sixth annual mattachine convention, 1959
JULY 29, 2020
On todayβs new episode, a scandal at the 1959 Mattachine Society convention traps the Mattachinos and the Daughters of Bilitis in the middle of a heated campaign. π³
Episode 8 βPeddled Like Pornographyβ is out now!! π


AUGUST 2, 2020
Did you hear what happened at the Mattachine convention? π€
Episode 8 π§
π @centeroncolfax


JULY 27, 2020
Bonus! Hear Mattachino Wendell Sayers talk about his time in the Denver Mattachine chapter. Sayers, second from top left, was one of few people of color to join the Mattachine Society β while he was working for the Attorney Generalβs office! β and he attended the sixth annual convention in Denver, which weβll visit later this week in episode 8. πΌ
πΈ Freshman photo of Wendell Sayers in the Washburn College yearbook, School of Law, The Kaw (Topeka, KS: Washburn College, 1904β1933: 55). Credit: Ancestry.com and @makinggayhistorypodcast.
π Huge thank you to Eric Marcus and Making Gay History for allowing me to use the audio of their interview together.








AUGUST 1, 2020
βMayor Christopher and Chief of Police Thomas Cahill have allowed this city to become the national headquarters of the organized homosexuals in the United Statesβ¦ Every San Francisco neighborhood is threatened by the bold shadow they cast over the entire community.β π³
One of my favorite scandals of the season!!
1 & 2: Russell Wolden political cartoons from the San Francisco Chronicle
3: Assessor Wolden in a different scandal. @sfpubliclibrary
4: THE Bill Brandhove and Russell Wolden, hilariously printed by the News-Call Bulletin above the quote from Wolden, βI wouldnβt know him if I saw him.β
5: Brandhove. Check out that ring.
6: Woldenβs campaign material, discussed in the episode.
7: FBI getting into the game.
8: SF Progress copied into FBI file. @glbt_history
π¬
Episode 8 βPeddled Like Pornographyβ is out now!




AUGUST 9, 2020
The successful publicity of the 6th Mattachine convention resulted in this fabulous pamphlet βBreakthrough in the Conspiracy of Silence,β as heard in episode 8! π£
Lots more fab bonus stuff at patreon.com/queerserial π
π @onearchives



AUGUST 1, 2020
Girl I was giddy when I found this resolution notarized by Darlene Armbeck. SPOILER itβs the smoking gun. π₯
Also, HUGE thank you to @nickotawang for the transcript of the Mattachine Societyβs 6th convention. Itβs legit hilarious. π¬
Episode 8 βPeddled Like Pornographyβ is out now!
JULY 28, 2020
Drift into San Francisco for tomorrowβs new episode β and the biggest scandal yet. π
Episode 8 βPeddled Like Pornographyβ tomorrow π€




AUGUST 1, 2020
You might have seen Mattachino J.J. Belanger when this first photo went viral after it was rediscovered in 2014. It was taken in 1953, the same year he joined the Mattachine. He attended the (season 1) convention where the founders were ousted, and he appears again this week on the podcast at the 6th convention! π
βHomosexual life can be downright fun. It should not be peddled in the shadows of the cruisiest streets like the latest samples of pornography.β
J.J. Belanger π€«
Episode 8 βPeddled Like Pornographyβ is out now!
πΈ Robert Block (left) and J. J. Belanger in a photo booth, Vancouver, Canada.
πΈ Belanger at 17 in the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps, June 1940.
πΈ Belanger (left) and Daryl Mutz, Stanley Park, Vancouver, British Columbia, September 1953.
π Belangerβs Mattachine membership information
@onearchives
Elver Barker aka carl harding





JULY 30, 2020
The legendary βEducation Handbookβ written by Elver Barker (a.k.a. Carl B. Harding). π
Also, just for fun, the outline of the proposed radio program Elver mentions in his convention speech in this weekβs episode. π»
π @onearchives
πΈ Elver Barker, 1968. tyleralpern.com










AUGUST 3, 2020
Iβm sure itβs evident by now that I adore Denver Mattachino Elver Barker. Here are some of his gorgeous paintings! π¨
1, 5, 8: unknown photographer or title
Image 2: Spiderwort with Bee
Image 3: R.C. Gorman, painted from life by Barker.
4: Prickly Pear Cactus
6: Feather painting in transparent oils
7: Oil On Pavement After Rain No.II
9: Iβm not sure if Elver created this Denver Mattachine Newsletter cover, but I think itβs a safe assumption.
10: Elverβs 2004 obituary
πΈ tyleralpern.com





JULY 31, 2020
βIt is an undeniable and uncomfortable fact that we homosexuals ourselves are largely responsible for the aura of ignorance and prejudice which enshrouds us. We are responsible because of our silence. And our silence is rooted in fear. β
βElver Barker A.K.A. Carl B. Harding π€«
Episode 8 βPeddled Like Pornographyβ is out now! Read it here, or hear Radical Faerie Joey Cain monologue part of it in the show π§π»ββοΈ
π glbt_history
πΈ tyleralpern.com










AUGUST 2, 2020
βP.S. I have an apartment which can accommodate 2 guests. You may give my address to any Mattachine people coming through Denver. I would be happy to meet them and could provide lodging if they wished.β π
Elver Barker gave Denverβs Mattachine such a beautiful touch. He was crafty in his art and his organizing. He cared about the work. If this story is a game of kings, court jesters, and queens (Bill Brandhove), then I would consider Elver Barker the Olenna Tyrell of the season.
I chose my dear judy Joey Cain to voice Elver because he reminds me so much of him. Joey has opened his home to me countless times so I could do research for the podcast in San Francisco. He also provides lots of wine (again, like Olenna). Joey was a founding Radical Faerie, former SF Pride president, and an Edward Carpenter know-it-all.
π all docs @onearchives
πΈ Joey at SF Pride 2004
πΈ Joey protesting for Chelsea Manning, 2013
πΈ Recording the podcast in Chicago, 2019
πΈ Joey and me at the podcastβs presentation at @glbt_history, 2019
see you in the magazines
JULY 30, 2020
βYou parents of daughtersβdo not sit back complacently feeling that because you have no boys in your family, everything is all right as far as you are concerned. To enlighten you to the existence of a Lesbian organization composed of homosexual women, whose purposes are the same as the Mattachine Society, the male counterpart, make yourselves acquainted with the name βDaughters of Bilitis.ββ π©
An angry city discovers the Daughters in the newest episode, βPeddled Like Pornography.β Available now π







AUGUST 4, 2020
June β59 is by far one of their best. Check out ONE Magazineβs issues released during the events of episode 8, βPeddled Like Pornography.β π
@onearchives βοΈ










AUGUST 2, 2020
Some GORGEOUS covers of the Mattachine Review, published by Pan-Graphic Press. Spot any familiar names? π
The green one is my favorite but I stupidly didnβt take a full photo of it.
π @one_archives
AUGUST 2, 2020
Divine and Christine Jorgensen at the Limelight disco in Atlanta, 1981. π
πΈ @digitaltransarc




AUGUST 3, 2020
Patreon subscribers get a bonus crossover episode today! Ever wonder what the Mattachine Society actually does when theyβre not bickering and scheming? And why are they so scared of starting a pen pal club? Join me and Don Lucas in the Mattachine office. π
patreon.com/queerserial
link in my bio!
π @onearchives
π Martin Meekerβs βContacts Desiredβ led me to this story.
AUGUST 4, 2020
ππ πππππππ πππ ππππππ
AUGUST 3, 2020
β...oh, yes, and incidentally, there are some female homosexuals too and because they are homosexuals all this should apply to them as well.... Lesbians are not satisfied to be auxiliary members or second-class homosexuals.β
π Del Martin, βThe Ladder,β 1959
πΈ @glbt_history
APRIL 9, 2021
ββAt a very proper East Side hotelβ¦a conclave of ladies with crew cuts.β Her comment was obviously not based on first-hand observation.β
September 1958
π @glbt_history