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Queer as Fact @queerasfact.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Schedule update: The bad news is Eli has been sick, so there'll be no episode coming out tomorrow. The good news is that means instead we'll be bringing our Dracula episode out on Halloween - looking forward to getting into the spooky season with you all!

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Queer as Fact @queerasfact.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Bram's 1872 fan letter to Walt Whitman raises all kinds of questions about Bram’s gender, sexuality, and relationship to Victorian masculinity. We had a long chat about it in our podcast - check it out here: queerasfact.podbean.com/e/bram-stoker/

queerasfact.podbean.com

Bram Stoker | Queer as Fact

Welcome to the longest episode of Queer as Fact yet! In today’s podcast we’re talking about the author of Dracula, Bram Stoker. Join us to read Bram’s intense fanmail to Walt Whitman, discuss his comp...

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Queer as Fact @queerasfact.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

"...how sweet a thing it is for a strong healthy man with a woman's eyes and a child's wishes to feel that he can speak so to a man who can be if he wishes father and brother and wife to his soul.” Bram Stoker to Walt Whitman, 1872

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Queer as Fact @queerasfact.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Welcome to the longest episode of Queer as Fact yet! We’re talking about 'Dracula' author Bram Stoker. Join us for Bram’s fanmail to Walt Whitman, his complex relationship with masculinity, a pet monkey, and a guest appearance by Oscar Wilde! queerasfact.podbean.com/e/bram-stoker/

queerasfact.podbean.com

Bram Stoker | Queer as Fact

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Queer as Fact @queerasfact.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Shana tova to everyone celebrating this weekend! We hope you have a sweet new year 🍎🍯

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Queer as Fact @queerasfact.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Good news if you need a little more time for the reread - we got so deep into it that we are bringing out an episode on Bram this week, and a whole separate episode on Dracula the following fortnight 👀

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Queer as Fact @queerasfact.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Move over Robespierre... Settling in to start editing what may be our longest episode yet!

Screenshot of Audacity sound editing software, open to a three-and-a-half-hour-long file titled 'Bram Stoker'

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Queer as Fact @queerasfact.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Getting ready for our next episode! If you haven’t read ‘Dracula’ this is your sign to start now so you can join us in discovering just how queer this book can be.

Photograph of a copy of Dracula sitting on a sunny outdoor table, next to a cup of tea in a Dracula-themed mug

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Queer as Fact @queerasfact.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Also, for those of you who would like a visual to go along with the Chinese characters we discuss in this episode, they are 他 (masculine/neutral tā), 她 (feminine tā), 牠 ("cow-tā"), 祂 ("God-tā"), and X也 (gender-neutral tā).

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Queer as Fact @queerasfact.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

NEW EPISODE IS OUT Today's episode is on gendered pronouns in Mandarin! Join us for a journey through thousands of years of Chinese language, featuring paleo-pronouns, neo-pronouns, and the complexities of expressing gender when your phone has a limited character set. See thread below to listen.

NEW PODCAST EPISODE. Gendered Pronouns in Mandarin. An image showing calligraphy of gender-neutral form of the Mandarin pronoun tā (X也) is placed against a black background featuring a rainbow soundwave. The rainbow Q that represents Queer as Fact is at the bottom of the image.

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Queer as Fact @queerasfact.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

In 3rd-century Tunisia, Felicity and Perpetua left conventional family structures to find chosen family amongst an anti-establishment Christian community. They were martyred side-by-side for their beliefs. Today, queer Christians consider them patron saints. queerasfact.podbean.com/e/saints-fel...

queerasfact.podbean.com

Saints Felicity and Perpetua | Queer as Fact

Today's episode is on the 3rd-century North African saints, Felicity and Perpetua! Join us to hear about queer dreams, the mysterious absence of Felicity and Perpetua's husbands, and why early Christi...

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Queer as Fact @queerasfact.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Who amongst us has not been visited by the Demon of Procrastination...

Snippet from a book:
October [undated] My dearest Miss Harriet - I verily believe the Demon of Procrastination Abides in My pen - the moment I attempt

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Queer as Fact @queerasfact.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Current Queer as Fact meeting topic: What should we do for our tenth anniversary next year? We would love suggestions!

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Queer as Fact @queerasfact.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

We have a new episode out today! We're talking about queer representation in museums - what it looks like, what queer people want it to look like, and how we can get there. Check it out: queerasfact.podbean.com/e/queer-repr... #museums #queerhistory

queerasfact.podbean.com

Queer Representation in Museums | Queer as Fact

Today's episode is on queer representation in museums - what it looks like, what queer people want it to look like, and how we can get there. This episode was originally released on our Patreon in 202...

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Queer as Fact @queerasfact.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

Trans activist Marsha P Johnson founded the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries, which provided housing, legal aid, and other support to trans youth. She is remembered by those her knew her for her kindness and generosity. #transhistory #queerhistory

Marsha P Johnson, a Black trans woman. She is standing outdoors at a protest with a police line visible behind her. She is wearing a blue gown, pearl headdress, and purple sash which reads ‘Stonewall’, and smiling at the camera.

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Queer as Fact @queerasfact.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

This is one of the earliest known recordings of a trans person! Masoud El Amaratly (c.1897-1944) was a mustarjil, a transmasculine identity among the Ahwari people of southern Iraq. He was famous in the '20s and '30s, performing and recording traditional Iraqi music soundcloud.com/qatar-digita...

soundcloud.com

El Amaratly, Massoud: Ahiman terdoun ma terdoun

9CS0026165(S1) Item title: Ahiman terdoun ma terdoun Contributor: El Amaratly, Massoud Matrix number: 0C2336 Performance note: Massoud El Amaratly was born to Moula Saad as a girl named Massouda in th

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Queer as Fact @queerasfact.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Have you met Anne Lister? Born in 1791, Anne invented a secret code to document her love-affairs with women across thousands of pages of diaries, and exchanged rings in church with her partner, Ann Walker, almost 200 years before same-sex marriage was legalised in England. #lesbianhistory

Portrait of Anne Lister, a 19th-century British woman wearing a high-necked dark jacket

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Queer as Fact @queerasfact.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

Amongst the Ahwari/Marsh Arab people of Iraq, mustarjil is a traditional trans masc identity, described here by the Ahwari man Amara bin Thuqub in the 1950s. The most famous mustaril is the singer Masoud El Amaratly who recorded and toured across Iraq, Syria and Lebanon in the 1920s and 1930s.

Screencap of text from a book: After the boy had made us coffee and withdrawn, Amara asked , ' Did you realize that was a mustarjil?' I had vaguely heard of them, but had not met one before. 'A mustarjil is born a woman,' Amara explained. ' She cannot help that ; but she has the heart of a man, so she lives like a man.' 'Do men accept her ? ' ' Certainly. We eat with her and she may sit in the mudhi/. When she dies, we fire off our rifles to honour her. We never do that for a woman. In Majid's village there is one who fought bravely in the war against Haji Sulaiman.' ' Do they always wear their hair plaited ? ' ' Usually they shave i t off like men. ' ·no mustarjils ever marry ?' ' No, they sleep with women as we do.'

Pencil drawing of an Arab man, wearing a yashmagh (headscarf) with agal (cord)

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Queer as Fact @queerasfact.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

Here we go! This is what I was thinking of: from the Sydney Daily Telegraph, 16 Feb 1953 - a bit late for the original question about suffragettes, but interesting all the same. And here's Nellie!

PerHAPS the most disputed vote of the day. was that cast by No. 3191. on the North Sydney roll, Ellen E. Small, at St. Peter's Hall in Blue's Point Road. She was on her way to Work, had to do some fast
talking, to overcome the objections of an official who told; her: "You can't vote for ' your wife— she must come herself." -
Ellen E., Small, famous as Nellie Small, was all dressed up for her nightly labor of nightclub singing and male impersonating.

Nellie Small, a Black person with short dark hair, is smiling, holding a cigarette, wearing a patterned Hawai'ian-style shirt.

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Queer as Fact @queerasfact.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

We haven't, but it would be interesting! There's something in the back of my mind about a trans masc Australian being almost denied a vote because their appearance didn't match what the official expected based on the name on the roll... but I can't for the life of me remember any details.

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Queer as Fact @queerasfact.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

New podcast out! We're discussing the Iraqi singer, Masoud El Amaratly. Join us as we visit the southern Iraqi marshes, hear what may be the oldest recording of a trans person, and learn about trans identity in Masoud's Ahwari culture. #transhistory queerasfact.podbean.com/e/masoud-el-...

queerasfact.podbean.com

Masoud El Amaratly | Queer as Fact

Today's episode is on the Iraqi singer, Masoud El Amaratly. Join us as we visit the unique marshlands of southern Iraq, hear what may be the oldest known recording of a trans person, and learn about m...

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Queer as Fact @queerasfact.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

queerasfact.podbean.com

Masoud El Amaratly | Queer as Fact

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Queer as Fact @queerasfact.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

NEW EPISODE! Today's episode is on Kenyan director Wanuri Kahiu’s 2018 lesbian romance film, Rafiki. Join us for a rich exploration of Kenyan culture through the lens of the director’s self-titled “Afrobubblegum” genre, legal drama, and a DJ named after an Australian cartoon character.

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Queer as Fact @queerasfact.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

NEW EPISODE! queerasfact.podbean.com/e/hwarang/ Hwarang, a group of youth in first millenium Korea who represent nationalism, masculinity, and gay love. Episode contains: the most beautiful men in Korea, song lyrics about gay love, and how to approach queer history across time and culture.

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Queer as Fact @queerasfact.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

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Queer as Fact @queerasfact.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

"Don't make a woman out of me. My name is Megillus ... I was born a woman like the rest of you, and I have the mind and the desires and everything else of a man." Megillus in Lucian's 'Dialogues of the Courtesans', 2nd century CE #transhistory

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Queer as Fact @queerasfact.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Throughout their life they continued to reject aspects femininity, often wearing a mix of masculine and feminine clothing, and at times experimenting with male names. Christina wrote coded love letters to a cardinal, and also had a relationship with one of their ladies-in-waiting. (2/3)

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Queer as Fact @queerasfact.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

In 1654, Sweden’s monarch Christina abdicated the throne, cut their hair, donned trousers, and left the country to pursue a life of arts and scholarship in Rome... (1/3)

1653 oil painting of Christina of Sweden. They have longish curly brown hair, pale skin, and big dark eyes. They are wearing a velvet jacket or dress over a white billowing shirt.

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Queer as Fact @queerasfact.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

Following protests, most charges were dropped, and protest laws relaxed. Hundreds of thousands now participate each year in what became Sydney’s Mardi Gras. We made a podcast queer film in Australia's queer history if you want to learn more about this story: queerasfact.podbean.com/e/the-birth-...

queerasfact.podbean.com

The Birth of Queer Film in Australia | Queer as Fact

We have a special guest this episode - Jessie has just completed her thesis on queer film in Australia, and talks with us about its birth, its development, and the role it has played in Australian gay...

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Queer as Fact @queerasfact.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

Filmed in 1978, 'Witches and Faggots, Dykes and Poofters' was intended to cover the history of gay and lesbian persecution and end with uplifting shots of the first Sydney pride march. Instead, the crew caught footage of violent police attacks on the marches. 53 people were arrested. (1/2)

Poster for the film Witches and Faggots, Dykes and Poofters. The poster features the film’s title, and the text ‘The true historical story of homosexual and lesbian oppression. As well as photos of a queer couple kissing, a drag queen, and a couple in wide-brimmed hats, black velvet corsets, and fishnets.

Colour photo of two Australian police officers manhandling a protester.

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Queer as Fact @queerasfact.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

Have you heard of Horace Walpole? -likely asexual and gay, -inventor of gothic fiction and the word 'gloomth' (gloom+warmth) -once wrote to a possible lover “My satisfaction arises from your passion not from my own…” -described by friends as “untost by [sexual] passions” -named his dog Patapan

Black-and-white drawing of Horace Walpole, an opulently dresses man in a brocade jacket and breeches, sitting in a comfortable chair, holding a book. There are bookshelves and a window behind him, and a small, grumpy-looking dog in front.

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Queer as Fact @queerasfact.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

In 1996, Subaru’s US market research revealed an unexpected demographic who loved their cars: lesbians. The company decided to lean in, and began ads pitching Subarus to lesbians. As a queer woman who drives a Subaru myself, I guess I have to say the advertising works!

Ad showing a Subaru with two bikes on the roof-rack, and the caption ‘It’s Not a Choice. It’s the Way We’re Built. Subaru All-Wheel Driving System. In every car we make.’

$Ad showing two Subarus. One has two bikes on the roof-rack, the number plate ‘CAMP OUT’ and a rainbow bumper sticker. The other has a kayak on the roofrack and the number plate ‘XENA LVR’. The caption reads ‘Different Drivers. Different Roads. One Car.’$ Ad showing a Subaru Outback, with the caption ‘Get Out. And stay out.’

Ad showing a Subaru Outback, with the caption ‘Get Out. And stay out.’

Ad showing a Subaru, with the caption ‘It loves camping, dogs and long-term commitment. Too bad it’s only a car.’

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Queer as Fact @queerasfact.bsky.social · 19/04/2026

We’re delving into some culinary history tomorrow and recording a bonus episode for our patrons on a notoriously queer food! I want to hear your thoughts – what do you reckon is the queerest dish?

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Queer as Fact @queerasfact.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

Can't speak for all of us, but I didn't!! Amazing to hear ❤️ -Alice

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Queer as Fact @queerasfact.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

NEW EPISODE Today's episode is a nice light-hearted look at something near and dear to many sapphic hearts - Subaru! We take a look at WHY lesbians loving Subarus is such a stereotype, what the car company did to encourage this, and laugh at some pretty saucy innuendos.

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Queer as Fact @queerasfact.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

“I’m naturally, naturally born Kewpie. The gay. The lady. The woman. The sister.” Some of our fave photos of South African hairdresser and performer, Kewpie. We learnt so much not just about Kewpie, but about the queer coloured community in Cape Town, while making our podcast on her! ❤️ #transhistory

A group of 7 people posing in the middle of a street in fashionable outfits. One of them is Kewpie, a coloured trans woman, wearing a red chiffon headscarf, a light-blue shirt with sleeves rolled up, and royal blue pants. She is posing with one arm around the should of the person next to her, and a ponted foot propped on the shoulder of the person in front of her, and staring directly at the camera.

Portrait of Kewpie, a coloured trans woman on a Cape Town street in the 1960s. She is wearing a fur hat, a striped blazer, and a collared shirt. She is looking into the camera.

Kewpie, a coloured trans woman, wearing a Marie Antoinette costume, featuring a wide ball gown, black gloves, and a feathered headpiece. Her friend Sodia stands next to her in a similar outfit. Kewpie is smiling and offering her hand to someone out of frame.

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