32. Stealing Horses & Hearts: Trans Vagabonds of the Wild West
History is Gay
Leigh Pfeffer
4.6 • 536 Ratings
🗓️ 16 September 2020
⏱️ 89 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode of History is Gay, Leigh and guest host Ashten Hope slap on some cowboy boots and head to the wild west to tip our hats to a slew of badass transgender pioneers. We'll first meet Harry Allen, a handsome horse-stealing and heart-stealing trans man who was both loved and hated by papers and police across the pacific northwest. Then we'll dance with the dazzling and talented Mrs. Nash, who's baking and sewing charmed many a soldier boy. Lastly, prepare to be lassoed by the legendary Charley Parkhurst who was known as one of the best "whips" in all the west. Grab your horse and your headphones and get ready to ride into the fantastic lives of these frontier queers.
Outline:
0:00 – Introduction
4:12 – Main Topic: Stealing Horses & Hearts: Trans Vagabonds of the Wild West
4:47 – Socio-Historical Context: What was the Wild West and Why do we think its gay?
16:51 – Who were they? Bio Time: Harry Allen
31:40 – 33:04 – Content warning: suicide mention
36:29 – Word of the Week
39:12 –39:31 – Content warning: sexual assault reference
42:52 – 43:03 – Content warning: substance abuse mention
50:26 – Who were they? Bio Time: Mrs. Nash
1:01:26 – 1:03:06 – Content warning: suicide mention
1:06:54 – Who were they? Bio Time: Charley Parkhurst
1:21:16 – Main Takeaways and Final Conclusions
1:22:36 – How Gay were They?
1:25:47 – Closing and Where to Find us Online
You can find guest host Ashten at @AshtenHope on twitter!
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, and welcome to History is Gay, a podcast that examines the underappreciated and overlooked |
| 0:05.5 | queer ladies, gents, and gentle enbies that have always been there in the unexplored |
| 0:09.7 | corners of history, because history has never been as straight as you think. Hello folks. Again, welcome to September. It's our September episode. It's hot as balls in California because global warming. but I'm here in your ear holes again. |
| 0:39.9 | Hello, I'm Lee. |
| 0:41.1 | I have a special guest with me today, someone who is rootin and tootin and perfect for |
| 0:47.2 | the topic we are talking about today, which is Wild West trans wonderful folks. |
| 0:53.5 | Please say hi to my lovely guest host for today, Ashton Hope. Hi. |
| 0:59.0 | Hi. I'm so happy to be here. Howdy all? And yes, you're probably said it's perfect because |
| 1:05.2 | I'm from Texas. Yes, exactly. How are you enjoying the Battle of Lake Travis? Or as I like to call it, the Battle of Lake Travesty. |
| 1:15.9 | It's honestly a beautiful day when you get to wake up and see that a bunch of Trump boats have sunk into the water. |
| 1:25.3 | Yeah. It's a good day. It's a good day when that happens. |
| 1:28.1 | My fiance sent me the news article, and I was very excited. |
| 1:31.5 | I was like, oh, yes, good morning. |
| 1:34.1 | Oh, there are boats at the bottom of the lake. |
| 1:35.8 | Fantastic. |
| 1:36.9 | I love it when nature just showcases how anti-fascist it is. |
| 1:40.7 | Oh, all the time. |
| 1:42.9 | So before we get into things, please tell our wonderful audience a little bit about yourself. |
| 1:50.4 | So let's see. I'm from Texas, as I already said, I am a teacher. I teach high school. I'm an English teacher. It's like 95% of my life. In case you don't know, |
| 2:04.6 | teachers are very busy, especially now with the apocalypse happening. And let's see what else do I do. |
| 2:09.5 | I like to read books. I'm in a queer book club. I have many, many animals. And that's just, I guess, a little bit about me. |
| 2:20.8 | I like to march around in Texas when the Republicans make our life hard, which is all the time. |
... |
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