Season 1: Episode 8: "Dear Abby"

Making Gay History | LGBTQ Oral Histories from the Archive

Making Gay History

Sexuality, Personal Journals, Health & Fitness, History, Society & Culture

4.7 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 1 December 2016

⏱️ 15 minutes

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Summary

A generation ago, tens of millions of people turned to "Dear Abby” in her daily newspaper column for advice. Long before others did, and at considerable risk, she used her platform and celebrity in support of gay people and their equal rights. Visit our episode webpage for background information, archival photos, and other resources. For exclusive Making Gay History bonus content, join our ⁠Patreon community⁠. ——— To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I history
0:02.0	Eric here
0:03.0	A few months ago we launched Making Gay History's Patreon channel
0:06.0	a place where we're sharing new video interviews
0:09.0	Never Before Heard Clips from my archive
0:11.0	that didn't make it into the episodes and more.
0:14.0	If you're not a member of our Patreon community yet, I hope you'll join today.
0:18.4	Just $5 a month gets you access to these Making Gay History extras, and you'll support us as we work to bring LGBTQ history to life
0:26.1	through the voices of the people who lived it.
0:28.8	Find out more at Patreon.com slash Making Gay History. or go to making gay history
0:34.0	and click on the link in our home page banner and thank you so much. I'm Eric Marcus and this is making gay history.
0:57.0	In my first round of interviews for my book, I only spoke to one person who was a household name,
1:02.7	Dear Abby.
1:03.8	She was also known as Abigel Van Buren.
1:06.3	Her given name was Pauline Esther,
1:08.8	and her nickname was Popo.
1:11.0	And my grandma was just one of 110 million people every day around the world who read what
1:16.4	dear Abby had to say. When I was a kid, my mom sent me to Ziggies, the Corner Candy Store,
1:21.2	to get the Sunday newspapers. They were really heavy. My
1:24.8	favorite part of the paper was the comics. My immigrant grandmother went right
1:29.9	to Dear Abby's column where she could get the latest advice on everything from marriage and children to abortion and homosexuality.
1:37.4	Abby never minced words. binding humor was her weapon of choice, but whatever the topic, her warmth and her compassion and
	...

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