Testing one, two, three.

I'm Eric Marcus and season 11 of Making Gay History is just around the corner.

While we continue to work on our coming of age in the 1970s season,

we're going back once more to the source, my Making Gay History archive,

to introduce you to some of my favorite storytellers.

Beginning November 3rd, we'll share six new episodes,

stories of faith and redemption, of family, of scandal,

and of radicalization and liberation.

First up is Craig Rodwell.

If you're a regular listener, you'll recognize his name and voice from previous episodes.

Craig made his mark as an LGBTQ rights pioneer several times over,

from participating in the 1966 SIPN, which challenged the New York State law

that prohibited bars from serving homosexuals,

to being a driving force behind the first Christopher Street liberation day march in 1970.

This time, you'll meet Craig as a headstrong teenager,

whose radicalization began at the hands of the Chicago police.

All of a sudden these two or three cops just appeared,

and what seemed to be out of nowhere.

The first thing they asked me was how old I was,

and I summoned up my deepest voice that said 17.

But that knew better.

And also it was an area that I didn't realize the time,

...