Finding the Movement: Queer Space, Dance, and Survival, 1970s Detroit, Chicago, & Minneapolis wit...

In part two of their conversation about the 1970s, Jack Gieseking and Finn Enke travel through Chicago, Detroit, and Minneapolis to ask what it meant to find—and build—lesbian, queer, trans, feminist, and dyke worlds. Public space was never simply public, especially for lezbiqueertrans people: it was a maze of bars, parties, lesbian lines, softball fields, coffee houses, feminist presses, bookstores, shelters, and the pathways between them. Together, Jack and Finn talk about the racial segregation and exclusion built into bars, the violence of ID checking and “looks,” and the ways white feminist spaces often failed to recognize Black, brown, working-class, and trans gender expression. From the Wilder Ones softball team to the protests over the Town House bar, these spaces could last only a few years and still change lives. Finally, Jack and Finn turn toward disability, access, trans presence, aging, and the question of what it means to build spaces where more of us can actually be. ** Join Our Community Want to be part of our community? We'd love to have you. 😏 Come comment, connect, and get your gayme on! • Newsletter to your inbox: Jack's Queer Geographies newsletter (https://queergeographies.ghost.io/) with detailed takes on each episode, & more about lezbiqueertrans spaces across time • Instagram for more dyke visuals and stories @ourdykehistories (  / ourdykehistories  ) • Read and follow our co-producer and collaborator, Sinister Wisdom (https://www.sinisterwisdom.org/podcast) • Email us questions and comments at ourdykehistories@gmail.com (mailto:ourdykehistories@gmail.com) ** Credits Producer, Editor, Host, & Creative Director: Jack Gieseking Co-Producer: Julie Enszer & Sinister Wisdom Co-Producer & Co-Editor: Cade Waldo Assistant Editor: Mel Whitesell Social Media: Audrey Wilkinson Interns: Michaela Hayes and Sophie McClain Consulting Producer: Rachel Fagen Music: Our theme song: "Like Honey" by Kit Orion https://www.kitorion.com/ CC-BY-NC-ND 2025. Write to us at ourdykehistories@gmail.com (mailto:ourdykehistories@gmail.com) for permission to use any of our content.