The Queens of Welfare Island podcast explores New York’s imprisoned gay men

The Queens of Welfare Island, a new podcast season about gay men imprisoned in New York, launches on 19 October.

Hosted by Eric Marcus, it explores their lives inside the men’s penitentiary on Welfare Island and the community they created through an annual Christmas show.

The series is the sixteenth season of Making Gay History, an established podcast exploring LGBTQ+ history.

Its preview, released on 1 October, introduces a prison where gay inmates were segregated from other men but found opportunities to perform and express themselves.

Listeners will meet Gene Mosely, a drag queen arrested on his way to a masquerade ball, and Abraham Kriegel, an immigrant Jewish tailor caught in a gay bathhouse sting.

The season also ventures into New York’s nightlife through singer and pianist Gladys Bentley.

The podcast connects with The Gorgeous Nothings, a separate stage musical inspired by the prisoners’ stories.

Historians, archivists, writers and performers help Marcus explore the real lives behind that production.

Where to listen:

Episode one arrives on 19 October through Making Gay History on podcast platforms, including Spotify. You can listen to the season preview online now.

Image credits: Making Gay History podcast