Hey y’all, it’s Peppermint — and on this episode of Queer 101, Hugh and I are doing what queer people have always done best: connecting history to the mess we’re living in right now.

We start with Audre Lorde’s Sister Outsider — newly reissued, still devastatingly relevant, and frankly doing laps around half the conversations happening today. Audre wasn’t here for respectability politics, and neither are we.

Then I take you inside the Supreme Court, where I recently sat through hearings on trans athletes in sports. Yes, I was in the room. Yes, it was as wild — and revealing — as you’d imagine. We talk about how these cases aren’t really about sports at all, but about power, control, and who gets to exist comfortably in public life.

We get into the systemic targeting of trans people, how anti‑trans legislation doesn’t just hurt trans folks (spoiler: cis women are already catching the backlash), and why bodily autonomy is always the first thing up for debate when fear runs the show.

Along the way, we pull in feminist history, revolutionary poets, and Audre Lorde’s timeless reminder that silence does not protect us — it just protects the systems hurting us.

This episode is about intersectionality, resistance, and speaking up, even when it’s uncomfortable. Especially when it’s uncomfortable.

Follow us at:

• @peppermint247
• @hughoryan
• @pridehousemedia

Write to us at:

• questions@queer101podcast.com

Hey y’all—it’s me, Peppermint 💅🏽 and welcome back to Queer 101. In this episode, I’m joined by my partner in queer crime, Hugh the Historian, and honey… we are digging deep. Like “Hollywood secrets buried under a studio lot” deep.

We dive into the shadowy, fascinating, and sometimes infuriating hidden histories of queer culture—especially in old Hollywood, where being LGBTQ+ was very much a don’t ask, don’t exist situation. We unpack Michael Kresky’s book Sick and Dirty, which chronicles a time when queer folks were everywhere in the industry… just not allowed to be seen. Closets had closets, okay?

From there, we spill the tea on queer coding in film—how villains, side characters, and “odd” personalities were often the only places queer energy was allowed to live onscreen. Hugh breaks it down historically while I’m sitting there like, “Wait… so that’s why every fabulous villain felt a little too familiar?”

We also get into the real power players—the closeted figures who wielded enormous influence while benefiting from systems that oppressed the very community they were part of. Yes, we’re talking Roy Cohn, Liz Smith, and the complicated, messy reality of survival, power, and exploitation in systems that weren’t built for us.

And listen, this isn’t just a history lesson—it’s about how culture, politics, and power all intertwine, and how queer people have always been navigating that web, whether out loud or in the shadows. We reflect on how oppression works systemically, how visibility can be both dangerous and revolutionary, and why understanding this history matters right now.

So buckle up, grab your popcorn, and get ready to learn, laugh, and maybe side‑eye Hollywood just a little harder.

Timestamps

• 00:00 Welcome to Queer 101
• 01:03 Queer Coding: The Subtext Was Loud
• 05:35 Why So Many Villains Felt… Familiar
• 10:53 Closets, Power, and Complicity
• 15:08 Systems of Oppression & Queer Survival
• 22:17 Final Thoughts, Community Love & Birthday Vibes

Follow us at:

• @peppermint247
• @hughoryan
• @pridehousemedia

Write to us at:

• questions@queer101podcast.com

Hey y’all, it’s me Peppermint 💋 and welcome back to Queer 101! This episode is one of those “once you see it, you can’t unsee it” conversations—because we’re talking all about queer coding in pop culture. And yes… it’s been happening forever.

This week Hugh Ryan, and I break down how queerness has been sneaking into movies, books, and TV for decades—especially back when being openly queer was a hard no thanks to censorship, moral panics, and a whole lot of pearl‑clutching. So what did creators do? Oh, they got creative.

We get into Hollywood history and how queerness was often hidden in plain sight through gestures, voices, fashion, and vibes. Then we jump straight into Disney, because let’s be honest—the villains were serving. From Scar’s theatrical drama in The Lion King to Ursula’s larger‑than‑life fabulousness in The Little Mermaid, we talk about why so many of us clocked those characters immediately—even as kids.

But it’s not just about being queer-coded; we also unpack how queerness and racial coding often overlapped, reinforcing stereotypes and shaping how audiences understood “otherness.” It’s layered, it’s complicated, and yes—it had real cultural consequences.

We also look beyond film into literature, where queerness has long lived between the lines, and we ask the big question: now that we can be more open, why are we still relying on subtext?

By the end, Hugh and I share our hopes for a future where queer characters don’t have to hide in villains, metaphors, or side‑eyes—and where authenticity doesn’t require decoding. And of course, we want to hear from you, so I invite you to share your thoughts, your favorite coded characters, and what you want us to tackle next on Queer 101.

Because if the subtext was loud back then? Baby, the text deserves a microphone now.

Timestamps

• 00:00 Welcome back to Queer 101
• 01:09 How Hollywood Learned to Code Queerness
• 03:38 Disney Villains: The Real Gay Icons
• 07:11 How Queer Coding Shaped Culture
• 10:19 Race, Queerness & “Otherness”
• 17:44 Queer Stories Between the Lines
• 29:06 Imagining a Future Without Coding
• 29:46 Final Thoughts & Call to Action

Follow us at:

• @peppermint247
• @hughoryan
• @pridehousemedia

Write to us at:

• questions@queer101podcast.comScar, Ursula, and the Queer History of Disney, Hollywood & Pop Culture