Our Dyke Histories
Our Dyke Histories
Jack Gieseking with Sinister Wisdom
Finding the Movement: Queer Space, Dance, and Survival, 1970s Detroit, Chicago, & Minneapolis with Finn Enke
37 minutes Posted Jan 26, 2026 at 4:59 am.
Introduction
American Indian Lesbian Genius & Matchbooks
Race, Racism, & Dyke Bar ID Carding
Overcoming Segregation with Lez Softball
Lezbiqueertrans 1970s Expansionism
Tale of the Town House Bar
Disability, Transness, & Access
Conclusion & Credits
0:00
37:37
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Show notes

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.

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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/

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