Santa Cruz County Queer History Podcast

Ep. 20. G Schulz: Gay Mens Groups in Santa Cruz and the Radical Faeries

G Schulz grew up mostly in Dallas, Texas and attended the University of Texas in Austin where he obtained a Bachelor’s of Architecture degree.  After coming out in 1978 and graduating in 1979, he took a road trip west and landed somewhat by happen-chance in Santa Cruz. There he found a very active gay community, engaging in a gay men’s rap group (that drew upwards of 90 men every week), Gay volleyball  in front of the Dream Inn, two gay bars and a very active social life. He has now been living in Santa Cruz for over 46 years. G has been involved in a variety of groups including the radical faeries and the Rainbow Sangha meditation group. He also attended the 1987 March on Washington for lesbian and gay rights in Washington D.C.

Ep. 19. Shane Hill: Radical Faerie and Transgender Support Therapist

Shane Hill was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He has worked most of his life as  a clinical psychologist, mindfulness teacher, community facilitator and artist. He moved to Santa Cruz in the 1990s. Shane has been involved in a variety of activities across Santa Cruz County including organizing therapists and counselors to better serve LGBTQ+ youth, supporting the Queer Youth Leadership Awards, founding and facilitating the Santa Cruz queer camp for queer youth, has taught at the Rainbow Sangha sits at Insight Santa Cruz in the Buddhist tradition. He co-founded most of the transgender mental health resources in Santa Cruz over 25 years ago including the Trans Families support group, trans support groups at the Diversity Center, facilitated Trans trainings for mental health therapists through the state, and co-founded and supervised the Gender Specialists Consult Group in Santa Cruz for 10 years. He has been part of the Radical Faeries in Santa Cruz since 1992 and continues to be involved today. He published the book, “Faerie Magick” which is about the Santa Cruz Radical Faeries and their creative performances for Pride and other events often organized to make money to support queer youth.

Ep 18. Patti Maxine, Musician, Lap Steel Guitar performer, lesbian

Patti Maxine is a musician who plays the lap steel guitar. She began her lifelong love affair with lap steel guitar and Hawaiian music as a young girl in Roanoke, Virginia and then moved to Santa Cruz in 1970. She played and sang at the first Santa Cruz Pride in 1975 and has continued as a solo artist and as part of many collaborations around Santa Cruz County. She continues to play music around Santa Cruz County most every weekend.  She celebrated her 75th birthday in 2013 by inviting her closest friends to Kuumbwa Jazz Center and performed to a sold out crowd. Patti lives with her wife, Marilyn, in Felton where she continues to create and record music. Patti was interviewed by Levi, a recent graduate of UC Davis.

Ep.17 Honey Mahogany, Transgender Activist, Politician and Drag Performer

Honey Mahogany lives in San Francisco and was a keynote speaker at an event in Santa Cruz. Following that event, our podcast team traveled to San Francisco to interview Honey, an out transgender woman who helped found the Transgender District in San Francisco.  She serves as the Director of the office of transgender initiatives for the City of San Francisco, one of the first cities to have a department focused on supporting transgender people.  The Transgender District spans six blocks in the southeastern Tenderloin and was founded in 2017 by three Black trans women, Aria Sa’id, Janetta Johnson, and Honey Mahogany. Honey was also a Grand Marshal for San Francisco Pride in 2023, which always takes place the last weekend in June.

Ep.16. Marilyn Mariposa Bernstein and the Santa Cruz Dyke March

Marilyn Mariposa Bernstein is one of the founders of the Santa Cruz Dyke March that began in 1994. The event morphed into the Dyke Trans March and takes place on the Saturday prior to the Santa Cruz Pride parade. Mariposa discusses the reasons why the Dyke March started in Santa Cruz.