Hidden in Plain Sight: A History of Lesbianism | Lesson 016

Gay History: From Criminalization to Visibility | Lesson 017

In this episode we're exploring the history of gay men through the lenses of geography and history. From Ancient Greece and Rome to colonial laws, Oscar Wilde's trials, Berlin before World War II, Stonewall, and the AIDS crisis, we'll examine how societies have understood relationships between men across time and place. Along the way, we'll meet activists, artists, researchers, and communities who challenged stigma, fought for visibility, and helped shape LGBTQ+ history. This isn't a comprehensive history of gay men. It's an introduction to some of the people, places, and events that helped move society from criminalization toward greater visibility. Class is in session! Happy Pride Month! 🏳️‍🌈 Topics include: * Ancient Greece and Rome * Colonialism and anti-sodomy laws * Oscar Wilde * Magnus Hirschfeld and the Institute for Sexual Science * The Stonewall Uprising * The AIDS Crisis * ACT UP * Keith Haring * LGBTQ+ activism and visibility A BROAD SEX EDUCATION IS A SEX EDUCATION RESOURCE FOR ADULTS. WE HAVE REAL, INCLUSIVE CONVERSATIONS ABOUT HUMAN SEXUALITY, RELATIONSHIPS, PLEASURE, GENDER, IDENTITY, AND MORE. 📚RESOURCES & NEXT STEPS Ancient Greece * https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20240226-greece-the-mediterraneans-ancient-gay-friendly-civilisation [https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20240226-greece-the-mediterraneans-ancient-gay-friendly-civilisation] * https://www.worldhistory.org/Sacred_Band_of_Thebes/ [https://www.worldhistory.org/Sacred_Band_of_Thebes/] * https://www.historynewsnetwork.org/article/the-legacy-of-same-sex-love-in-ancient-thebes [https://www.historynewsnetwork.org/article/the-legacy-of-same-sex-love-in-ancient-thebes] * https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/62239/chapter-abstract/550701521?redirectedFrom=fulltext&login=false#550701521 [https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/62239/chapter-abstract/550701521?redirectedFrom=fulltext&login=false#550701521] Ancient Rome * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsQIphauFlg&t=26s [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsQIphauFlg&t=26s] Colonialism and Colonization * https://www.hrw.org/report/2008/12/17/alien-legacy/origins-sodomy-laws-british-colonialism [https://www.hrw.org/report/2008/12/17/alien-legacy/origins-sodomy-laws-british-colonialism] * https://www.humandignitytrust.org/lgbt-the-law/a-history-of-criminalisation/ [https://www.humandignitytrust.org/lgbt-the-law/a-history-of-criminalisation/] The Trials of Oscar Wilde * https://www.history.com/articles/oscar-wilde-trial [https://www.history.com/articles/oscar-wilde-trial] * https://famous-trials.com/wilde/327-home [https://famous-trials.com/wilde/327-home] Magnus Hirshfield, Weimar Germany, and the Destruction of Queer History * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNGvga0QKZg [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNGvga0QKZg] Stonewall Riots * https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/stonewall-why-did-mafia-own-bar/ [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/stonewall-why-did-mafia-own-bar/] * https://guides.loc.gov/lgbtq-studies/stonewall-era#s-lib-ctab-24103782-0 [https://guides.loc.gov/lgbtq-studies/stonewall-era#s-lib-ctab-24103782-0] * https://couragecaliforniainstitute.org/how-the-nyc-stonewall-riots-launched-a-movement-and-changed-national-policy/ [https://couragecaliforniainstitute.org/how-the-nyc-stonewall-riots-launched-a-movement-and-changed-national-policy/] AIDS Crisis * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s9vBfCdIZA [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s9vBfCdIZA] * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBP-63jtZfA [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBP-63jtZfA] Follow along with this lesson: View the full presentation here [https://canva.link/5l7m2ygm7emgpdv] 💌 Have a question? Submit it anonymously [https://hickory-hygienic-896.notion.site/206a247ab88080ed9d1aeaccba850729] (Your question might be featured in a future lesson 👀) 💭 Be part of the conversation: What’s something you’ve always wondered about human sexuality? Join the discussion on social ↓ 📲 Follow & connect: Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/abroadsexeducation/ [https://www.instagram.com/abroadsexeducation/] TikTok → https://www.tiktok.com/@abroadsexeducation [https://www.tiktok.com/@abroadsexeducation] YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@abroadsexeducation [https://www.youtube.com/@abroadsexeducation ] 📝 Want more like this? Join the newsletter [https://a-broad-sex-education.kit.com/f315b55dcb] for extra resources, reflections, and exclusive content. 🌐 Explore everything: Visit the website → www.ABroadSexEducation.com [www.ABroadSexEducation.com]

Hidden in Plain Sight: A History of Lesbianism | Lesson 016

If women who loved women have always existed, why is their history so much harder to find? In this Pride Month special, we're exploring the stories of women who loved women across history and around the world. From Ancient Greece and the poetry of Sappho to the Golden Orchid Societies of Southern China, Anne Lister's coded diaries, Boston Marriages, and the literary salons of Paris, we'll uncover how women built relationships and communities long before the modern label "lesbian" existed. Then we'll turn to the United States to examine the women who helped shape LGBTQ+ history, including the Daughters of Bilitis, Stormé DeLarverie, the Lavender Menace, Audre Lorde, lesbian caregivers during the AIDS crisis, and activists Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon. Because lesbian history isn't just a history of love. It's a history of visibility, activism, community building, and showing up for one another. Topics discussed: * Sappho and the origins of "lesbian" and "sapphic" * Golden Orchid Societies * Anne Lister and her coded diaries * Boston Marriages * Parisian lesbian culture * Daughters of Bilitis * Stonewall and Stormé DeLarverie * The Lavender Menace * Audre Lorde * Lesbians during the AIDS crisis * Del Martin & Phyllis Lyon 🏳️‍🌈 Happy Pride Month. Class is in session. 📚RESOURCES & NEXT STEPS Sappho & History of the word Lesbian * https://www.intomore.com/culture/the-fascinating-history-of-lesbian/ [https://www.intomore.com/culture/the-fascinating-history-of-lesbian/] * https://thehistorianshut.com/2020/10/21/sappho-of-lesbos-and-the-husband-hoax/ [https://thehistorianshut.com/2020/10/21/sappho-of-lesbos-and-the-husband-hoax/] Golden Orchid Society * https://www.makingqueerhistory.com/articles/2016/12/20/the-golden-orchid [https://www.makingqueerhistory.com/articles/2016/12/20/the-golden-orchid] Anne Lister * https://www.annelister.co.uk/ [https://www.annelister.co.uk/] * https://english.northwestern.edu/about/anne-lister-society/story.html [https://english.northwestern.edu/about/anne-lister-society/story.html] Boston Marriages * https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/boston-marriages.htm [https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/boston-marriages.htm] Natalie Clifford Barney * https://thesalonhost.com/natalie-clifford-barney-the-forgotten-poet-hostess-of-the-most-free-spirited-salons-in-paris/ [https://thesalonhost.com/natalie-clifford-barney-the-forgotten-poet-hostess-of-the-most-free-spirited-salons-in-paris/] * https://guides.loc.gov/feminism-french-women-history/famous/natalie-clifford-barney [https://guides.loc.gov/feminism-french-women-history/famous/natalie-clifford-barney] Daughters of Bilitis * https://guides.loc.gov/lgbtq-studies/before-stonewall/daughters-of-bilitis [https://guides.loc.gov/lgbtq-studies/before-stonewall/daughters-of-bilitis] Lavendar Menace * https://www.nyclgbtsites.org/site/lavender-menace-action-at-second-congress-to-unite-women/ [https://www.nyclgbtsites.org/site/lavender-menace-action-at-second-congress-to-unite-women/] Lesbian Support During AIDS Crisis * https://www.youthco.org/lesbian_solidarity_during_the_aids_epidemic [https://www.youthco.org/lesbian_solidarity_during_the_aids_epidemic] Audre Lorde * https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/audre-lorde [https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/audre-lorde] * https://www.britannica.com/biography/Audre-Lorde [https://www.britannica.com/biography/Audre-Lorde] * https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/audre-lorde [https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/audre-lorde] Stormé DeLaverie * https://www.storme-delarverie.com/ [https://www.storme-delarverie.com/] * https://www.nps.gov/people/storme-delarverie.htm [https://www.nps.gov/people/storme-delarverie.htm] Follow along with this lesson: View the full presentation here [https://canva.link/s4e1mstmxhu8to2] 💌 Have a question? Submit it anonymously [https://hickory-hygienic-896.notion.site/206a247ab88080ed9d1aeaccba850729] (Your question might be featured in a future lesson 👀) 💭 Be part of the conversation: What’s something you’ve always wondered about human sexuality? Join the discussion on social ↓ 📲 Follow & connect: Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/abroadsexeducation/ [https://www.instagram.com/abroadsexeducation/] TikTok → https://www.tiktok.com/@abroadsexeducation [https://www.tiktok.com/@abroadsexeducation] YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@abroadsexeducation [https://www.youtube.com/@abroadsexeducation ] 📝 Want more like this? Join the newsletter [https://a-broad-sex-education.kit.com/f315b55dcb] for extra resources, reflections, and exclusive content. 🌐 Explore everything: Visit the website → www.ABroadSexEducation.com [www.ABroadSexEducation.com]

"What Are You?" The Sexualization and Desexualization of Asian People (An Office Hours Special)

In this Office Hours episode for AAPI Heritage Month, we’re unpacking the sexualization and desexualization of Asian people, from the stereotype of the “submissive Asian woman” to why Asian men have historically been portrayed as less desirable in Western culture. We discuss where these stereotypes came from, how media and history shaped them, the impact of fetishization in dating culture, Filipino taxi dance halls in 1920s California, interracial dating panic, K-pop, anime, and why attraction is never socially neutral. FOLLOW ALONG WITH THIS LESSON: View the full presentation here [https://canva.link/j7qs1jzlqs5lbhk] 💌 Have a question? Submit it anonymously [https://hickory-hygienic-896.notion.site/206a247ab88080ed9d1aeaccba850729] (Your question might be featured in a future lesson 👀) 💭 Be part of the conversation: What’s something you’ve always wondered about human sexuality? Join the discussion on social ↓ 📲 Follow & connect: Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/abroadsexeducation/ [https://www.instagram.com/abroadsexeducation/] TikTok → https://www.tiktok.com/@abroadsexeducation [https://www.tiktok.com/@abroadsexeducation] YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@abroadsexeducation [https://www.youtube.com/@abroadsexeducation ] 📝 Want more like this? Join the newsletter [https://a-broad-sex-education.kit.com/f315b55dcb] for extra resources, reflections, and exclusive content. 🌐 Explore everything: Visit the website → www.ABroadSexEducation.com [www.ABroadSexEducation.com]

Who Decides Gender Roles and Social Expectations? | A Study Break Special

Why are boys told not to cry? Why are women expected to be nurturing? And who decides what masculinity and femininity are supposed to look like in the first place? In this Study Break episode, Cin and Asa unpack gender roles, social expectations, beauty standards, emotional expression, and the pressure people feel to perform masculinity and femininity in everyday life. This conversation explores how many of the “rules” around gender are socially learned, reinforced through culture, and rarely questioned until adulthood. A Broad Sex Education is an inclusive sex education podcast covering gender, sexuality, relationships, communication, and culture in a way that actually makes sense. 💌 Have a question? Submit it anonymously [https://hickory-hygienic-896.notion.site/206a247ab88080ed9d1aeaccba850729] (Your question might be featured in a future lesson 👀) 💭 Be part of the conversation: What’s something you’ve always wondered about human sexuality? Join the discussion on social ↓ 📲 Follow & connect: Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/abroadsexeducation/ [https://www.instagram.com/abroadsexeducation/] TikTok → https://www.tiktok.com/@abroadsexeducation [https://www.tiktok.com/@abroadsexeducation] YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@abroadsexeducation [https://www.youtube.com/@abroadsexeducation ] 📝 Want more like this? Join the newsletter [https://a-broad-sex-education.kit.com/f315b55dcb] for extra resources, reflections, and exclusive content. 🌐 Explore everything: Visit the website → www.ABroadSexEducation.com [www.ABroadSexEducation.com]

Lesson 015: Why Does Non-Consent Feel Normalized? Why Survivors Don’t Come Forward & How We Prevent Sexual Violence (Part 2)

If sexual violence is so common, why are so many survivors afraid to come forward? In Part 2 of this series, Cin, Asa, and Brooklyn examine the systems, trauma responses, institutional failures, and social conditioning that make rape and sexual assault some of the most underreported and difficult crimes to prosecute. Through sociology, personal experience, legal frameworks, prevention strategies, and cultural analysis, this lesson explores what survivors are forced to navigate after assault and why prevention requires more than simply condemning rape. In this lesson, we discuss: * Why survivors often don’t report sexual assault * Trauma, memory, shame, and fear of retaliation * Why rape and sexual assault cases are difficult to prosecute * Rape kits, evidence collection, and institutional failures * The Violence Against Women Act, Title IX, and California’s “Yes Means Yes” law * The “Man vs Bear” discussion and women’s safety calculations * The “Not All Men” conversation and male accountability * The mental load women carry to navigate safety * Drink spiking prevention and harm reduction * Prevention, intervention, and what men can do to help stop sexual violence * The social conditioning that sustains rape culture * Statistics surrounding sexual violence and reporting ⚠️ Content Notice: This episode includes discussions of rape, sexual assault, coercion, abuse, misogyny, violence against women, childhood sexual abuse, and trauma. Please take care while listening. 🛍️Affiliate Link: Nightcap Drink Spiking Prevention Product [https://nightcapit.kckb.st/abroadsexed] * Discount code: NIGHTCAP10-ABROADSEXED 📚RESOURCES & NEXT STEPS * Women Wait to Report Sexual Assault [https://aspirecounselingmo.com/blog/women-wait-report-sexual-assault-rape] (Blog) * Daniel Sloss' X on MAX [https://www.hbomax.com/movies/daniel-sloss-x/05c36b92-6fd9-4000-8fd5-fb9bede8ebc0] (Stand-up Comedy Special) * Nightcap Drink Spiking Prevention Product [https://nightcapit.kckb.st/abroadsexed] (Website Affiliate Link; Discount code: NIGHTCAP10-ABROADSEXED ) * RAINN.org [https://rainn.org/help-and-healing/hotline/] (U.S. Resource for Survivors) * UN Women [https://www.endvawnow.org/en/need-help] (Global Resource for Survivors) * Futures Without Violence [https://futureswithoutviolence.org/] (Organization) * MCSR.org [ https://mcsr.org/] (Organization, also known as Men Can Stop Rape) * National Sexual Violence Resource Center [https://www.nsvrc.org/statistics/] (Organization) * CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey [https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/2015data-brief508.pdf](NISVS) * Lifetime Economic Burden of Rape Among U.S. Adults [https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5438753/] (PubMed Article) Follow along with this lesson: View the full presentation here [https://canva.link/7aw5er8nyvykxkt] 💌 Have a question? Submit it anonymously [https://hickory-hygienic-896.notion.site/206a247ab88080ed9d1aeaccba850729] (Your question might be featured in a future lesson 👀) 💭 Be part of the conversation: What’s something you’ve always wondered about human sexuality? Join the discussion on social ↓ 📲 Follow & connect: Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/abroadsexeducation/ [https://www.instagram.com/abroadsexeducation/] TikTok → https://www.tiktok.com/@abroadsexeducation [https://www.tiktok.com/@abroadsexeducation] YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@abroadsexeducation [https://www.youtube.com/@abroadsexeducation ] 📝 Want more like this? Join the newsletter [https://a-broad-sex-education.kit.com/f315b55dcb] for extra resources, reflections, and exclusive content. 🌐 Explore everything: Visit the website → www.ABroadSexEducation.com [www.ABroadSexEducation.com]